The Pull of the Stars is the latest novel by Emma Donoghue, author of the fantastically moving modern classic Room.
The Pull of the Stars was released in 2020 and was featured in The Guardian, Cosmopolitan and Telegraph’s ‘Books of the Year’. It was also a Richard and Judy book club pick.
I loved Room and found it moving as well as gripping. I was therefore really excited to read this one.
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Plot
The book is set in Dublin, in the early 20th century, where the first world war is coming to an end but an influenza outbreak is causing havoc. The story follows Nurse Julia Power in 1918 as she works at an understaffed hospital in Dublin’s city centre. It is her responsibility to care for the expectant mothers who have come down with the flu as they are all quarantined together.
With little staff to rely on, Julia has to rely on two outsiders, young volunteer Bridie Sweeney and Doctor Kathleen Lynn, an Irish nationalist whose involvement with Sinn Fein makes her a target for the police.
In the tiny and claustrophobic ward, these women fight to save their patients and change each other’s lives in unexpected ways.
The Pull of the Stars Book Review
I loved this book. Emma Donoghue has a real talent for entwining harrowing and devastating details with hope and tenderness.
It’s so beautifully written and I loved how it was poetic in places yet completely blunt in others as the author detailed the gruesome details of obstetric complications. There are no speech marks throughout but I didn’t find it negatively impacted the enjoyment of the book at all. I clearly felt the claustrophobic and breathless atmosphere of the tiny room and I was absolutely captivated by the women on the ward.
I found it so absorbing and I just didn’t want to put the book down. When I did step away from the book I found myself thinking about the plights of these women, alone on a maternity ward with only each other and the nurse for company and support. It was interesting to discover that Emma Donoghue wrote the book prior to the Covid19 outbreak and I found it to be particularly timely and poignant considering the events of the past two years.
I loved both Bridie and Julia. Julia was composed and dignified and showed such humanity and tenderness in the face of such unimaginable stress. Her patience and kindness as she battled in the overcrowded, understaffed hospital was inspirational. Bridie was a delightful character who had suffered so much hardship that it was harrowing to read. Despite this, her determination to help and her positive demeanour made her a character of real substance. I was also interested to read that Dr Kathleen Lynn was a real-life character who was a Sinn Féin politician and activist as well as a medical doctor.
It was a brilliant book. Harrowing, moving yet somehow also hopeful. I was captivated by it from the first page.
What should I read after The Pull of the Stars?
I would definitely recommend reading Room by Emma Donoghue as I found that to be another impactful read.
If you’re interested in reading another book about brave nurses, I’d highly recommend reading The Women by Kristin Hannah.