Book Review: "The Pull of the Stars" by Emma Donoghue
“The Pull of the Stars” by Emma Donoghue
Synopsis: In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders -- Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.
In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.
In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue once again finds the light in the darkness in this new classic of hope and survival against all odds.—Little Brown
Rating (out of 5): 4.25
Review: This book is notable for a couple of different reasons. It is my first library book since shutdown! A few weeks ago, the Brooklyn Public Library system reopened some branches for returns and hold pickup, and I have waited eagerly for my books to come in. Also, this book couldn’t be more timely. Imagine having the foresight to write a novel about the Spanish Flu that came out in the summer of 2020.
The overlaps with COVID-19 are impossible to ignore, so much so that had this book been written post-pandemic, I would have found it a bit heavy-handed with its political implications (all of which I firmly agree with, to be entirely clear). The general misinformation about spread, and the government’s feeble attempts at public health propaganda and outright lies about the rate at which the virus is slowing, seem not to have changed at all in the intervening 100 years.
You’ll note the synopsis is relatively bare, and this is for good reason: it is best to fully encounter this book without knowing much. At the center of the book is Nurse Julia Power, an Irish nurse midwife approaching thirty who lives with her brother, a shell-shocked and mute WWI veteran. Most of the action centers at the hospital, where Julia befriends a volunteer orderly, Bridie Sweeney, and encounters the formidable Dr. Kathleen Lynn.
It is probably no surprise that the book will contain some tragedies—any book that takes place in an early 20th century maternity ward will not be all happy stories. The social tragedies of that time are also laid bare: the indigent forced into workhouses, Magdalene laundries, and mother and baby homes. The cruelty of the social “safety net” is hard to bear.
It is easy to fall in love with our three female protagonists, and I tore through this book to find out what happened to them. Donoghue writes propulsive, unadorned prose, and this is a truly fabulous and timely read.
MILD SPOILER/Question: One character dies of the Flu after coming down with it in one day. This seemed oddly quick, and I can’t find any research about whether or not this is actually possible, but it didn’t seem entirely plausible.
Trigger Warnings: This will likely be triggering to anyone who has trouble reading about COVID. There are mentions of war, infant death, stillbirth, miscarriage, and child sexual abuse.
TL;DR: If you can handle a pandemic book right now, this is the one. An absolutely compelling, fast-paced novel about powerful and resilient women in a, dare we say…unprecedented? time.
If you liked this; try:
“The Wonder” by Emma Donoghue (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Call the Midwife” by Jennifer Worth (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel (Bookshop | Kindle)
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