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Title: great period piece, but had too many soap opera moments
Review: Geraldine Brooks' research into the period and the plague is flawless -- her details regarding food, medicine, dress, class, and religion are intriguing and flow seamlessly into her narrative. Furthermore, her characters are deliciously well-drawn.Nevertheless, the final quarter of the book reads like a melodramatic soap opera. For a novel centered on something as heart-wrenching as the devastation of a small town, the author doesn't need to resort to far-fetched plotting to keep the readers' hooked. Also, the narrator's sensibility is far too modern for 17th century England -- I forgave it initially, but by the end, it became too much...
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