I ended up dnfing this one, I just couldn’t get into this one. I really thought I was going to love this one.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

"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."

An okay read from Emma Donoghue but I would recommend this book for its social relevance - Spanish Flu vs Covid - rather than its plot or characters.

3☆

I had a hard time reading this book. The format of not using proper punctuation with dialogue was distracting. The story was graphic and slow. The topic matter May have been hard for me due to the current pandemic.

This book was beautiful and heartbreaking - not to mention extremely timely, in the midst of our current pandemic. I so want to know what happens next. A must-read.

I found this story to be fascinating and by 60% in, I had trouble putting it down. It is the story of two women who meet each other while working in a Dublin hospital during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, in a special maternity ward for flu patients. I always am interested in stories that have a medical component, and the author's writing style drew me in. This book does contain graphic birth scenes. They did not bother me at all, and in fact I was really interested in reading about the medical procedures. I did find the ending to be a bit rushed- I think this could definitely have been a longer book. This book covers many difficult subjects such as poverty, death, infant loss, child abuse, abuse of power by religious officials. Thank you for the complimentary copy~

Emma Donoghue's The Pull of the Stars is one of those books that snuck up on me. Until about 20% of the way in I was thinking, "This is good. Not great, but good enough." Then, just a few pages beyond that point the book grabbed me and didn't let go. I read. And read and read and read. I read much later into the night than I should have, but I finally started to drop off—so I got up early the next morning to finish the book before I did anything else.

The three central female characters in The Pull of the Stars are each compelling in her own way, and sharing their growing closeness gave me a fierce sense of loyalty to them. The mothers on the influenza ward are also an interesting mix of ages and attitudes. Many of the characters beyond these are rather two-dimensional, but the core trio easily carry the narrative.

We are living now in our own pandemic, though one not yet as destructive as the 1918 influenza, and The Pull of the Stars gives us an interesting perspective through which to view our own time. Yes, things could definitely be worse. Yes, people clutch at all sort of straws as they convince themselves they won't fall ill or desperately try questionable cures. Read The Pull of the Stars for its own sake and to come to a richer understanding of the present day.

I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions are my own.

5 Stars, one of the best of 2020
Talk about timing. Emma Donoghue became interested in the Great Influenza in 2018 because of the 100 year anniversary. But as she put the final touches on her draft, the corona virus reared its ugly head.
Emma Donoghue has always been a master at putting us smack dab in a time and place. Here, it’s Ireland in 1918. WWI is still ongoing and the Influenza has Dublin in its grasp. Nurse Julia Powers is acting matron of the Maternity/Fever Ward. Into her ward comes Bridie, with no training whatsoever, and Dr. Lynn, a female doctor and Sinn Fein rebel.
There are similarities to our current epidemic, with overflowing hospitals, supply shortages and the need for masks, but we also get to see what has changed. No doctors nowadays prescribing alcohol to pregnant women to give them comfort or linseed poultices to cure a cough. And the same lack of understanding about social distancing. “The queue I passed outside the picture house! Grown men, women and children, all gasping to get into the great germ box.”
The writing is so detailed, you will feel you are in the room. And the characters come across as fully fleshed. This book just drew me in. It’s not a fast paced story, but I was desperate to know what the outcome would be for them and the patients under their care. The story is heartbreaking. As with our own crisis, the book points out the incredible strain on the workers tasked with caring for the sick.
As an interesting side note, Dr. Lynn was a real person. Make sure to read the Author’s Note for her history.
My thanks to netgalley and Little, Brown for an advance copy of this book.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue is a novel rich in history. It examines medicine, war, living conditions, and life during a pandemic.

The Pull of the Stars was a visceral, raw read.

Set in Dublin during the influenza pandemic of 1918, we follow Nurse Julia Power into a makeshift maternity influenza ward in a city hospital. Julia, along with her colleagues, are extremely overworked because of the pandemic. The patients that she takes care of are described so vividly, and the medical situations occurring appear to be meticulously researched. A word of warning; if you’re squeamish at all they can be very detailed!

The description of the city and people during the pandemic are fascinating, especially considering the parallels to what we are currently living through. I especially loved the historical underpinning of the novel. Dr. Kathleen Lynn makes an appearance, and the 1916 Rebellion is discussed briefly. Julia’s brother has served as a soldier in the war. There is also mention of the religious institutions operating at the time housing unmarried mothers and their babies.

