Is the central character and narrator. Young widow who becomes a healer and midwife Supports the Mompellions through the plague year Has a brief affair with the rector Leaves Eyam and finds new life in Arabic city of Oran

Anna Frith is the story’s narrator and it is through her firsthand account that we experience how the arrival of the plague and subsequent quarantine impact the village’s townspeople. When the story opens, Anna is a widow with two young sons. She is a timid, provincial girl with little knowledge of the world outside her tiny rural village. Anna’s life changes dramatically when the plague strikes the village. As Anna grapples with the devastation brought about by the disease and the quarantine, we witness her transformation from a timid housekeeper to a strong young woman who has persevered in the face of extremely challenging circumstances.

At the start of the novel we are introduced to Anna, and at first she appears to be like other women from her time as she: –Cooks –Cleans and –Tends to animals As the novel progresses we begin to indentify that Anna is more like a modernised women as she begins to: Seek knowledge of the natural world Has a different view on the principles of religion, whether that being of puritan, the church of England or Muslim belief Be more sexually active, even though she is not married and in fact a widow Become more free thinking and open to new ideals and information

Since “Year of Wonders” is written in first person from Anna’s point of view, the reader get’s to experience her emotions and actions which have been caused by the conflict she is experiencing. Anna reacts physically, emotionally and spiritually to the conflict she is faced during the time of the Plague. Anna is forced to confront the deaths of family members, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of illicit love.

At certain points in the novel, Anna reacts spiritually to not so mush a particular event, but as the events of the plague roll out. Anna frequently doubts her belief in God when the prayers of the community are left unanswered and the town is left wondering why God persist with the plague. Anna rhetorically questioned her mind many times, an example of this being, “And why should this good woman lie here, in such extremity, when a man like my farther lived to waste his reason in drunkenness?” It was situations like these where Anna couldn’t understand Gods actions any why he was doing this, which led to her doubting her belief.

The text commences in autumn 1666, where we meet Anna Frith, a young widow who serves the rector, Michael Mompellion, tries unsuccessfully to comfort her master on the recent loss of his wife, Elinor. From this the novel then reverts to the previous spring, when a tailor from London, George Viccars, comes to the village to work and boards as Anna’s house. Ann is grateful for the extra income that he provides, since her own husband, Sam, died in a mining accident the year before. She is also grateful for the good company and the generous interest that he shows towards her two small sons. However he becomes victim to the bubonic plague. After this event Anna is once again devastated when she loses both of her sons in quick succession to the plague. After the defection of the Bradfords, the most powerful family in the area, responsibility for the welfare of the town falls heavily on the shoulders of Mompellion, his wife Elinor and Anna herself. Anna works closely with Elinor in attempting to learn what they can from the Gowdies’ herb knowledge in order to fight the plague. From this a strong bond is formed between the two and Elinor entrusts Anna with the secret of her seduction as a young girl. Together the two of them accomplish a lot, including salvaging the fortunes of an orphaned child, Merry Wickford.

Elinor is then killed by Aphra Bont when she descends into madness in an act of deranged revenge. This is when the novel returns back to autumn Anna has a brief affair with the rector, but rejects him when she discovers the hurtful truth behind the Mompellion marriage. She then assists Elizabeth Bradford to deliver the premature, illegitimate daughter of Mrs. Bradford. Anna stops Elizabeth from drowning the newborn and offers to take the little girl. Mompellion helps Anna escape from the village. Anna leaves England and arrives in Oran, on the coast of North Africa. She gives birth to Mompellions child and finds a fulfilling new life as a healer, working alongside Ahmed Bey, her new husband and the most illustrious doctor in the Arab world.