The Pull of the Stars (2020) by Emma Donoghue follows a maternity ward nurse living and working in gritty 1918 Dublin as the world is being ravaged by the Spanish Flu. I wasn't crazy about the melodramatic last quarter of the book, but everything leading up to it was gripping. You know a book is effective when you find yourself visibly squirming and cringing as you read. Plus, this novel serves as a reminder that COVID is far from the first global health crisis the human race has experienced and overcome.

An interesting story that I expected to like more. Still, great characters and it held my interest. And I learned a lot.

I read a lot of pandemic fiction during 2020 and thought I couldn’t read anymore when I received this eARC of Donoghue’s The Pull of the Star. I’m so glad I overcame my hesitation. This is a gorgeous story of heartbreaking sacrifice and endurance during the 1918 pandemic (and war) in Ireland, but it is also about moments of beauty during the darkest of times.

I read this in a couple days and laying in bed sick. I would be reading for a while before realizing my entire body was absolutely tense and rigid, and I would have to concentrate on relaxing. I was having like a traumatic response to the terror of birth and my own birth traumas. Ugh! I cried a bit a while after. My #1 reaction was horror throughout. I couldn't even enjoy the sweet f/f romance. The reality of Ireland / WWI / Spanish flu / Catholicism / anti-women's & children's rights was only horrifying.

The writing is perfect, EXCEPT that Julia mentions "Frankenstein's macabre servant" - which is from the 1931 film, not the book or the 1910 silent film. Films/escapism/storytelling/idealism are an ongoing motif in the story, but this one just isn't right.

Although this is not the happiest book, it certainly is a timely one. Some might find it a bit intense during our present pandemic, especially if you are pregnant. But having said all that, I thought it was a compelling story that was beautifully written.

I picked up this book on several occasions and had trouble getting into it. My third time picking up the book, I forced myself to give it a fair chance and finally read it all since I have enjoyed Donoghue’s books that I previously read. Unfortunately, I was still unimpressed. I typically enjoy historical fiction and thought reading a book about the Great Flu which spread through Ireland in the early 1900s since it was relevant during the COVID 19 pandemic, I found the book to be a bit dry and slow moving. There were sections that I was interested in, but for the most part I found it I found myself skimming through sections.

Thank you to Netgalley and Emma Donoghue for my copy of The Pull of the Stars. A beautiful, tragic novel. I was so surprised of how much I liked it. Dublin 1918, Ireland is being ravaged by war and disease. Julia Power finds herself working in an understaffed hospital. The ward she watches over is women who are pregnant or have delivered their babies and are being quarantined from the new Flu. While tirelessly working to care for the patients, Julia encounters two women, Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rebel doctor, with a shady past and a young volunteer with no experience, Bridie Sweeney. In just three days, these women see the best and worst of the new Flu and delivering babies. With humanity and heart they change each other’s lives, forever. This book was a wonderful book about life and death and how three woman who can and will make a difference, at any cost. This was such a beautiful book. The writing and characters are excellent. This was a four star read for me. I have recommended it to friends and family, again and again. I couldn’t put it down and I really appreciate that fact that I was able to get an early copy. I have recommended it on my Instagram page. I have also reviewed it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Donoghue's historical fiction/pandemic novel helped ease my anxious mind during the pandemic we are currently facing. Donoghue's writing is detailed and the overall narrative, while challenging at times, was powerful. Resilience is on full display in this poignant and moving novel.

As a nurse currently living and treating patients during a pandemic, this was a fascinating read and I couldn’t help but find myself comparing and contrasting my life with the lives of the healthcare providers in the novel. I was riveted all the way through the novel and was sad when the last page was turned.

I loved this very timely book about a pandemic. I was totally invested in Julia's job as a nurse on a maternity ward. This book was so powerful and I really enjoyed it. I love Donoghue's writing and cant wait for her next book!

The most suspenseful midwifery book I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading! Set during the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1928, Nurse Power spends 3 chaotic days as the head of the small fever/maternity ward at a hospital in Dublin. I love that the book was quartered into the 4 colors/stages flu patients can turn (red, brown, blue, black) meaning each part of the book had more intensity than the last. It’s also intriguing that the author selected to set these three days at Samhain, All Saints Day, and Feast of All Souls. A very engrossing, on-the-edge-of-your-seat historical fiction.

