I loved this book, but then again I love Emma Donoghue's writing. As coincidental as the timing is, and as scary as a pandemic is, this book, about 3 days in a maternity ward in Dublin, during the Great War and the pandemic of 1918 gave me hope. Her characters were survivors, and leaders and did what they had to do, without guidance from their political leaders. I read this in a single day, and I am not a fast reader! Not able to put this one down.

Told over three days about a birthing ward during the Spanish influenza. The Pull of the Stars is a remarkable historical fiction novel featuring one of the worst periods in human history. Julia is a nurse working at the maternity ward where mothers are infected with influenza, WW1 is still raging on and the hospital is also short staffed. I am not the biggest historical fiction fan, but I found right now that the book hits awfully close to home. The characters were complex, and I really enjoyed Birdie. I also think the book tackles some tough subjects and prejudices especially the prejudices women faced at this time. Overall, The Pull of the Stars is an exceptionally researched book, with enticing characters and an all to realistic setting.

This is a new historical fiction from the author of Room, The Wonder, Akin, and others. Donoghue grew up in Ireland but now lives in Canada. This book was rushed out as it deals with the Spanish Flu pandemic that occurred near the end of WWI. Julia is a maternity nurse in Dublin. As she has already had the flu and recovered she has been assigned to work in the ward that holds maternity patients that have become infected. Together with her young volunteer helper Bridie they deal with things as best they can. This is a wonderful recommendation for historical fiction fans who are okay with very detailed and sometimes graphic descriptions of both the influenza and the birthing process. I really enjoyed it, although I was left wanting more.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue is a very highly recommended visit to a Dublin maternity ward during the 1918 influenza pandemic. This novel will stick with you for years to come.

Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in Dublin in maternity where she is given a small cramped former supply room in which to care for and keep in quarantine the expectant mothers who have come down with the new flu. The hospital is overcrowded and everyday there are fewer staff members to look after the patients. Julia has an untrained volunteer, Bridie Sweeney, sent to assist her. Birdie's positive attitude and willingness to help in whatever way she can helps Julia enormously as they are faced with one challenging medical crisis after another. A new doctor has also arrived, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, who is a rumored Sinn Fein Rebel on the run from the police, but a more than capable physician.

Set over just three days in 1918 while WWI is still going on, this is a realistic slice of life during the times. There are three difficult births during these three days and they are described in graphic detail. Donoghue provides carefully researched detailed medical descriptions of the births amid the effects of the pandemic. She doesn't shy away from how the extreme poverty and the societal expectations in Catholic Ireland doom many mothers and children, harming both health and welfare. This is certainly a female centered novel, especially with the focus on pregnancy and childbirth. You will wish the best for Julia and as she works tirelessly through these three long hard days and be thankful that she had Birdie and Dr. Lynn to help her.

Donoghue began writing this novel during the 1918 pandemic’s centennial year, before COVID-19, so all of the details that seem to dovetail with current experiences are simply a recurrence of what happens during a pandemic. It needs to also be pointed out that in the author's notes at the end of the novel, Donoghue discusses the accomplishments of Dr. Kathleen Lynn, who was a real person and doctor of note. This is an incredible novel that will stay with you simply due to the period details and the firmly established setting, time and place. Yes, it can be bleak, dark and harsh, but it also highlights the dedication, compassion and intelligence of a women working under impossible conditions.

The true gem of The Pull of the Stars is the characters that are firmly placed in a very specific historically accurate time and place. This is a character driven novel and almost all of the action all takes place in the one small room. The dedication, personality, character, trials and struggles that Julia and especially Birdie have had to face are portrayed honestly and sorrowfully, but are all indicative of the setting. You will know these women and their character by the end of these three days. There is a romantic subplot toward the end that is best viewed as burgeoning very close friendship that could lead to something in the future in order to give its sudden appearance the context it lacked.

The Pull of the Stars is one of the best novels I've read this year based on how memorable it is. I won't forget it - if only for the detailed medical descriptions of childbirth in this setting.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Little, Brown and Company.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Having read the galley for Emma Donoghue's last novel The Wonder, I put in a request for The Pull of the Stars before even reading the synopsis. I was not disappointed.

Donoghue revisits some of the same themes in this novel--an unmarried female nurse embracing scientific methods, women's lives in a repressive society, what we will do for family and love.

Set in 1918 in the middle of the Spanish Flu epidemic, in a Dublin maternity ward where an endless round of pregnant women ill with the flu come and go, the novel is a spine-tingling reminder of our vulnerability.

Donoghue began writing The Pull of the Stars in 2018. How chillingly providential that it would be published the year of the novel cornoavirus covid-19 epidemic.

