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Year of Wonders
- Narrated by: Geraldine Brooks
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
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Year of Wonders
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Summary
A young woman’s struggle to save her family and her soul during the most extraordinary year of 1666, when plague suddenly visited a small Derbyshire village and the villagers, inspired by a charismatic preacher, elected to quarantine themselves to limit the contagion.
In 1666, plague scorched London, driving the king and his court to Oxford, and Samuel Pepys to Greenwich, to escape contagion. The North of England remained untouched until, in a small community of leadminers and hill farmers, a bolt of cloth arrived from the capital. The tailor who cut the cloth had no way of knowing that the damp fabric carried with it bubonic infection.
So begins the Year of Wonders, in which a Pennine village of 350 souls confronts a scourge beyond remedy or understanding. Desperate, the villagers turn to sorcery, herb lore and murderous witch-hunting. Then, led by a young and charismatic preacher, they elect to isolate themselves in a fatal quarantine. The story is told through the eyes of Anna Frith who, at only 18, must contend with the death of her family, the disintegration of her society, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit attraction.
Geraldine Brooks’ novel explores love and learning, fear and fanaticism, and the struggle of 17th-century science and religion to deal with a seemingly diabolical pestience. Year of Wonders is also an eloquent memorial to the real-life Derbyshire villagers who chose to suffer alone during England’s last great plague.
Critic reviews
"A Year of Wonders is a staggering fictional debut that matches journalistic accumulation of detail to natural narrative flair." (Guardian)
"A lyrically written and emotionally engaging novel." (Independent)
"The plot is gripping, I like the psychological subtlety of characters struggling with a shifting world, and it’s packed with historical detail." (Daily Mail)
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What listeners say about Year of Wonders
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jane
- 14-02-23
Great story but didn’t like the narrator
The story was engaging with very atmospheric writing but the narrator (the author) sounded rather nonchalant, and at was times mumbling. Still enjoyable but could have been performed better.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sugs
- 28-11-23
Excellent
I understand how some others have criticised the narration, I too found it difficult to begin with. Within a few chapters I found it very fitting for the tale and went on to enjoy everything about this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- debbie jenkins
- 25-09-22
Wonderous book
I read this book years ago and whilst I loved it then had forgotten so much until listening on audible. What a delight to have the writer speak her own words. Beautiful enthralling thought provoking tale. Listen and decide yourself
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- CMCL
- 07-02-24
Village life during the Great Plague
There are very few authors who should read their own books and Geraldine Brooks isn’t one of them, unfortunately . It amazes me that Penguin should make such an enormous error
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Miss JM Collier
- 02-03-22
Terrible, droning narrator
This book had been recommended to me, and I was really looking forward to enjoying it. However, the narrator has the most awful droning, unclear voice. I found her difficult to understand, and kept falling asleep and having to rewind. Such a shame, because I never got to the end of the book – I returned it and got my money back.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AmazonBuyerUk
- 28-01-23
Great book terrible narration
The book is great. The narration however is terrible: the tone is flat, no inflection no highlights of tone.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- nel
- 05-12-23
Narration poor
I very much tried to stick with this as the story is good but I could not bear the monotonous voice of the narrator. Shame.
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