This novel followed the life of a sewing girl during the year her village isolated itself from the rest of the world to contain an outbreak of the plague. While the details of seventeenth-century life were interesting, I never felt that the story elevated itself above mere romance mixed with grotesqueries.

A very enjoyable book (about the Plague – odd, but still) from Ms. Brooks. I enjoyed her writing style and use of the language, and I really liked the voice that she gave Anna.

While others have complained about the lack of character development, I didn’t find that there was a problem at all – the characters seemed to be fleshed out fairly well, and Anna’s development was one of the things that made this book.

I have to agree that the ending was a bit of a turn in another direction and certain aspects of it should’ve been omitted. Nevertheless, this remains an outstanding book, and I highly recommend it.

I bought this at Leakey’s Secondhand Bookshop and Cafe in Inverness.

Anna Frith is a widow with two very young sons when plague comes to her small English village. Over the course of one year she sees the disease take the lives of two thirds of everyone she knows, including those of her own children, but she is sustained by the support and friendship of the rector’s wife Elinor. In many chapters the author introduces another family or individual of Anna’s acquaintance, which to the reader feels a bit like getting to know the other townsfolk, both likeable and otherwise, in the village. A book about plague would probably not generally be described as feel-good, but for me this story, especially the satisfying twist at the end, was very enjoyable.

I was a bit let down with my preconceived notions on this book. I couldn’t get a good feel for the author – I felt the story was very bland and I couldn’t really connect with the main character too much. I felt like the author could have done more character development than she did.

I expected this to be interesting, but found it rather more depressing than I thought it would be.

The tone was very monotonous all the way through. And as some have mentioned, the ending was so odd and out of place; it wasn’t really necessary.

This fictionalized tale of a real “plague village” is gripping & well-written. I enjoyed the twist at the end!

didn’t think the ending was really necessary.

This was a very interesting book to read.

I just started this, so no comments yet.

November 2004 – Book on CD from library. This is about a 17th century plague and a town that chose to quarantine itself to prevent the disease from spreading. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book and related to the characters even though I don’t usually get into period pieces. I recommend it; it’s not the best book I’ve ever read but I enjoyed it and found it interesting.

Very good! Her writing style is very easy to read—I almost want to call it “comfortable.” I really enjoyed reading this one and recommend it highly.