Year of Wonders

In Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks takes an intimate look at a village outside London and illustrates the profound effects of a public health crisis on a small community, from the individual losses to the collective mourning and sense of crisis that crosses social and economic boundaries.

Although the villagers' choice to quarantine Eyam shows their dedication to defending nearby populations, it also strains ties and exposes underlying tensions. Though Mr. Mompellion urges them to remain hopeful, the high mortality rate and fear of contagion disintegrate social and communal ties. It isn’t long after the first casualties that the villagers search for a scapegoat and lynch the town healers, Mem and Anys Gowdie. People isolate themselves, and the community becomes fragmented as individuals seek to avoid infection. This breakdown in social cohesion sows seeds of insecurity and vulnerability, which Mompellion fails to address effectively.

Anna chronicles the decimation of Eyam’s population while also noting the subtle changes in the city. The drastic reduction in population leaves Eyam without most of their skilled workers and even robs them of their sexton. Children like Merry Wickford are orphaned and left to fend for themselves. Eyam is a mining town, and with no one to work the mines, the town stands to lose its industry as survivors leave in search of better opportunities or to escape the horrifying memories. The landscape changes as fields go unplanted, crops rot in the ground, and nature reclaims unused roads.

While some villagers, like Anna and Elinor, rise to the challenge of helping and caring for their neighbors, others exploit or abandon them. Anna’s father and stepmother cynically attempt to gain from the crisis, with Josiah taking whatever he can from the vulnerable while digging graves and Aphra posing as a witch in order to sell fake cures. The growing sense of anarchy and fear is also reflected in the increasingly desperate behavior of the townspeople: They have no access to law courts, and so resort to mob violence and summary justice. Mompellion, suffering under the strain, drops his façade of compassionate leadership and reveals the darker, more controlling aspects of his personality until he descends entirely into cynicism. 

This destabilization also leads to changes in social hierarchies, with the surviving population reevaluating roles and responsibilities within the community. Without a ruling class, those like Anna become more valuable to the community. Brooks thus examines the dynamics of a community in crisis, portraying how some individuals come together and, conversely, how the pressures of a pandemic can lead to division, mistrust, and further suffering.