Carpe Librum

I borrowed this book as filler, with no expectations that it would be anything more. It ended up being one of the best books that I have read this year.

The first person point of view makes Year of Wonders a poignant account of suffering and how that suffering can bring out the best and the worst in people. Anna Frith, our narrator and main character is a young widow whose husband was recently lost in a mining accident as the book opens.

Watching the plague arrive and spread from a seemingly innocuous source, the reader sees Anna grow, learn, and strengthen herself through the quarantine of her village. She is one of those who rise above her situation and care for all who need caring. Others have a more difficult time giving their life over to God and their fellow man. These weaker sorts are those who strike out at perceived enemies or use the tragedy in an attempt to better themselves.

Through Anna's story of love, loss, and uncertainty about the future, we are also introduced to the Montpelliers. Eleanor is beautiful and kind, befriending Anna though she is her servant because she understands that stations have little meaning when 2/3 of the population is dying around you. Anna adores Eleanor but is also jealous of her natural beauty and serenity...and her husband.

Michael Montpellier is the rock that everyone in Anna's village leans upon. He is their pastor and spiritual leader and the one who suggests that they quarantine themselves to keep the plague from spreading. He is handsome, hardworking, and eloquent. However, Anna discovers that even Michael has a dark side that is revealed when tragedy becomes overwhelming even for him.

I don't want to say that I was disappointed in the ending, but it was not the ending that I was hoping for. Some would say that is evidence of the quality of the writing that the ending was unpredictable, and I suppose that is true. I was taken aback by Anna's change in feelings and plans for her future, but the twist in the plot did suit her. It was a future that she deserved and would thrive in.

The only negative thing that I can say about this book is that it made me cry. Over and over again. As many of you know, I listen to audiobooks when I drive and do housework, so bawling my eyes out didn't work out too well. It wasn't just that so many died. After all, the novel is subtitled, "a novel of a plague year." I expected death. I didn't expect to feel like I was watching my own friends and family fade away one by one. So, when you pick up a copy of this book, which I encourage you to do, read it in private with a box of tissue close at hand.