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Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

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MedievalBookworm
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Post by MedievalBookworm » Thu May 21st, 2009, 9:20 am

I felt similarly Vanessa! I just really didn't like March for some reason. It probably screwed too much with my childhood perception of Little Women and for some reason Civil War stories don't always capture me.

I did really enjoy this book, though. It's probably my favorite by her. I can't remember what I thought of the ending now! I don't seem to have remarked on it in my review.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Thu May 21st, 2009, 1:53 pm

I had the same problem with March. I loved Little Women as a child, and 'knew' March based on what the sisters and mother told me. I could not see this man as the one they would have missed so desparately. I know he was based on Alcotts father. But I somehow don't think Alcott would have thought of her father as March, it just didn't ring true to me. (I was very surprised that this won a pulizter. It was nominated the same year as Doctorows' The March, which should have won in my book. The only explanation I can think of is that the voters were confused by the similarities of titles)

Actually I discovered Brooks in her non fiction. Her first, Foreign Correspondence, was about her search for her childhood penpals. She also wrote Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, one of the best books I have read about the subjects. She is a journalist by trade, and it shows in both of these books.

I also loved People of the Book - again,except for the ending, which turned into a Davinci Code type mystery/treasure hunt that did not fit the book at all.

BTW her husband is Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, Blue Latitudes (about Captain Cook), Bagdhad without a Map (pre war Iraq), and Voyage Long and Strange, about the discoverers of America. All excellent histories.

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LCW
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Post by LCW » Thu May 21st, 2009, 2:43 pm

I started this book and read for a couple dozen pages but then quit. I'm not sure if it was so much the book as it was just a reading funk. I definitely plan to pick it up again though. Great review, Amy!
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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amyb
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Post by amyb » Thu May 21st, 2009, 4:43 pm

Thanks LCW! I've done that with a few books myself...and ended up liking every one of them, even though the first try was not successful!

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Lady Macbeth
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Post by Lady Macbeth » Thu July 30th, 2009, 5:21 pm

I really loved this book apart from the completely ludicrous epilogue - whatever was she thinking? :eek:

I can remember a scene, early in the novel, when our heroine (I forget her name) was sat with her 2 boys by a millstream enjoying the peace before the horror unfolded and this has really stuck in my mind and stayed with me for years. What followed was horrific and I felt a strong sense of despair when reading this.

I remember being taught about Eyam at junior school and the story has always stuck with me - shall be visiting the village myself in a few weeks. Can't wait. :)
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drspoon
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Post by drspoon » Sat August 1st, 2009, 2:26 pm

I read Year of Wonders several years ago and loved it - most notably for Anna's courage and resiliance. I went on to devour March and People of the Book (March was my least favorite) and am awaiting something new from Geraldine Brooks. She has become one of my favorite authors; she keeps you reading to the very end!
Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?" - Henry Ward Beecher

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Rowan
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Interest in HF: I love history, but it's boring in school. Historical fiction brings it alive for me.
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Post by Rowan » Wed August 19th, 2009, 8:33 pm

Since I visited Eyam during my first visit to England, I've added this book to my tbr list.

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