On May 28, 1934, five identical baby girls were born to a French Canadian family in Ontario. Their survival was both miraculous and the result of the tireless work of the doctor, midwives, and nurses who delivered the girls and worked round-the-clock in their infancy. Controversy and celebrity followed the girls, who were separated from their family and raised by the state until the age of nine in a hospital built especially for them across the street from their family home.

Everything about this true story is mind-blowing. The title is apt in every way. That Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie all lived was truly amazing. The exploitation, experimentation, and trauma they experienced as a result of their celebrity was horribly tragic.

Sarah Miller's narrative is gripping and filled with quotations from primary sources and interviews with the surviving quintuplets. Miller does a fantastic job navigating the nuances of these events. None of the figures involved are cast as wholly villainous or wholly angelic. Once so famous, the story of the Dionne Quintuplets has been out of the spotlight for decades, but it's not a story that will easily be forgotten.

Admittedly, I was more than a little excited to read Sarah Miller's The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets; based on the frenzy that surrounded the quints throughout their life growing up in the spotlight, I found I am not alone in my fascination. I knew a little about the Dionne quintuplets from seeing one of their films in my childhood; however, I did not realize how deep and dark these waters run. Miller's compelling exposé examines the quints' life from the day they were born in a small Ontario to farmhouse, to their lives as adults with no real grasp of how the world works. People couldn't get enough of the quintuplets, who lived "on display" in a hospital built just for them until they were 9 years old. With no real education, socialization, or family bonding, the story behind the Dionne quintuplets is nowhere near as glamorous as the media portrayed it to be.

I was completely engrossed of this telling of the Dionne quintuplets' lives. Picking up this book became the highlight of my day, because just when I thought this story couldn't get any more sordid, it did. The Canadian government and the media ruined the lives of the Dionne family, turning a miraculous birth into a sideshow. This book is as horrifying as it is compelling.

Fault comes in with the book's marketing - gearing the book toward a YA audience feels wrong, as much of the storyline may be over their heads and/or not of interest.

In 1934 the world witnesses a medical miracle: the birth of a set of identical quintuplets who survive. The Dionne family welcome their daughters but soon learn the girls will be claimed by many people far from the small Canadian town they call home. Author Sarah Miller offers extensive research and sources for her chronicle of this fascinating, yet heartbreaking story in The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets.

Having birthed several children before May of 1934, Elzire Dionne is no stranger to the aches and pains associated with having a baby. She thinks her most recent pregnancy will proceed like the others, yet it doesn’t. When she goes into labor two months early, no one can predict that the early onset of symptoms means the coming of an incident unlike anything she has seen: she gives birth to quintuplets.

From the start, the Quints, as they come to be known, fight defy all expectations by living beyond the first hours and days of birth. No one, least of all their doctor, Dr. Dafoe, expects them to survive. Still, he and the nurses assigned to the care of Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, and Marie fulfill their obligation to do what they can to keep the babies alive—and to the astonishment of everyone involved in their care, the girls live.

Word spreads fast about the birth of the Quints, and newspaper readers across Canada and into the United States become fixated on the wellbeing of the girls. During the Depression years, most people struggle to find hope in their own lives. The survival of the quintuplets represents to them a wondrous occurrence: even in the bleakness of the world, an underdog has a chance.

Woefully unprepared for the immediate doubling of their household, the Dionne family do their best to help the new babies. Dr. Dafoe enlists the help of the media, and resources, including breast milk, diapers, and incubators, arrive in droves. So do the people who travel for hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to see the Quints.

Dr. Dafoe worries that someone will try to profit from the unusual birth and eventually convinces Elzire and her husband, Oliva, to allow the Canadian government to take custody of the babies. Despite deep misgivings, the parents agree. For the next nine years, the Quints live in a special hospital built just for them across the street from their birth home. There they receive the exclusive attention of Dr. Dafoe and the nurses who care for them, play with them, and discipline them. They also receive the attention of the thousands of tourists who come to see the girls riding their tricycles in their playground.

Oliva and Elzire object many times to the arrangement, but their voices are ignored for almost a decade. Through the years, the tussle between the Dionne family and the government continues as people near and far profit from Quint newspaper ads, product endorsements, and media opportunities. While Oliva and Elzire eventually win the right to bring the girls home, the discomfort continues. The quintuplets have only known life with the doctor, their nurses, and in the hospital. The relationships they attempt with their parents and other siblings in the following years are strained at best, but one thing that doesn’t change is their bond with one another.

