Everyone of us have heard the words black plague or pandemic and knew it was/is bad. Meet Anna here a young married woman who struggles in her world to survive. The influence of God/church in Anna as she is employed by the local preacher to give care for the home and then becomes a confidant to the wife here. Anna learns to read and heals touching a many in the small village here in this gripping story. Does she learn too much? This read is a must for today! To the very last page of 399 read!

This was a really good book and I read it during the pandemic and it was interesting to see how similar the reactions to the Plague were to our modern reactions to COVID.

One of my favorite books of all time. Made me want to read anything by Geraldine Brooks.

Read this for a book club, so I stuck it out even though I hated it. It’s one depressing scene after another. Her husband is dead. Her two children each die slow hideously painful deaths from the plague. Dozens of horrible plague deaths are described in detail. Her best friend is stabbed to death by a crazy woman. The town mob tortures an old lady and lynches another. Don’t be expecting a happy ending.

Good blend of research and fiction to help rhe reader understand what everyday life was like for communities infested by the Bubonic Plague. I appreciated the extensive background research. Good job of allowing the reader to “walk in the shoes” of the victims.

This book is so well written that despite thinking it’s an old period piece, it grabs you and keeps your attention.

This iBooks ebook is yet another example of publishers’ abandonment of proofreading. This text has such an annoying number of typos that it is nearly nauseating. The story itself, while good overall, is undermined by a rushed, fanciful ending that tends to discredit all that preceded it. If you are looking for a fictional depiction of the plague, then you might enjoy this story. Otherwise, I would recommend that you read something else.

This novel has met all my criteria of a great work. History, medicine, and England. Beautifully written and alive with descriptive prose, the reader will be moved.

This book just drags and most of the novel itself is nothing but padding to make it unnecessarily long. It is incredibly dull and the way the author tells the story will leave you scratching your head in confusion.

Loved it from start to finish. It has some nice twists and the author has mastered eloquence in her writing.