Year
Of Wonders:
Written by: Geraldine Brooks
Narrated by: Geraldine
Brooks
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Time: 10 Hours 6 Minutes
When
an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a
housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through
Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her
fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death
reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous
witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of
her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and
grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of
wonders."
It is based on the history of the small Derbyshire village of Eyam that, when beset by the plague in 1666, quarantines itself in order to prevent the
disease from spreading further. The plague that hit Eyam
and other parts of the UK in 1665-1666 was one of many recurrences that had
taken place since the Black Death of the 14th century