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

The Pull of the Stars
By Emma Donoghue
4.5 ⭐️
No Spoilers

This book is written from the perspective of a 30 year old unmarried catholic nurse in Ireland during the Spanish Flu epidemic. She worked in the makeshift fever ward for expecting mothers. Her story tells of the hard work to try and keep the people she nursed alive when the flu was taking many souls daily. The stress of being understaffed was insurmountable but she trudges on. She also has to deal with the Protestant/catholic rift in an unbiased manner, which is pretty hard to do when you were raised from birth to believe certain things. This story takes place over just a few days and really gives you a strong idea of what it would’ve been like to work along side Nurse Powers.

Tissues will be needed - This story was so well written and I loved it, but there are several scenes that triggered strong emotions. The only reason I gave this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 is because I felt like the end was a bit rushed. The ending was still amazing, but there was potential there to extend the story a bit.

If you love strong women and historical fiction this book is for you! Even if you just love strong women characters. This book is excellent and I highly recommend it. Please read the Trigger Warnings.

Content Warnings

rachbreads's review against another edition

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2.5

I’ve read two other books by Emma Donoghue - Room (my rating: 4/5) and The Wonder (my rating: 5/5). The Pull of the Stars (my rating: 2.5/5) is similar to The Wonder - set in historical Ireland, elements of religious/societal oppression, nurses, a single, small setting for most of the action. What The Wonder had that TPotS lacked is this delicious slow burn tension - there’s a big mystery at the heart of TW that the nurse is trying to figure out, and we as readers realllly want to know what’s happening which keeps you so engaged. Plus there are very few characters so you get really connected to them over the course of the book, as opposed to the revolving door of patients and doctors in TPotS where no one stayed around long enough for me to care about them.

What I liked about TPotS was also what I loved about The Wonder - she intentionally keeps the setting very small it almost feels claustrophobic. So we felt stuck in this tiny fever ward with Julia the same way in TW we felt stuck in this tiny bedroom with the nurse Lib. I will say overall that I was rooting for Julia - she really was trying her best and I wanted her to succeed.

I guess that’s why the ending let me down because Donoghue gave her a hint of happiness with Bridie and then took it away. I guess we could infer that she will be happy making a family with her brother and the baby but it still felt like a letdown. And I feel like we had no indication at all throughout the rest of the book that she would ever do anything like quit her job and take home a baby…

Other thoughts - why was Kathleen there? She felt unnecessary as a character other than to give us proof that there was also political unrest happening at the same time as the pandemic. It was interesting to read about the medical beliefs and procedures of the time with regards to pregnancy/maternity as well as the flu and compare them to present day practices - I’m sure she did a lot of research.

Overall, not a terrible book, and it had some interesting moments, but it probably won’t stick with me. I feel like mostly what I’m taking away is an increased horror of childbirth 😂

Content Warnings

ilikenaps's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

epen's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense 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? It's complicated

Wow I loved this book, I can’t remember the last time I ripped through one so quickly. I just could not put it down. The characters were interesting and developed beautifully, the setting was intense and claustrophobic and immersive, the story was gripping and heartbreaking and beautiful. I just loved it and I want to read everything Emma Donoghue has ever written!!

Content Warnings