Author Sarah Miller lays out the story of the quintuplets in a chronological format that is easy to follow. Young adult readers as well as adult readers will find themselves fascinated and horrified by turns at everything the Quints endured, including exploitation, abuse, and theft from the significant trust fund set up in their name when they were babies. Miller’s recounting of the experiences of Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, and Marie circle around one main theme: the tight bond the girls formed and their deep-seated desire to live as individuals in a world that saw them as one person.

Miller takes care to document her sources. If the book can be faulted anywhere, it’s in quoting the sisters as one. Ironically, the one thing the quintuplets wished for more than anything else—individuality—gets subverted by this collective quoting. Putting that aside, however, the book offers an intriguing look into a time and decade when a medical marvel captivated people and nations.

I recommend readers Bookmark The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets.

I'm a bit young to remember all the hoopla regarding these famous quintuplets when they were younger, but I do remember hearing things about them from my parents and from articles done about them as they got older and hit various milestones in their lives.

This was a great telling of their story and was not bogged down with too many facts and figures. It was just a well written account of their childhoods and the circumstances which thrust them from small town poverty to world famous celebrities just by virtue of the miracle of their survival.

The Dionne Quintuplets were 17 when I was born. By the time I heard of them they were not in the limelight as they once had been and I didn't realize what a miracle they had been. Multiple births are old-hat now, but their birth was amazing, then and now. Naturally conceived quintuplets born at home in a farmhouse in 1934, some weighing only a pound, and they survived! From the moment they were born they were in the limelight. Many people sought to keep it this way and sought to exploit them. Their father was a poor farmer who was easily swayed by these shucksters who wanted to display them at the World's Fair among other things. The Canadian government, partly to protect the quints and partly to cash in on this miracle basically took over "ownership" of the quints. They built a hospital/school across from their home that was state of the art at the time. The girls spent the first 9 years of their lives there behind a fence, viewed by long lines of people from all over the world as they went about their "normal" lives. This arrangement ruined their relationship with their parents and siblings who could visit only at certain times. This relationship was never mended. By the time they were ready to go out on their own, they were totally unaware of the ways of the world. Soon, all the money that had been invested for them over the years was gone, misspent and stolen by those who supposedly loved them most. This story is indeed a miracle and a tragedy. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

1. I have read in other reviews that this is like an expose of what really happened with the Dionne Quints. I have to disagree vehemently. What I just read is more like tabloid fodder than a nonfiction biography of sisters who never knew normal. It is shocking and appalling and I am horrified that both an editor and a publisher is letting this be "given to the masses" as truth. This just reeks of profit and greediness and more exploitation of a family that has known nothing but that in their whole lives. Shame on this publisher and shame on the writer.

2. This is not a YA book. It is a book of nonfiction [and I use that term loosely, but we will get to that] that absolutely could be read by anyone. There is NOTHING in this book to indicate that it is specifically for the age group of YA and is misleading. Very few YA readers would find this intriguing - it is in many chapters, a dry read and also is very, very, repetitive. You have no doubt, by the end of the book, who you are supposed to feel sorry for [shocker, it is NOT the quints] because it is hammered at you over and over again [see #4].

3. WHERE. ARE. THE. FOOTNOTES? Where is the source material sited? She lists the books she uses and she does have somewhat of a note section [but without footnotes and a bibliography, HOW do you even follow this?]. The author tries to absolve herself of this in a "note on the dialogue" and assures the reader that "she has not invented any of the dialogue in this book. Everything rendered in quotation marks can be traced to diaries, correspondence, books, newspapers, magazines, newsreels, or film documentaries". Well, that is ALL well in good to state that, but without full source material and footnotes, how can we check that? We cannot. We have to rely on the word of the author [many of the conversations that appear in this book seem as if the author herself was talking with the Quints or their family or the nurses etc, which would be impossible in MANY cases, and is very misleading]. She also states that a note of caution must be used [and this is the HUGE red flag for me and what makes me think this is much more for sensationalism and monetary gain than anything else] in regards to the conversations she has "re-created". Uh, yeah. No kidding. When you abridge conversations or, in my opinion, INVENT conversations, to further your book along, you are no longer writing a nonfiction book and have moved into the fiction world.