Without a doubt, the best piece of literature I have read all year. Emma Donoghue is a master at creating entire worlds in small spaces, and this book could not have been more timely or more engrossing. While constantly reading about the COVID-19 pandemic can become tiresome and stressful, I found it oddly comforting to reflect on a time when humanity (and humans as individuals and communities) battled something so similar.

In another wonderful book from Emma Donaghue, comes an inspiring and relevant read about WW1 and the impact of the influenza pandemic in Ireland. Emotional and inspiring, the story of Julia, a nurse in a maternity flu ward, tells of heartbreaking loss and love, giving much deserved recognition for the hardworking nurses that care for us all when we need it most.

The uncanny timing of this beautifully written short novel made it both a wonder and an something I had to set aside for a little while. It follows three days in the life of a maternity ward nurse in Dublin, Ireland during the Great Flu Pandemic of 1919 in the wake of World War I and almost a year into the Irish War of Independence. Julia’s tiny ward of sick expectant mother’s is forever changed by the introduction of a Dr. K. Lynn (Sinn Fein activist) and Bridie Sweeney a young woman volunteer at the hospital. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and one of the best books I’ve read all year.

The setting of this book is harrowing and claustrophobic. One can almost smell the tiny hospital room shared by multiple desperate women and the nurse who wants to save them. The characters are vivid and the story is simple but damning of the many injustices of the time, particularly for women. It is a page turner and rather gut wrenching at moments. Donoghue paints a bleak picture, but the sad tale is rooted in hope and the promise of change in the future.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue was a riveting and well written book. With a cast of strong and determined female characters the themes of despair, fear, hope, inequality, caring, kindness and love were portrayed throughout the book. The Pull of the Stars enfolded around the effects of the uprising in Dublin, the toll of the Great War and the effects of the dreaded Spanish Flu. It took place in a maternity fever unit in a Dublin Hospital over the course of a few tense days in 1918. The author, Emma Donoghue, completed writing The Pull of the Stars just prior to the onset of our own dreaded nightmare of COVID-19. Just as Emma Donoghue finished writing The Pull of the Stars our world started to experience the devastation and fear of a world wide pandemic. Her timing was uncanny!. There were so many similarities between the two pandemics. Why are so many so unwilling and unable to learn from the past? Her research for this book was impressive. I felt like I was immersed in and shared in the responsibility of all the difficult decisions that had to be made in that maternity ward. It also was not hard to feel like I was experiencing all the problems, pain and helplessness as if I were right there. The Pull of the Stars was an excellent portrayal of hope and survival. I highly recommend this book.

My rating for this book is 4.5 strong stars rounded up. Thank you to the publisher, Little Brown and Company for allowing me the opportunity to read this digital advanced copy version of The Pull of the Stars through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in my review are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

This was such a timely read due to the current pandemic. Julia Powers is a maternity nurse in a hospital in Ireland and is facing pregnant mothers with influenza and their trials. I was immediately drawn in as Nurse Powers tried to help each patient. I love the way her story plays into what is going on and the references to the history of what is going on in the time. I wish that the love story element would have been more drawn out so that I would have been able to connect more with what happened next. This book was immensely realistic and taut with so much emotion. I will definitely be recommending this to others and I loved learning about the past as we deal with our uncertain future. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Loved this book! Couldn’t put it down and it was another great gem by Emma. So timely for what is happening now and I felt such a connection to the characters. So thankful our health care system has come so far.

This book pulled me into the story timing is everything .
Emma Donoghue has always been a master at putting us smack dab in a time and place. Here we are dealing with Covid19 in the book takes place in Ireland in 1918. WWI is still ongoing and the Influenza has Dublin in its grasp. Loved her writing however book to close to what we are dealing with in out world,

Pandemic, war, women’s maternity ward. All those together create a heartbreaking, beautiful story about the strength of Nurse Powers. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to live in Ireland during the war and flu pandemic.
Like her other novels, this is a slow book that takes some time to get going . Once you get into it, it’s impossible to put down. Nurse Powers takes your heart and so do all the women under her care. I was moved to tears more than once throughout this beautiful story. Highly recommend