Year of Wonders

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The plague ran its course over 14 months and no one was allowed in or out of the village during this time. Over 14 months, over a third of the population died; 260 villagers out of a population of 750. However, the self-imposed quarantine successfully contain the spread of disease. In hindsight, I thought it helped add her understanding of what really happens. But I mostly found it awkward, confusing and unnecessary.

This is still an academic nonfiction text, but a lot more accessible (and short!) if those Cohn books are overwhelming (or just not your cup of tea). This was the first book on the Plague I read and I still think it’s a nice intro. Years of Wonder: A Novel of the Plague by pulitzer prize winning Geraldine Brooks Locals survived for many years from lead mining, the last pit at Ladywash closing as recently as 1979. Unfortunately, I found this book very boring. Nothing happens in the plot, and because of ghost-Leah's narration, all of the characters are held at a distance, and I never felt connected to any of them; and they could not carry the story through the many lulls. After around 14 months the plague ran its course but in that time it claimed a lot of lives in the village. Some reports say that from an original population of around 350 people it reduced down to 83, although the numbers are disputed by some. Many, many villagers died though.Author Geraldine Brooks tells this story through the eyes of Anna, a young widow with 2 very small children to support. Anna's role in helping Michael Mompellion and his high born wife Elinor shines the light on all that was the very best of human nature during a time of crisis, as well as what was the very worst in human beings stretched physically, emotionally and spiritually beyond their endurance. Brooks married the two extremes so well, weaving a highly readable tale of immense pain, degradation, fear, and ultimately faith. I was appalled later, (when I googled Eyam), to learn that many of the incidences Brooks used in the book were true. Human beings definitely have the capacity for both extreme nobility of spirit, as well as extreme barbarism. And when she becomes the Catherine of the past, she starts to get strange feelings about the future. She says “What has the future to do with me?”

The writing weaved in and around the puzzles and problems of the day and the pacing didn’t always flow as well as I would like. Mae as a main character was fascinating. The novel contained themes of medicines, witchery goings on and a great deal of darkness. How fascinating to find out about how an entire village tried to protect themselves from the unknown. Although the timing and POV jumped about a bit, by the end of the novel, when the entire story reveals itself, you’ll be pleased you read this book slowly and immersed yourself in a very fine historical fiction experience. To reveal more would spoil a many-layered and multi-threaded plot, which at first seems a bit random, but which slowly builds into a glorious picture of life in a small village, and the trials and tribulations of those who practiced medicine in the middle ages. We also take a trip to London, where the sights and smells of the plague-ridden city are drawn to perfection. The book also examines the nature of family, relationships, and religion. There's also a neat twist, in the shape of the narrator of the story. The Decameron is a whole lot more than a story set during the plague, but the plague is the frame used by this renaissance writer to explore meaning and love. It’s a great classic, if that’s the kind of thing you are looking for. A Journal of the Plague Year by Dufoe This book also follows Isabel and Johan who know something is wrong with Wulfric (Maes father) and that Mae is in danger. Village remembered for sacrifice of residents during plague". AP News. 30 January 2019 . Retrieved 23 April 2020.Howitt, William; Howitt, Mary Botham (28 March 1827). "The Desolation of Eyam: the Emigrant: A Tale of the American Woods and Others Poems". Wightman and Cramp – via Google Books.

An apothecary, William Boghurst, noted of his treatment of one female victim: “I laid a great mastiff puppy dog upon her breast two or three hours together and made her drink Dill, Penny-royal, Fennel and Aniseed water, for she was a fat woman and could bear it.’’ The walk to the boundary stone is over fields and will take you around 20-30 minutes to reach from Eyam Museum. It’s located in a valley outside of the village and is in the form of a limestone cavern. The rector, William Mompesson would hold all services here during the 14-month quarantine.Prose writers also came to live in the area. The village of Milton that figures in some of Robert Murray Gilchrist's fiction is in fact based upon Eyam. His The Peakland Faggot (1897) consists of short stories, each focusing on a particular character in the village. [42] This was followed by two other series, Nicholas and Mary and Other Milton Folk (1899) and Natives of Milton (1902). Eyam was also featured under its own name in Joseph Hatton's novel The Dagger and the Cross (1897). Set in the former Bradshaw Hall in the year before the plague arrives, it includes local characters who had key roles during the spread of the disease, such as George Vicars and William and Catherine Mompesson. [43] Legacy [ edit ]

Wood, William (1842), The History and Antiquities of Eyam; With a Full and Particular Account of the Great Plague, Which Desolated that Village, A.D. 1666, Thomas Miller, (London), 1842. So, why is the small village of Eyam significant? In the words of a Victorian local Historian William Wood… Burn vertrekt vanuit de echte historische gebeurtenissen in het stadje Eyam. En voegt er een hele cast aan fictieve personages aan toe. Haar schrijfstijl is zeker ok. Maar dit is gewoon een verhaal dat niet gaat blijven plakken. Het miste focus, emotie en originaliteit. This book will hook you in and not let you go until you are done. It's dark and suspenseful and eery; the atmosphere created in this book is like none other. The book is paced in a beautiful way with the story unravelling so satisfyingly. There was not a moment while reading that I was bored. The characters are mysterious and intriguing. This author did an excellent job of keeping the reader interested. The way the POV of Mae was written was also very unique. I loved the use of diary entries and past memories to help slowly unwind the story. I could not have predicted where the story would go in the end, and finally finding out what the title meant was extremely gratifying. But, our focus is upon Mae, the apothecary's daughter and Isabel, the local midwife who is teaching our young protagonist her craft. But pious, controlling Wulfric doesn't want his daughter associating with the midwife let alone befriending her. Wulfric blames Isabel for the loss of his wife and all but deems her a witch. Over the course of the novel we learn that Mae and Isabel have more to fear than just the plague.The plague ran its course over 14 months and one account states that it killed at least 260 villagers, with only 83 surviving out of a population of 350. [18] That figure has been challenged, with alternative figures of 430 survivors from a population of around 800 being given. [18] The church in Eyam has a record of 273 individuals who were victims of the plague. [21] A Actually, figures differ with every account, but 260 died, which was more than twice the fatalities suffered in London at the time. Daniel, Clarence (1938), The Plague Village: A History of Eyam, (Tideswell), T.W. Warrington & Son. Bowerbank, Sylvia (2004). Speaking for Nature: Women and Ecologies of Early Modern England' . Johns Hopkins University. p.167. ISBN 9780801878725. Residents of Eyam would collect the supplies and then drop coins into small holes that were filled with vinegar believing it would disinfect the money.