4. This is a book of great bias. There seems to be no attempt to be unbiased and in my opinion, the author almost delights in her bias. It is only towards the end of the book, after the parent's have died, that the bias leaves and she truly focuses in on the Quints themselves and what they truly may have suffered. While both sides are culpable and the Ontario government DID overstep their bounds tremendously, the parent's [mostly because of the father's doing] ALSO capitalized on their daughters [and ultimately, even the mother was guilty of using her daughters to get the response she wanted from the people] and all of the blame cannot be laid at the Ontario governments feet. The fact that the girls, when they were moved as babies, were literally across the street [400 yards] from where they were born and that the parent's had FULL access to them [something they chose not to utilize due to the strictness of the nurses - uh, they were QUINTS. In 1934. It is a miracle they lived to begin with. The nurses and the schedule and the avoidance of germs and illness was wise {in the beginning. It DID get out of control as they got older} and I think the parent's chose ignorance so they could garner sympathy rather than listen to the Drs and educate themselves on just WHY the girls needed round-the-clock care] and chose to basically ignore them speaks volumes to me. The fact that the author does nothing to hide the fact that she sides with the parent's is disturbing and again, in my opinion, unprofessional as an author of nonfiction.

5. I will be looking for other books on the Dionne Quints. Hopefully one that has more source material and footnotes. I think this might have worked better as a book of historical fiction as it seems more like that than a book of nonfiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House Children's/Schwartz and Wade for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t want to put it down. I kept finding any chance to read it, talk about it and just mull it over. I was aware of the Dionne Quintuplets, but I had no clue what happened in their lives. I felt that Sarah Miller did an excellent job in her research, and showed both sides. It wasn’t boring like some non-fiction can be, but so well-written it had a story quality, even while explaining dates and definitions. I think if anyone is interested in learning about the Dionne Quintuplets, this should be their first stop!

Quite fascinating! I had limited familiarity with the Dionne Quintuplets' story before this and thought the author did a skillful job narrating such a complex story. Definitely a book we will be adding to the collection.

This seems to be the summer of the Dionnes, between <i>Quintland</i> and this book. During the SLJ Teen Live event the author mentioned that most YA readers won't have heard about them, which is true... unless they've heard Sondheim's "I'm Still Here" and looked them up. There's also been some coverage of them as the original "kidfluencers" but that may be escaping teen notice.

This is NF and pretty well done. Because the Dionne family hasn't been all that forthcoming there's a lot of unknowns about their lives, especially life once the girls moved home and what their siblings thought/think. Their exploitation by everyone, from their doctor to their neighbors, is truly tragic. Equally tragic are the statements made later by several of the nurses in charge of their care as they realize the effects of their treatment on the family and the girls.

eARC provided by publisher.

I LOVED this book. I want to go back and purchase Sarah Miller’s back catalog for my library now. She did a brilliant job of examining all angles of the captivating medical miracle and ensuing media circus caused by the Dionne Quintuplets, without idolizing or vilifying any participants.

This was a fascinating and sad read. I had never heard of the Dionne Quintuplets and theirs is a tragic story. I am not a big fan of transcripts and at times I found this a little clunky but this book was full of information. I think it really brings home that taking children away from parents is not always the best and the government does not always have the best intentions to the children in their care. I am looking at this from a US perspective but as someone who studied foster care for a degree this book really touched my heart. I would recommend this if you had never heard of their story because it is really quite remarkable.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's Schwartz & Wade for the free copy. This is an honest review.

Had never even heard of these people till reading this! 1934 i guess would be exciting! I'm going to checkout the other book by this author!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

If you haven't heard of the Dionne Quintuplets before, this is a great starting point. Their lives were treated as a sideshow almost, and honestly, i felt sadness for them and the lives / childhoods they missed out on. This book was great at being neutral/unbiased in telling the story.

Miller's depiction of the Dionne quintuplets' story is objective and neutral. I've read several books about the sisters, but this one focused on different angles of their lives. I felt overwhelming sadness for their lives, right from birth. They were kept as a cute sideshow, deprived of their family, and completely inured from the outside world. Permanently estranged from their extended family, the bonds of the sisters remained strong even through the early deaths of two of them. The women never knew a normal life and it's incredibly sad. One was betrayed by her son, who helped wrangle a settlement from the Ontario government. This book is a must read if you're a fan of the Dionne story.

I had no idea who the Dionne Quintuplets were prior to reading this book. Their circumstances were amazing and horrifying. As a parent, I can’t even begin to imagine what those poor people went through. I’m glad I had the chance to learn about it. While it was a quick read, I don’t necessarily agree that this is good for teens. I received a copy for review from Net Galley.

