Year of Wonders

Product Information

Eyam: A Musical, music by Andrew Peggie, book and lyrics by Stephen Clark; pioneered as a group production in 1990, [78] CD Joseph Weinberger, 1995; London production at the Bridewell Theatre, 1998

Beautifully written & character driven I particularly loved the female relationships that run through the book & the focus on family not necessarily being blood but those you love & care for. Leah's narration & Wulfric's diary entries are a great way to allow the reader more of an oversight of the whole picture. Mae & Isabel really shone through for me. Let all who tread the green fields of Eyam remember, with feelings of awe and veneration, that beneath their feet repose the ashes of those moral heroes, who with a sublime, heroic and unparalleled resolution gave up their lives, yea doomed themselves to pestilential death to save the surrounding country. Their self sacrifice is unequalled in the annals of the world.”

Residents of Eyam would collect the supplies and then drop coins into small holes that were filled with vinegar believing it would disinfect the money.

The Ring of Stones premiered in Manchester in 1999 and since then has been revived and performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011. [80] As well as Eyam, we get to travel to the plague capital city of London. This brings the small and isolated village into stark contrast and it shows how the plague ravaged the streets, people’s lives and the entire country as a result. Those poor villagers, miles away, were never far from my mind. Locals survived for many years from lead mining, the last pit at Ladywash closing as recently as 1979. The writing is rich and beautiful and I liked the fantastic descriptions of the healing arts employed at that time, from herbal draughts to bezoar stones. The smells, flavours, flora and potions transport you to this tiny village in the darkest of times.

The Plague in Eyam

There are twists and turns, developments, suspense, and a full character cast that all add together to make this novel one of a kind and truly immersive. I whole heartedly recommend this historical fiction that I truly enjoyed. Johan is Isabel's husband, and has to travel to London when his ward's missing mother has been discovered. He risks going to the capital, to support his close friend. This was another place where outlying villages used to deliver parcels to Eyam and money dipped in vinegar was exchanged.

It's so easy for characters like Wulfric to be on their pedestal, praised for their work; and never looking too close at his own sins. As the coronavirus crisis shows little sign of relenting, many countries are cutting themselves off from the rest of the world to help stop the infection’s spread. But many elements of this colourful history are missing from contemporary accounts. They are more story than history. This includes the village’s central claim to heroic sacrifice: its choice to cut itself off. That the village was quarantined is not in question. But the notion that the villagers heroically imposed isolation on themselves has no foundation in any of the early sources. The spirit of self-sacrifice that we are now being asked to emulate is a myth. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for approving me for an ARC of this book. I read this with my fellow Tsundoku Squad member, Wendy. As lovers of historical fiction we were very intrigued by this one and couldn’t wait to buddy read it together. As soon as Catherine says “Aye, t’is time”, she and her brother and sister stop pretending, stop play-acting. They are really and truly children of 1665.When the plague hits their village, Mae's father, the apothecary becomes more powerful. Mae tries to be helpful, but despite her keen intellect, she is limited by her gender. He encouraged the remaining 90 villagers to burn all their clothing, furniture and bedding in case they had plague fleas on them. Houses were fumigated. He burned everything he could as an example to the villagers. The Naming of William Rutherford by Linda Kempton, a fantasy novel for children, published by Heinemann, 1992. [60]