I'm always impressed by novelists who portray past eras convincingly. Such is the case in Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague. It is set in a small village in England in 1665-66, based on actual events that occurred in Eyam. It is not the era of the Black Death, which occurred from 1346-53, killing anywhere from 75-200 million worldwide. The story is a first person account of a young mother of humble means who loses her entire family. The town heroically cuts itself off, instituting a self-imposed quarantine, which prevents the spread of the contagion but decimates its own population of 300 by two-thirds. Not all die from the disease. Fear incites atrocities. Although death is a constant throughout the narrative, there is an underlying hope at play, emanating largely from the pluck of the two female leads. Circumstances force action and lead to knowledge. The prose is smooth, the dialogue authentic but eminently readable. Two pejoratives of modern vernacular are used sparingly. I can't say whether they are out of place, but they do not harm the work at all. Feminism is one of the themes. Fortunately, it is not done obnoxiously. My only quibble is that the horrors get to be a bit too much through the 304 pages, although they are always plausible. Like so many authors, Brooks, an Australian, began as a journalist, working such hellholes as Bosnia and Somalia. In 2005 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for March, which follows the absent father of Louisa May Alcott's classic, Little Women, as he serves in the Civil War. Published in 2001, Year of Wonders was Brooks' first novel, a stunning debut after two works of non-fiction. More than a decade later, it is still selling. At last check it was ranked 13,380 in Kindle sales and 4522 in print at Amazon, where there are more than 11 million books listed. The 732 contributors who have rated the book forge to a consensus of four stars out of five, which seems about right. Kudos, madam.
Here's some fascinating related info on that period, culled from Wiki: "According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known written usage of the Latin phrase Annus Mirabilis is as the title of a poem composed by English poet John Dryden about the events of 1666. The phrase translates as 'wonderful year' or 'year of miracles.' In fact, the year was beset by great calamity for England, including the Great Fire of London, but Dryden chose to interpret the absence of greater disaster as miraculous intervention by God, as 666 is the Number of the Beast and the year was expected by some to be particularly disastrous. In addition to this, the English fleet defeated a Dutch fleet in the St James' Day Battle. Isaac Newton made revolutionary inventions and discoveries in calculus, motion, optics and gravitation. He was afforded the time to work on his theories due to the closure of Cambridge University by an outbreak of plague."
It wasn't quite wonders for the floating book shop today, but business was decent. My thanks to those who bought, particularly to Kinesha, aka Mrs. Eclectic, who chose nine books across the literary spectrum, and to the woman who donated a romance novel and a canvas bag that will come in handy.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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