Book Forty-four: Year of Wonders

Forty-four: Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
Pages: 308
Finished: September 7

Any book where the title itself tells you it is about the Plague, probably isn't going to be a pick-me-up sort of book. Apparently I am drawn to morbid books. I was probably the most curious as to why a book about something as awful as Plague would have a title that sounds so positive. The title comes from Dryden, who called 1666 "annus mirabilis" which is Latin for Year of Wonders, although this was the year not only of the plague, but also the war with the Dutch, and the Great Fire. It should bring to mind God's words to Moses, "Thou shalt do my wonders," which included the many plagues against the Egyptians.
I like historical fiction that is well researched but not overly obnoxious about how well researched it is. (For a bad example, see The Dante Club.) Geraldine Brooks has yet to disappoint me with her fiction rooted in historical events. There really was a village in England that, when the Plague hit, closed themselves off from the world around them and tried to limit the spread of the disease.
This particular version of events is told through the eyes of Anna, a servant of the rector of the village. There is a lot that I was very familiar with in this story: the fear of witches, the way that people can be easily swayed through fear, but many of the more religious aspects of Puritan beliefs were new to me. It was also interesting to see the changes in Anna, and how her idea of faith changes throughout the book.

As I walked away from the croft, I caught my toe on a loose stone and stumbled, grazing the hand that I flung out to break my fall. My anger magnified this small hurt and I cursed. As I sucked at the injured place, a question began to press upon me. Why, I wondered, did we, all of us, both the rector in his pulpit and simple Lottie in her croft, seek to put the Plague in unseen hands? Why should this thing be either a test of faith sent by God, or the evil working of the Devil in the world? One of these beliefs we embraced, the other we scorned as superstition. But perhaps each was false, equally. Perhaps the Plague was either of God nor the Devil, but simply a thing in Nature, as the stone on which we stub a toe.

The only part of the story that I didn't particularly like was the neat and lovely way that the story wrapped itself up. I didn't really feel that a book that is so harrowing really needed to have a happy ending. I suppose I can't really fault the author for wanting to give her readers a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Good Reading,
Caitlin