Welcome, Reading Buddies! (If you missed my announcement last week, be sure to check it out.)
Year of Wonders is the first novel by Geraldine Brooks I’ve actually stuck with. I tried People of the Book a couple of years ago and just couldn’t get into it. I’m happy to report Year of Wonders is going better.
I’m about a third of the way through — just over 100 pages in. I think what I like best is how the novel focuses on a single ordinary character’s experience of the Plague. There’s no concrete king in this novel, no castle or nobility or monastery or any of the other mainstays you tend to find in a novel set during a similar time. That different perspective makes the book stand out to me. I’m interested to read more.
At first I did have some trouble adjusting to Anna’s voice. She seemed far too articulate to be a poor servant girl. A little of her educational background — spotty though it was — has been filled in at this point, and I’ve grown accustomed to Anna’s narrative voice, but I’m still not sure I believe it 100%. We’ll see how I feel in another 200 pages!
Besides those two points, I don’t have much to say about Year of Wonders. I”m curious to see where Brooks takes the story, but I’m not terribly attached to it. It’s interesting without being completely absorbing.
If you’re reading along or have read Year of Wonders, what were your initial impressions? Did you believe the main character’s voice? Anything else you’d like to add?