Geraldine Brooks: Years of wonder: A novel of the plague

By SARAH McRAE*

If you're interested in reading about personal and community reactions to the spread of contagion and related ills, then you should probably read on. In Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks largely fulfils her dust-cover promise to examine "the collision of faith, science and superstition at the modern era".

The story, set in the isolated English village of Eyam in 1666, describes the life of Anna Frith, widowed mother of two young children, Jamie and Tom. Unbeknown to Eyam, the plague has already started its ravages in London, and is travelling their way fast, in a flea-infested bolt of cloth. The fabric's arrival, cutting, sewing and use seal their fate.

Guided by their rector, Michael Mompellion, Eyam's residents agree to quarantine themselves off to prevent further spread to neighbouring villages. The rector's farsighted suggestion is based on fact, although the truth, revealed in Brooks' afterword, is that it came only after he had sent his own daughters away.

Brooks' task has been to embroider some scant historical threads to create the story of the likeable, hard-working Anna. An interesting theme is the reactions to the spread of the disease. Anna's belief in the Church and faith in God support her decision to accept the rector's proposed quarantine. But as the confinement continues, and the village dwindles, individual and collective faiths are undermined.

Some of Eyam's residents respond by panicking. Others just give up.

There's even some self-flagellation for the puritanical. Accusations of consorting with the devil are levelled at the medicinal herbalists Mem and Anys Gowdie. One greedy resident becomes a grave-digger to profit from villagers' desperation to see family members properly buried.

The book maintains an uncanny optimism despite the prevailing grimness. The afterword gives a reassuring explanation of the historical context and the division between fact and fiction. But prepare to be saddened.

You can speed through the bold descriptions of a number of grisly deaths if you happen to be squeamish. And if you are sick, best to put off reading this book completely until you are much much better.

Fourth Estate

$31.95

* Sarah McRae is a Wellington reviewer.