Today as I write this review, violence and protests have been breaking out across America, demanding a just society. Donoghue's novel depicts a world crushed by WWI, men broken in body and spirit like ghosts of the people they had once been. Unwed mothers are taken in by organizations that demand repayment through a kind of slave labor, their babies becoming trapped in servitude and subject to abuse.

The myth of progress is challenged by reminders of how little has changed in 100 years. War still crushes, the human body still is attacked by enemies large and small, society remains inequitable, ingrained social prejudices destroy lives.

Nurse Julia Powers is dedicated and hard-working, although underpaid and lacking authority. Readers spent several days with Julia at work, the action taking place in a small hospital room of three hospital cots.

This is not a novel for the squeamish. So many things go wrong. In graphic detail, readers endure the patients suffering, the heroic endeavor to save the lives of mother and babies. We meet the female patients, learn about their lives, their illness, their deaths.

Every loss is marked by Julia on her silver cased watch, a memorial and reminder to never forget.

This is not a novel to escape, the world too closely reflects what we are dealing with with today's pandemic. Warnings, fake cures, the uncertainty, government endeavoring to play down the threat--nothing has changed.

I finished the novel in two days.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

It’s 1918 Dublin, in the midst of the flu epidemic, and nurse Julia Power is overworked in the hospital’s flu ward for pregnant women. Donoghue gives the reader an inside look into old (sometimes horrifying) obstetric practices and beliefs and also explores the terrible treatment of young unwed mothers in Magdalene Laundries. I flew through this book, pulled into Julia’s daily work life and her worries about her younger brother, Tim, whom she lives with and who hasn’t been the same since his return from war. The book lost me at the end, but overall was still a good story.

Nurse Julia Power has been placed (alone) in charge of the maternity/flu ward. It is 1918, during the Great Flu, and her charges are at risk due to the flu and also due to childbirth-related complications. We follow Julia across a 3-day period in which she is supported by a volunteer (Bridie) and an interesting Dr. Lynn (a real obstetrician who worked with Sinn Fein). For the first 2/3 of the book, it felt a bit like an old-timey ER episode spanning 72 hours.

Although the pacing is not quick, the writing is so good and there is a lot of historical information about the time and especially medical aspects regarding pregnancy (surgeries [sawing the pubic bone], procedures, and treatments [whiskey!] that were popular at the time when treating pregnant women).

The final 1/3 of the book felt a bit disarrayed, though. (view spoiler)[I am not familiar with O'Donoghue's sudden twists to a lesbian romance, so I had not expected any romance to develop. That was fine, she had me and I was ready to go with it. But then...in quick succession, Bridie dies and then Julia decides to adopt an orphaned child. It didn't feel overly true to the character that had been developed. (end spoiler)]

In any case, a very good book that is definitely worth a read. It felt very timely to read a pandemic-related book during the current COVID-19 period and it was interesting to note the similarities and differences.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Little, Brown and Company for an opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It is certainly odd to read a book about a pandemic during another pandemic (which the author notes in her afterword) but I really enjoyed it none the less.

Focused on the maternity ward of a hospital in the height of a new epidemic we see a nurse, doctor, and runner experience the life and death of multiple women and babies as they come into the hospital in various stages of pregnancy.

I really enjoyed the characters as we get to know them in this high stress environment in a book that only encompasses a few days. It is heart warming, heart wrenching, and filled with tons of vivid imagery.

This book may be a bit much for right now but it shows the humanity within the hospitals, and the people behind the masks.

The Great Influenza in Ireland in 1918 bears some striking resemblances to our current pandemic. Nurse Julia Powers is assigned to the maternity flu ward of a local hospital and the action centers on the patients and medical situation of the ward.

Beyond the pandemic, the book interweaves several women’s issues of the time - women’s position in the workplace, unwanted pregnancy, the heavy load of large families on women’s health.

To me this was a fascinating look at a pandemic of a different time. The parallels between then and now are inescapable. It’s a somber book and a bit of a slog through some of the detailed medical situations. The female characters are strong and the varying stations of doctor, nurse, assistant and the various patients adds clarity to the complexity of local society at the time.

For readers of historical fiction, this is an excellent look at challenges faced by front-line workers in a historic pandemic and is highly relevant to our times.

Unfortunately I think this book was a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. Perhaps lots of people want to read about a deadly pandemic during a pandemic, but the entire experience was too much of a downer for me. Since I only like to publicly write about books I would promote, I won't be writing about this one on my site. Thanks for the chance to try it.