I will say that I was uncertain about the ending. Not to give too much away, but the final events turned so quickly and seemed to me to have a totally different feel to the rest of the novel.

Overall a beautiful, bloody and engrossing read.

The timing of this book is eery. It's about a nurse working in a Dublin maternity ward during the 1918 flu pandemic. It is so good, right from the beginning. Donoghue brings you right into the character's head from the first page, and she evokes a completely realized world of mask wearers and public health scoffers. In one memorable scene, Nurse Julia Powers walks along the street and notices a sign warning people not to spread the flu by spitting - and the sign itself is plastered with spit.

The novel takes place over the course of two days during which Powers battles to save women and their babies in her small ward, while also battling her own distractions in the form of her shell-shocked brother and animosities within the hospital. At her side is Bridie, a completely inexperienced volunteer whose willingness to help is more useful than the inattentive care of most of the doctors in the hospital.

No characters or situations are left undeveloped, and, against the backdrop of WWI, this contained world holds all the drama of a battlefield. As Powers says when overhearing discussions about the possibility of peace, "It occurred to me that in the case of this flu there could be no signing a pact with it; what we waged in hospitals was a war of attrition, a battle over each and every body." Her efforts to save her patients, backed up by her deep knowledge of nursing, is portrayed as a fight that she is determined not to lose if there's anything in her power to stop it.

Powers also uses the language of the battlefield to describe women's experience of childbirth. She argues strongly against the moralizing of her fellow ward sister who sees unmarried motherhood as a sin that must be punished. Likewise, she refuses to write off the chances of poor women who arrive malnourished and carrying evidence of domestic abuse. When an orderly argues that women haven't earned the right to vote because they don't pay the "blood tax" of fighting wars, Powers tells him to "Look around you, Mr. Groyne. This is where every nation draws its first breath. Women have been paying the blood tax since time began." Herself unmarried and childless, Powers sees sacrifice and strength in the act of childbearing.

Fair warning - there are a lot of graphic scenes of difficult births, but overall this is a gorgeous novel.

Rich characters but the reader is left with wanting more from the storyline. Descriptive but doesn't seem to fully develop.

Beautiful and timely!
Ireland during the Spanish flu and wartime, The Pull of the Stars sees Julia trying to navigate her way as a nurse in an ill equipped hospital, trying to save the lives of pregnant women and their babies. While the story only tells three days worth of heartache, it feels like forever. Brilliant!

The parallels between this book about the 1918 flu and the present are striking, and the background in Ireland at the time is well drawn.
My only hesitation, well written as it is , that it its a touch sentimental.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan, Emma Donoghue, and netgalley for this ARC.

3.5ish stars. I really struggled with how to rate this book.

This book is about a maternity nurse in Dublin, Ireland during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. It takes place over 3 days in the maternity/fever ward of a hospital.

First, what I enjoyed about the book. The main character is likable. Though there are intense parts of the book (more on that below), I didn't find it to be TOO bad. There was only one scene where I found myself holding my breath. The book moves quickly. You can imagine yourself in the nurse's shoes during her shifts. It's a time period that I have not previously read about.

On to what I didn't enjoy. I found the lack of quotation marks in the dialog to be annoying. I spent too much time trying to understand who was speaking. The book also doesn’t have chapters, just a few sections. These two things alone almost made me DNF about halfway through. But again, there were positives about the book that kept me going.

The delivery scenes are intense, and some people might find them disturbing. I wouldn’t read if pregnant or have recently lost a baby.

Although there are explicit details of delivering babies, and dying from complications from influenza, the story holds your attention. In today's pandemic there are so many comparison's that you appreciate all the work nurses and doctors are doing both now and in the past. How so many people rise above their own issues to support and help. Finding your own way in troubled times, is the underlying theme, which propels the book. Very enjoyable.

Heartwarming and hopeful in a terrible time of the great Flu. It revolves around just three days in a maternity ward in Dublin and the lives of strong and courageous women. I could not put this book down. Tremendous feat of writing in our own bleak times.

Pain and suffering gather at doorsteps.

No particular street. No predestined number. Certainly, without invitation.

Julia Power rides her bicycle through the darkened streets of Dublin in the pouring rain. Her destination is the understaffed and over-populated hospital reeling from the onslaught of The Great Flu of 1918. The world, and in particular Ireland, takes on an invisible enemy the likes of which they've never known. And in parallel, the human enemies lay in trenches and on battle fields during World War I. Julia's own brother, Tim, has returned from the war altered in every way.

