Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Pull of the Stars

"The Pull of the Stars" by Emma Donoghue is a beautifully written and deeply moving novel that takes place during the 1918 flu pandemic in Dublin, Ireland. The story follows Nurse Julia Power, who is tasked with caring for pregnant women who have contracted the deadly virus and have been quarantined in a small ward.

I picked this book up after a reading a novel I very much HATED. pretty much anything that I would read afterwards was golden in comparison because my standards had gone LOOOOOWWW.

I really liked the main character, Julia Powers, a 30 year old nurse living with her brother, Tim.

Tim is a WW1 veteran who was rendered mute after his time in the trenches —- and like .. damn … he’s not the same anymore 😭😭 he’ll never be the same anymore … he deserves the world omg

Julia’s an incredibly resilient character, and that must come from her 8 years of nursing experience. The way she powers through and commits to her patients, putting them before herself —damn !! good for u girl

However, as many pandemic-themed works, The Pull Of The Stars lacks conflict. There is barely any tension apart from dangers of the Great Flu—including the romantic attraction between Julia and Bridie! Their dialogue feels natural, mind you, and I found myself completely immersed within scenes of action and high emotion, I found it hard to connect with the characters and their interactions because I didn’t feel like I was supposed to CARE about them.

The Pull Of The Stars was a great book, and I breezed through it within a matter of hours. But overall I felt like it had a lot of potential to go further in depth about certain characters and their relationships in the novel — particularly Tim! I simply feel like there’s so much about him that (for lack of a better word) goes unsaid. His role in the novel as a reminder of the toll that war has on those who fought was SO interesting to me especially because of how it demonstrated the impact that war had on soldiers when they returned home to their families to resume civilian life. And I would’ve loved if the book went further into that. Tim feels like a prop in some ways, just so that Julia can point and go ‘yes we are in a war and that is what happens in war he is an example that is it’ — perhaps it’d make for a more impactful read if there were flashback scenes to before the war, to contrast the past v present and portray a heartbreaking theme of trauma and loss experienced by the characters— both in the context of the pandemic and the first world war. Perhaps I’d feel more engaged with this book if it delved deeper into Julia and Tim’s respective backgrounds—Who were they, before the War? How did Julia react when her brother returned, unable to utter a single word? What can they do to move forward, in a time of drastic change and industrialisation, when their very lives were so shaken by a horrifying World War, followed by an even more brutal pandemic?

Overall, The Pull Of The Stars was an interesting read and I’ll definitely keep it on my list of rereads. I loved the scenes where Julia and Bridie were alone together to banter on their own, and I adored anything to do with Tim because I think he deserves the world. But the lack of conflict and feelings of urgency in this novel is definitely what made me drop this down from a 5 star rating.

Content Warnings

wonderforehead's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.5

I don’t even know where to start. Much like what the narrator says at one point, what happens in this book is like a fever dream. What felt like a slow start was slowly eclipsed by the struggles that just kept coming, one after another, in that makeshift maternity ward. At the same time, I wished the book was longer, much as it made me feel all sorts of things. But then again, I think I just wish that because of at the end of the day, this book just breaks my heart. It’s hopeful in some ways, but bitter in others. I’m rambling now but basically, I think I’m gonna remember this book for a long time.

Content Warnings

natashaball's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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clemrain's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Violence, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual violence

This shattering story takes place over three strenuous days of a nurse and runner in a maternity ward during the influenza pandemic. It’s a difficult, slow read that dives into the little hours of horrors experienced by the most vulnerable. I don’t really have the words for this book. I had a very vague knowledge of the influenza pandemic. But academic readings don’t do the justice to this tragic period of time. This book does and I think it’s because it’s takes a very small real part of the pandemic and focuses on it. The world is so much more than just the grand scheme of things. I don’t know much about Ireland’s history past the famine most of us are taught about. But of course just like any country, Ireland had its l share of religious trauma. I wanted to scream and yell and cry. The romance was so fleeting but it was impactful. I wish it had been woven into the plot a bit earlier but

it was seamless and quick and sad. Of course Bridie would. Sad end to her, and I don’t exactly appreciate a woman’s death being used as a way to develops another character—even if it’s a woman rather than the regular man in most stories.

Nurse Power is a dear character to me. Complicated and closed, but just doing the most she can while keeping her head on her shoulder. She’s named Power for a reason. Bridie Sweeney, what a darling character. So innocent but so weathered. Beautiful written. It’s a hard read. The old speak and Irish slang had me pause and googling a lot. And there aren’t many books that truly cover such a small space of time in a full novel. As you’d expect it can get very overwhelming and difficult to read. But it’s a rewarding and educational and definitely worth the trek.

kitkatkick's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue shows off a masterful understanding of early 1900s society and the women that lived and worked within it, and of the one thread that ties women of every race, class, and nation together: the concept of motherhood.

Through the eyes of Nurse Julia Powers, we see the comings and goings of Irish women in a maternity ward for patients infected with the “Great Flu” of the 1910s. Donoghue skillfully captures the fast-paced and borderline frantic setting of a hospital, especially one cripplingly overwhelmed with patients. Reading her description of a past pandemic in a post-COVID world was an experience in itself. Julia over time is joined by our two other female leads: Birdie Sweeney, a sweet young volunteer with a troubled past, and Dr. Kathleen Lynne, a real-life doctor with ties to the revolutionary movement in Ireland. The relationships between the three are deeply complex as their worldviews collide and occasionally clash. Secondary to them falls a rotating cast of patients in the ward, pregnant mothers from all classes and social standings whose own stories deepen the overall story when they’re all brought into such close comparison.

Donoghue takes on a wide variety of social issues throughout the book- the effects of war, class divisions, poverty, religion, sexism, and the Irish revolutionary movement- and while none are portrayed poorly, it does occasionally feel as though discussions are rife Ed because there is so much to fit in. But one of the main themes of the book, the concept of motherhood and how it applies differently to every woman on Earth, is addressed incredibly. It is never outright glorified or discredited, and Donoghue gives us examples of a wide variety of viewpoints: Julia, with no intention of having her own children but with a deep respect for childbirth and the “blood tax” that women have been paying since the beginning of time; experienced mothers with multiple children already; a first-time mother and a young girl both finding out the details of pregnancy and childbirth in real-time; mothers in a social position stable enough to provide for children and those in a position where neither they nor their child could ever hope to thrive; those who do and don’t want the babies they’ve been given; those that do or don’t support the then-popular Irish saying of “If she loves him, she’ll give him twelve;” and the contrast of those who gave birth successfully and those who did not. No one experience is shown as better than another. The story will leave the reader deeply moved on the subject, no matter the opinion they hold when turning the first page.

Deeply moving is the best phrase I have to describe this book. To address a few smaller details, from a technical perspective the book is unique in that it does not place quotations around dialogue, which does occasionally make that dialogue hard to follow. It is a very poor audiobook in my opinion, due to the graphic depictions of childbirth and other medical practices. To me, any cries or yelling are better read than heard, but others’ mileage may vary. Those graphic depictions may make the book difficult or even inaccessible to more hemophobic readers- I personally had to put it down or pause it several times for that reason, but inevitably I had to pick it up again because I was so ensnared by the story. None of these make the book impossible to read, but they are worth mentioning.

The Pull of the Stars is a deeply-moving and thoughtful read that I would recommend to just about anyone with a soul, and anyone who has ever interacted with a mother or a child.

Content Warnings

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

annat's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-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

Content Warnings

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