I'm not sure I should have read this now -- too many emotions! I loved the headiness, and the heart, and felt that final twist like a physical blow. So very good and can't wait to recommend widely.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 by Emma Donoghue Thank you to @littlebrown and @netgalley for the e-ARC⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Julie works as a nurse in an understaffed, under financed hospital during the Great Flu of 1918 in Dublin. She works in a tiny, makeshift ward for maternity patients suffering from the flu. When a few new characters come into the hospital, the staff and patients make unforgettable connections in a time of trauma. ⁣
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I was expecting a historical fiction, but got a medical thriller as well. I’ve always been interested in midwifery, and this book certainly has a lot in it. There were many detailed obstetrics medical emergencies, and as the reader, I was right there along for the ride. It was interesting seeing the government’s reaction to the pandemic, including the signs they would post to try to keep panic away. This book showed how necessary nurses are, not only in a pandemic, but also to relieve and care for patients in between medical procedures. This was definitely a unique and interesting read. Make sure to read the afterword; that’s the part that explains the historical basis of the novel and is very informative. ⁣
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“𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺. 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”⁣
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The Pull of the Stars comes out 7/21. ⁣⁣

Emma Donoghue books are hit or miss for me; the hits far outweigh the misses making me anticipate any new novels by Ms. Donoghue. My favorites being ROOM and THE WONDER. I expected THE PULL OF THE STARS to be like THE WONDER which I enjoyed immensely. Though I enjoyed THE PULL OF THE STARS I did not find myself nearly as invested in the story as ROOM or THE WONDER.

THE PULL OF THE STARS is set in Ireland during the outbreak of the flu pandemic of 1918. I read this during the Covid19 crisis making the references very familiar and the
story all too real. Perhaps the book would have been less interesting to me before the Covid crisis.

The main character, Julia Power, is a nurse in a maternity ward. The story follows Nurse Power as she cares for her pregnant patients over the course of 3 days. The novel feels like a documentary and was partly based on fact and real people. The novel deals with the grim reality of life and death during a pandemic.

Though I liked this book and always enjoy Ms. Donoghue’s writing style even when I don’t necessarily invest in the story, I think the 3-day time frame used was hard for me to believe. Too much happened, too many emotions were brought to the surface in just 3 days. I would read this book again and I would recommend it to anyone especially interested in historical fiction though part of it left me wanting.

i guess i arready have read this twice? for YEARS i was afraid to read ROOM by emma donoghue because the whole kernel of the thing, from the outside, just seemed so fucking terrifying. five years after reading FROG MUSIC and THE WONDER i decided to dive into it because ms. emma doesn't play around with unravelled endings. don't you just love a bow on it? i'm gonna reread THE PULL OF THE STARS so many times - a little company store down comforter of a book.

This is a quick, easy read that just keeps inviting you to turn the page. But the content is not easy. It is very graphic with regards to the 1918 flu pandemic and childbirth. It was very serendipitous that Ms Donoghue chose to write this historical fiction on the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu. I do believe it may have been a little rushed to the ending as it was quickly put to press as the novel coronavirus pandemic immersed itself in our world. A very good read. Always amazed that history tends to repeat itself if one doesn’t learn the lessons. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It started a little slow, but quickly I was drawn in. So many things going on in just 3 days as we follow Nurse Power in her shifts as a nurse during the 1918 flu.
Very touching story.

Many thanks to NetGalley; Little, Brown and Company; and Emma Donoghue for the opportunity to read and review her latest work - 5 stars for such a well-written novel that couldn't be more relevant in today's COVID-19 landscape. I have been a huge fan of Emma Donoghue's since I read Room - I don't think there's anyone better at putting you in a story, feeling the environment and the characters' pain.

Set in Dublin, Ireland, in 1918, during the Influenza Pandemic that killed an estimated 3-6 percent of the world's population, we are drawn into three days in the life of Nurse Julia Power as she works in the maternity flu ward at the hospital. Two other amazing characters are introduced - Dr Lynn (a real doctor so be sure to read the author's notes at the end) and Bridie Sweeney, a young woman from the local orphanage sent to help. These three women fight to save the lives of the women brought to them as well as the lives of their babies.

There is much to be gained from looking back at our history - this book explores how women and orphans were treated like slaves, how vastly medicine and medical practices have changed, and how government responses to crises may not have changed as much as we would like - but the human factor in this story as well as our own is what rises above all. While some may struggle with the medical procedures and resulting gore in this book, you can't help but feel an incredible pull towards the story of people going through a pandemic while we are living through a new one. And there is hope because of course the world survived this one, so we will survive our current one. "The human race settles on terms with every plague in the end....Or a stalemate, at the least. We somehow muddle along, sharing the earth with each new form of life."