But Julia, a trained nurse of nine years specializing in midwifery, trudges up the stairs to come face-to-face with a daunting reality. She will be on call flying solo during her shift today. No extra hands to lighten the burden of caring for women in labor harboring the harsh symptoms of the flu. Julia survived a case of it a few months back. Most doctors have been called to the battlefields with few to take up the gauntlet of fighting this monster pandemic with limited supplies and even less sleep and endurance.

Emma Donoghue writes with a sharp-ended pen here dipping into the ink of suffering, remorse, helplessness, and endless heels caught on the rim of hopelessness. The Pull of the Stars speaks to the reality of the times. The birthing is explicit and detailed. Panic rises and rises with very little recourse. If you are of a gentle persuasion, this book may be a bit of heavy lifting for you. But if you lean toward the gallant efforts of humans pushed to the limits, this novel will leave you with a solid respect for those who came before us and for those who still battle the unspeakable every day.

Yes, this novel cuts close to the grain as we battle the Covid 19 pandemic. Pain and misfortune will never leave this world. But it is an eye-opener as to how these brave individuals gave their all with such antiquated knowledge and materials. The Irish government set out posters advocating eating onions and wearing eucalyptus to fight the grippe. And in spite of the odds, so many survived. Packed on crowded trams, a bad cough would get the response: "Sure you might as well spray us with bullets."

The Pull of the Stars is an exceptional read. Brutal, but not without the essentials of compassion and dedication. And the profound reality is that humanity rises up, time after time again, for another day.

I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and to the talented Emma Donoghue for the opportunity.

4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars

What a quiet yet powerful little gem this is. Emma Donoghue escaped my radar up until now. The blurb enticed me, and my impulse decision to hit the green Net Galley request button paid off nicely.

This is a 3-day slice of life centering on 3 women and several key minor characters. The book takes place during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Much of the story unfolds in the tiny “lyingin ward” (really a small room) for pregnant women ill with the flu in an understaffed hospital in Dublin. Twenty- nine-year-old Julia Power is an nurse and midwife; we are privy to much of what is in her head. Her volunteer helper is Bridie, “around 22 years-old,” who is a product of the miserable nun-run orphanage in town. Dr. Kathleen Lynn, a member of a rebel group who is wanted by the police, also plays a key role in the novel. Her character is based on a real person of the same name—do not fail to read about her in the wonderful Author’s Note by Ms. Donoghue. Each of these women have their issues that play a major role and influence the relationships forged amongst the three. Interesting side characters include Julia’s brother, rendered mute by his experiences during WWI; orderly Groyne doing his best to cope with issues in his own way; and, of course, the ill mothers-to-be: Honor White, Delia Garrett, Ita Noonan, and seventeen-year-old Mary O’Rahilly, all with their own burdens to bear.

This book is not for action fans. It is a slow burn, to be sure, yet it somehow drew me in quickly and captivated me for the duration. Despite it being character-driven and nearly totally confined to one small space, there was a tremendous amount of tension and suspense in that tiny room that shackled me to the pages.

Oh, and what a learning experience! Gosh, I took an OB-GYN rotation in medical school, but I was so much more entranced by all the knowledge I gleaned about the state of the art of delivering a baby in the early 20th century in a time of little help and rampant illness. Ms. Donoghue really did her research.

The ambiance is well portrayed as the dark and dreary times it was. Such hardships, but how strong people were back then to do the very best they could with the situations they found themselves in. I particularly loved how people by helping others and sticking together could accomplish a great deal in making the most of their lives.

This book isn’t for everyone, but it was for me. I highly recommend it for all who are interested in reading about admirable people doing their best under less than ideal circumstances and taking lessons learned from those who pass through their lives.

I wish to thank Net Galley, Little Brown and Company, and Miss Emma Donoghue for an advanced copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

The Pull of the Stars
A Novel
by Emma Donoghue
Little, Brown and Company
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction
Pub Date 21 Jul 2020 | Archive Date 27 Oct 2020

Not my favorite Emma Donoghue book. But it was intriguing and interesting. Thanks to Net Galley and Little, Brown, and Company for providing the ARC.

This book was compelling! It told of the time in Dublin in 1918 and the country was going through a pandemic. SIckness was everywhere and the future was bleak. We meet a nurse who is left to deal with a maternity ward and is blessed to have an assistant who comes to guide her. The sadness and gloom of that time in history is very apparent.