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Book Review of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
Helpful Score: 1


This is most definitely a book I will circulate among my reader friends who are strong of heart. It is an astounding read. "A Year of Wonders" is based on historical fact about the bubonic plague that devastates a small village in England in the mid 1600s. Entire families are wiped out and most of the villagers turn to the village rector to save them. Others turn to witchcraft in fear that God is punishing them for their sins. The heroine, Anna, is amazing in her strength and vision. I learned so much about how the peasant people lived then, witchcraft, superstition, religion and a very cruel life. I loved the arcane language, and as other reviewers above, that the stories of the sexual trysts were superfluous, an unnecessary to the story. I also didn't like the change of character of the rector at the end, or the epilogue, neither believable. I cried a lot while reading this book, nonetheless, I highly recommend this book. The characters are vividly drawn and the story so compelling.