Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Reading about a plague during a pandemic – I did consider whether this was the best idea for my mental health. Still, I remembered loving this book, and that hasn’t changed. It’s 1666, and plague has arrived in a small village in England. Anna is a widow who works for the local minister and lives with her two small children. But as the plague strikes people down, she works with the minister to try to get through.

It’s heartbreaking, but that’s hardly a surprise. I found it fascinating to compare what actions were taken to what we’re currently doing, especially given how far medicine has come. Social distancing, isolating the town, essentially lock-downs. Brooks has the reputation of being a master of historical novels, so while this isn’t non-fiction, you know that it’s got a strong historical base. It’s a wonderful book.