Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Pull of the Stars

This novel, set in a maternity/fever ward in Dublin in 1918, did not pull me in right away. I twice started it and had trouble focusing. But on the third try I found it riveting, reading it in two days. The novel is set over the course of three days and follows Nurse Julia Power as she cares for pregnant women with the Great Influenza. Each day she improvises, saves lives and is powerless to stop death, using her knowledge and experience and kindness in an utterly overwhelmed and devastated health system. Also in the novel is the real life activist and doctor Kathleen Lynn whose own mastery in politics and medicine rise above Nurse Power, but who is also powerless at times, both in the hospital and against the police; the young, exploited and utterly effective, competent and sympathetic Bridie Sweeney; the whole system of Catholic control over morality, women's bodies, and the babies of poor and unwed mothers; the women on the ward, who along with Nurse Power, Bridie and Dr. Lynn form a small community, constrained by War, Pandemic, British Imperialism and cruel Catholic morality, living, caring and dying together.

The novel not only explores the stories of people often left untold--poor women in Dublin, children of the unwed, for example--but also queer stories in an unusual and highly effective way. No one would call this a queer novel, I think, but by the end of the novel one must say that it is the story of four queer people living in Dublin when people didn't talk openly about this. This realisation occurs slowly and it's implicit, it's something the novel is lightly building towards but which does not emerge on the ward, hidden from view, like these lives themselves, but which, like the hidden stars, pulls the narrative forward.

Content Warnings

lena04's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Content Warnings

rieviolet's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

beebeereads's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I will not recommend this book to a sensitive reader. The detailed descriptions of a maternity ward during the 1918 Influenza pandemic were very tough. Poverty, war and illness were overwhelming, and the author portrayed that in her style and her words. Pacing played a huge role in this novel. Donoghue takes the reader through harrowing days and restless nights describing the duties of one nurse in minute detail. I appreciated the glimpse into the medical world of 1918 Dublin sometimes highlighting almost barbaric procedures, but also the inventiveness of a war-like environment. She includes commentary on political conflict and describes the way post war stress (now PTSD) played out in different ways. I did feel that the ending was rushed. I would have preferred to spend more time with the characters, but I understand the author’s intent and appreciated that she stayed true to that design.

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deniset's review against another edition

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dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Title: The Pull of the Stars
Author: Emma Donoghue
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: July 21 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Beautiful • Poignant • Timely

📖 S Y N O P S I S

The Pull of the Stars, set in Dublin at the height of the flu pandemic of 1918, spans three days with nurse Julia Power, the expectant mothers, doctor Kathleen Lynn, and volunteer Birdie Sweeney on the maternity ward of an understaffed city-centre hospital. A story of collective trauma and survival, of hope and resilience, of motherhood and friendship, these women will come to change each others' lives.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Initially, I'd have thought reading a story about a pandemic during the current pandemic would have been depressing, but I was wrong! The Pull of the Stars was a exactly what I needed without knowing it. Emma Donoghue's phenomenal and beautiful prose, and her endearing characters are the heart of this book. It is so wonderfully researched and eerily reminiscent to now, providing the comfort and escape I so desperately needed. Despite the darker subject matter, this novel is wholly human. I won't soon be forgetting this cast of characters, each playing an important role throughout. From the very first page, I was sucked into the story, the quick and gripping pace left wanting more.

This was so close to being a 5-star read, but I struggled with the structure. Each section certainly had its place, the length of them felt too long, and the lack of quotation marks at times made it confusing to distinguish between dialogue and thought. After doing a little research I've come to understand the author's intent for the thoughts and dialogue to flow together as one. Even though this structure wasn't for me, it complements the dynamic and chaotic nature of the novel.

Emma Donoghue has certainly become an auto-buy author for me, and I have loved everything I have read so far! Let me just finish by saying the cover artwork is beautiful and pairs perfectly with the stunning story. Also, make sure to check out the author's note at the end as it's another addition making this book so wonderful.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Historical fiction lovers
• Readers looking for a quick read
• anyone who likes admirable characters

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"As far as I could tell, the whole world was a machine grinding to a halt. Across the globe, in hundreds of languages, signs were going up urging people to cover their coughs."

"I gazed up at the sky and let my eyes flicker from one constellation to another, to another, jumping between stepping stones. I thought of the heavenly bodies throwing down their narrow ropes to hook us. I’ve never believed the future was inscribed for each of us the day we were born. If anything were written in the stars, it was we who joined those dots, and our lives were the writing. But baby Garrett, born dead yesterday, and all those whose stories were over before they began, and those who opened their eyes and found they were living in a long nightmare, like Bridie and baby White, who decreed that, I wondered, or at least allowed it?"

Content Warnings

claire_builds_a_stair's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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