Year of Wonders Lesson Plan

Year of Wonders is based on the real-life village of Eyam, Derbyshire, that chose to voluntarily quarantine within the boundaries of the village so as to stop the spread of the Plague to neighboring towns. The novel is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Anna Frith, a servant in the rectory. She becomes the de facto midwife of the town after the medicine women are killed due to accusations of witchcraft in response to all the suffering. Anna herself deals with much loss and works alongside the rector's wife to learn the medical properties of plants and herbs to alleviate the suffering of the villagers. While most of the characters are purely fictional, the rector is based on...