My father was just an infant when the Dionne quintuplets defied odds by surviving their birth in 1934. Their parents, Oliva and Elzire Dionne, were farmers who were doing just a little better than their neighbors, despite their six children. Elzire's pregnancy had been difficult, and even though it was expensive, she had consulted Dr. Dafoe, the local GP. When she went into labor two months early, the midwives consulted him yet again. When five babies, all very small, were born, he advised keeping them warm and handling them as little as possible, feeding them minute amounts of improvised formula and a little rum if they took a turn! Despite this, they survived, and their care was debated and mismanaged from the beginning. Because of an ill-advised contract with an American company to show them at the World's Fair, custody was given to the government. This helped with the massive amount of care that they needed, and a nursery building was built across the road. Unfortunately, the parents were denied access, at first under the guise that the children were medically fragile, and then just as a matter of course. This was an issue that was constantly fought, but Dafoe managed to triumph. Sadly, the girls were kept separate not only from their family, but from other children, and when they were finally returned to their family at the age of nine, it was difficult for them. Their father arranged for them to be educated by nuns with a few select children, and even their college education was very sheltered. This lead to problems in their later lives, and the girls never did feel at home with their family, which is not surprising, especially considering that their father was abusive. This book is a terrific overview of everything Dionne!

Strengths: The average twelve year old has NO idea about the Dionne's and how impossibly famous they were at the time! This is a fascinating topic, and Miller covers it beautifully, from caring for the tiny babies to the swirl of tourism that surrounded them... until it didn't. Very complete, well researched, and engaging to read. I can't wait to have this on hand for my students who love nonfiction, and also for those who are up for something different!
Weaknesses: I was expecting a novelization, similar to this author's Miss Spitfire, and I was envisioning a story told from the perspective of one of the quints (I was hoping for Marie!). It's hard to be disappointed when so much good factual information is laid out, but I think my expectation made it harder for me to process some of the nitty gritty details about custody and other legal issues. Still a great resource!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing! I think that Ms. Miller should retell the story of Karen Killilea for modern middle grade readers. I don't know why that kept popping into my mind as I read this book, but I remember being enthralled with the book Karen when I was in middle school, but it is very long and detailed. It is interesting to see how people who were different were treated in the past!

This was actually super interesting. I had never heard of the Dionne quintuplets before now, and was super intrigued by their story. Having quintuplets during the era of the Great Depression would be stressful on any family, but to see the nation help them thrive was incredible. Only 4 stars though because some portions did seem repetitive and drag on.

Before reading this book, the only things I knew about the Dionne quintuplets came from Wikipedia. This was an extremely readable biography and now I almost feel as though I grew up alongside the girls. It was very even-handed in its explanations of the conflicts between the girls' parents and the doctor responsible for their care. Highly, highly recommended to anyone with an interest in how the world's first set of surviving quintuplets did just that.

Olivia and his wife Elzire were not aware that this latest pregnancy would change their lives forever. Elzire gives birth to quintuplets. Yvonne, Annette, Cicile, Emilie, and Marie. Each born in that order. They were born early and not expected to live. These babies would forever be known as the Dionne Quintuplets.
Not only were multiple live births of this degree unheard of, they were also all still alive and that was extraordinary.
What starts out as a paramount effort to keep the babies alive, in later years is a disaster. No expense was spared to keep the babies alive. Milk was brought in, along as an incubator that worked with hot water. Indoor plumbing, electricity and such did not exist in the Dionne home. The wood stove was kept hot at all times for heating water and keeping the house warm. Eventually a hospital was built across the street for the babies. This is where the division of the home started. The quints from their parents and their other siblings. The Quints would stay in that sterile environment for the next nine years. Strangers were allowed to view the girls. Their parents, only if specific rules were followed. The siblings weren't allowed around their sisters for fear of contagion.
The girls depended on themselves and the nurses that served them. There is no familial bond between their parents and siblings.
When the young girls leave home. They are not ready for the real world. They have led such a sheltered life.
Since the girls were born during the depression, they were a way of people forgetting their problems when they could focus their attention on this miracle of five duplicate babies. The children were exploited for tourism, movies, miscellaneous items that conveyed their likeness. Thousands of people travelled from around the world to see the famous quints. Some of the money did go into a trust for the girls. However, years later it would be found that thousands of dollars were "lost".
This is an extraordinary story of five extraordinary babies that grew up to be extraordinary women. Through their struggles they were able to have a life afterwards.
Wonderfully written! Excellent!

Super tragic story of the Dionne quints. I'm familiar with their story and think what the government did to them, and their family, was deplorable. Just heartbreaking. I understand this is a YA book, just the right age for teens looking for a good non-fic read. Its well written and well researched. If I'm not mistaken, I believe one of the girls is still living. I remember the girls trying for the longest time to get the Canadian government to make some reparations- not sure of the outcome any more, but plenty of folks made a lot of money off the poor girls. The girls should have gotten a substantial portion of that.