This month's title, Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks, provided material for lots of spirited discussion. Kathleen facilitated this meeting, as it was her pick. Of the seven participants, 6 liked the book and one hadn't yet read it.
The book is a fictional account of an actual event; during an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1666, the residents of an English village, led by their pastor, decide to quarantine themselves to prevent the spread of the contagion and face head-on the judgement of God that the appearance of the disease seems to be. The story is told from the point of view of Anna Frith, a widow and maid in the household of the rector, and we watch Anna blossom into a healer and--as much as is possible given the time--empowered woman over the course of the plague year.
Most agreed that it took a while to get into the book. For a couple of readers, the language was initially challenging; a few words needed context to be able to understand, but eventually everyone was able to be drawn in to the story and initial difficulties were surmounted. Everyone enjoyed witnessing Anna's transformation into a strong woman, and almost all of us were taken by surprise at the dark secret lurking in the Mompellions' marriage.
Kathleen brought up the decision of the villagers to cut themselves off from the rest of the world and rely on their patron to deliver needed supplies, and asked how many of us would willingly do such a thing in the present time. Of course, it would be more challenging nowadays to convince a village that an outbreak of disease was God's judgement to be endured; but how many of us would be willing to sacrifice ourselves and our families by staying put in order to contain the spread of disease? Most of us admitted we would have a hard time doing this, especially when it came to the safety of our family. Dianne pointed out that in Harrison, many people are isolated by choice and do not possess even the capability to transport themselves to Portland, so in a sense we are not as far removed from the villagers of 1666 as we might think. Betty commented that the tone of dread, of Anna and her neighbors not knowing who would be struck down next or how the disease was being spread, reminded her of the polio epidemic.
There was much discussion about Michael Mompellion's motive in suggesting the quarantine, and whether it was driven by his inner demons or was truly selfless. We eventually decided it was a combination, that Michael was a truly complicated, tortured character--Kathleen likened him to Hamlet--whose good and bad parts were so intertwined that both informed all his actions. We also discussed whether Anna's transformation was a bit of a stretch, given the times; Alice pointed out that throughout history, in general, males did not nurse the sick. At this period in time, there were women practiced in the art of healing who actually were capable of doing so, and there were surgeons who were equally incapable, so it made sense that Anna, taking up the place of the dead healing women of the village, and becoming even closer to her mentor and tutor Elinor Mompellion, should take advantage of a disruption in the natural order of her society to educate herself and rise above the station of her birth.
Everyone was very interested to learn more about the actual plague village of Eyam, so here is the link to their website: http://www.eyamplaguevillage.co.uk/
There will be no meeting in December; the next meeting will be January 5 to discuss The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.
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