Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
FIC Brooks, Geraldine

In this gripping historical novel, based on a true story, Brooks recreates the life of an English village through the recollections of Anna Firth, a widowed servant girl and mother. When the plague comes to a small English village in 1665, the church vicar convinces his parishioners to prevent the spread of the disease by voluntarily quarantining the village. The bubonic plague, though, has taken a foothold and one person after another succumbs. The disease brings out the best and worst of human nature: cowardice, hysteria, madness and mob-violence are countered by compassion, strength and human courage. Well-developed characters and vivid period detail make this an engrossing read.