mueller.harmon_679Description
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.
Martine Schmidt @mueller.harmon_679
September 17, 2021
4
I enjoyed this almost until the penultimate moment, but the ending seemed rushed and left out developing the character of Dr. Lynn enough. This may have been because the publishers wanted it to come out while we are still under Covid regulations. Whatever the reason, it marred the end of an exceptionally good read.