Year Of Wonders By Anna Frith

Year of Wonders is set in Eyam, an actual village which was located in Derbyshire, England. Also known as the "plague village" for an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in 1665 and 1666, the story of Year of Wonders is based off of this event. At the beginning of the book, Anna Frith is introduced to the readers as a house maid, mother of two young sons, and the narrator. Although she isn't a historical figure, through her eyes, the readers get to get an insight on what it was like living in the midst of a plague. As the story starts out, Anna is faced with the struggle of watching her friends (Anys and Mem) being accused by mobs of being witches because they are midwives who deliver newborns and use charms and herbs to heal the sick. The mobs

After some diligent research on the village of Eyam and the Renaissance culture, I noticed that many events in this book are historically accurate, meaning that they actually took place or they mcould have happened considering their historical context. A major part of the story is the plague that took place in England during the seventeenth century. Most part of the book is accurate about the plague, for instance, it is accurate on how Eyam began to recover from the plague during the late seventeenth century. Also, there are some instances of the discrimination based on gender. On pages 221 and 222, the village preacher sees both a man and a woman attempting to complete an unrighteous task, First, the preacher calmly tells the man to go home, but then the preacher condemns the woman harshly. Through this action, I gained the insight that, in Renaissance culture, women were considered inferior to men and that it was considered normal for women and men to be treated unequally. Another historical component of the book involves certain groups of people, especially women, being accused of witchcraft. On page 298, Anna mentions that on the North African Coast, people stop accusing her of being a witch for using herbs, but rather, they welcome her as a beneficial addition to the community. Although Anna Frith is not a historical figure, some of the characters in the book are based off of actual figures in history such as George Vicars. In fact, the book alludes to Charles II since he was the King of England during the end of the seventeenth century. On the contrary, there are fictional components. In the book, it says that the plague was introduced into the village along with George Viccars's bacteria-infected clothes, when in reality, it was spread by fleas on rats and it was brought into the