Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (23)

This memorable book was sometimes painful to read; I almost gave up after the first 50 pages, but now I highly recommend it. An English village in the 1600's is struck by the plague. The main character, Anna, is a young mother who loses everyone including her two babies very early on. As the story progresses, the villagers around Anna react to the disease in different ways; superstitious behavior and self flagellation among them. Finally a majority of the village's inhabitants are gone; village life begins again with many missing. In spite of the painful topic, the book is well written, compelling, and thoughtful.