Highly recommended for a book and characters that will continue to haunt me.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue was an excellent story and incredibly well researched. The book only spans three days but is jam-packed with brilliant observations about medicine in 1918. For one second, let’s talk about this amazing cover! Julia, the primary character, has a watch where she carves moons, half-moons etc. based on the health/death of her patients.

The first half of the book takes us moment by moment into the hospital where Julia is a nurse in a maternity ward during a flu pandemic. Not only are the women she cares for about to give birth, but they are sick with a potentially deadly flu. Though the story centers on the patients and Julia, it’s riveting writing that is tense and detailed. As she cares for each patient, they have their own set of circumstances and challenges.

Young Birdie is sent to help, she is neither a nurse nor doctor but is a runner, pitching in where necessary. Julia notices that she is intuitive and gifted when dealing with the patients. Then there is Dr. Kathleen Lynn who is a member of a group wanted by the police for their rebellious political stance.

The pandemic echos what is going on right now with Covid. Although the big difference is how the sickness is treated, Nurse Julia gives her patients hot whiskey and for the women in labor, chloroform!

Check it out:

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, 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.

As the first part of the book moves into the second, Julia and Bridie develop a special friendship. The police are looking for Dr. Lynn and want to arrest her. Julia is left alone a lot to take care of the pregnant women and she does her best on very little sleep to care for them.

Though the book is primarily set in one small area of a hospital, its atmospheric; dark and dreary. You can easily imagine yourself there with Julia as she struggles to keep the women alive with limited medical knowledge. The author’s writing is amazing, she is seriously gifted to write a book like this.

"That's what influenza means, she said. Influenza delle stelle - the influence of the stars. Medieval Italians thought the illness proved that the heavens were governing their fates, that people were quite literally star-crossed."

I'd read Room by Donoghue previously and I was so taken with her ability to plop the reader right into the midst of the story. When reading Room, I felt like I was there with Jack, seeing/feeling/reacting to exactly what he saw/felt/reacted to as it happened on the page. I was wondering if Donoghue would be able to transfer this sense of immersion in her other works, and in this department she did not disappoint with The Pull of the Stars.

In this book we follow Nurse Julia Power for three days in 1918 in Dublin, Ireland during the flu pandemic that hit while the country was simultaneously dealing with WWI. Julia works in a small makeshift maternity ward specifically created for preggo ladies who've come down with the flu, and believe it or not things aren't always unicorns and rainbows for Julia and her patients. In addition to Julia, we've got a few other kick-a$$ ladies who make significant appearances in this story - Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rare female doctor (gasp!) who is wanted by the police for her role in a rebel group and Bridie Sweeney, a naive young woman from a local orphanage who volunteers her time at the woefully understaffed hospital due to, you know, staff being out sick with the flu. Other characters include the patients in the ward, Julia's mute brother, some annoying guys who work in the hospital, and some other people who you can learn all about if you decide to pick this book up. Which I suggest you do.

It feels like a premonition that Donoghue started writing this in 2018 - the 100 year anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish flu - and here we are in 2020 in the midst of an eerily similar pandemic. I kept underlining passage after passage that felt like it could have been written today instead of prior to the COVID outbreak, when Donoghue actually penned the words. For example:

"Increase in reports of Influenza. A masterpiece of understatement, as if it were only the reporting that had increased, or perhaps the pandemic was a figment of the collective imagination. I wondered whether it was the newspaper publisher's decision to play down the danger or if he'd received orders from above."

"My voice came out shrill. Would you not put on a mask, even?"

"THE GOVERNMENT HAS THE SITUATION WELL IN HAND AND THE EPIDEMIC IS ACTUALLY IN DECLINE. THERE IS NO REAL RISK EXCEPT TO THE RECKLESS WHO TRY TO FIGHT THE FLU ON THEIR FEET. IF YOU FEEL YOURSELF SUCCUMBING, REPORT YOURSELF AND LIE DOWN FOR A FORTNIGHT. WOULD THEY BE DEAD IF THEY'D STAYED IN BED?"

This book is very well researched and well written. Doctor Kathleen Lynn is a real lady-doctor from back in the day and there's a little blurb about her at the end of the book and everything. Readers who liked Room are going to dig The Pull of the Stars. It's real. It's sad. It's life.

One tiny gripe is the surprise romance that didn't really make any sense to me and seemed to come out of nowhere. I thought the book would have felt more genuine if that was omitted because it seemed to come out of left field, but it really didn't distract from the overarching story too much.

Set in 1918 Dublin during the flu pandemic, a maternity ward nurse struggles with death, fear, love, and survival. Great story line and very fitting for the current pandemic. I found that I wasn’t quite able to connect with the characters enough.
Recommended for those who love historical fiction especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic.