“The Pull of the Stars” by Emma Donoghue – Breath of the New World

Emma Donoghue has shown time and time again her special affinity for writing profound stories with complex and unique characters, something she does once again in her recent novel, The Pull of the Stars. 

It tells the story of three women working in a maternity ward over three days as they deal with the ravages of war and disease in 1918 Ireland, as well as a flu pandemic which pushes their hospital to the brink of its capabilities.

Emma Donoghue Raises the Maternity Ward Sentinels

Though the state of modern society leaves a little something to be desired in this time of general crisis, we would do well to remember this isn't the first nor the worst ravages humanity has had to face. In her novel titled The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue takes us to Ireland in 1918, ravaged by the First World War, poverty and disease... and yet, life must somehow move on.

The story begins by introducing us to Julia Power, a nurse working at a hospital in the city centre, which in addition to being underfunded and understaffed, is also dealing with the Spanish Flu pandemic. More specifically, she works in the maternity ward, which now also serves as a quarantine zone for expectant mothers sick with the new flu.

Struggling to keep up with it all on her own, Julia sees her load alleviated when two outsiders step into her division. The first is a doctor, Kathleen Lynn, also rumoured to be a rebel and fugitive from the police. The second is a volunteer helper, the young Bridie Sweeney. Together, the three women stand as the guardians of the tiny ward they've been given rule over.

We follow these women over the next three days, and witness how they unexpectedly not only change the lives of their patients, but also each other's. In a world desolated by the most terrifying deeds the human mind was capable of conjuring (up until then, at least), the women go headlong into darkness in hopes of bringing some light to it.

Their tale isn't a dreamlike one, and they suffer as much loss, pain and grief as they do joy, compassion and hope. It becomes a game of survival against all odds, one where the three women strive to do the impossible and breathe new life into a drastically-changed world.

The Gritty Details of 1918 in The Pull of the Stars

As with any work of historical fiction, I think the first order of business is assessing just how big and accurate of a window into the past it provides us with. After all, the less an author integrates the history into their fiction, the less of a point there is in using it in the first place.

In the case of this particular novel, I was personally rejoicing in just how much information and gritty details Emma Donoghue managed to uncover about 1918 Ireland and the medical practices of the times. While I personally haven't gone out to verify all the facts in this book, they are quite obviously very well-researched and must have taken a lot of time and effort to compile.

The narration takes place in first person from Julia Power's perspective, and she's the kind of person who doesn't skimp on any possible details. This means we get a good look at the medical practices of one hundred years ago, which I found to be both fascinating and shocking in equal measure. If nothing else, this book will make you immeasurably glad for the existence of modern medicine.

Naturally, this also means there are some heavier passages exploring the darker side of nurse Power's job: losing patients. We get extremely detailed accounts of the Spanish Flu from a medical perspective, how it developed in the human body, how it spread, and so on and so forth. From the initial symptoms to its end (one way or the other), it felt like nothing was missed by the author.

Additionally, we get some more details about life in 1918 Ireland in a more general sense, but with the story taking place across only three days, following three characters working in a tiny three-bedroom ward, there are understandably fewer opportunities to explore the rest of society.

Transformation Through Kindness

While this novel could have fulfilled its purpose as a highly detailed piece of medical fiction, Donoghue went a step further and placed a great deal of concentration on writing an unexpectedly fast-paced story coloured primarily by character development. It is through this development, particularly our narrator's, where we also get to learn more about the historical context of the period.

At the beginning, nurse Julia is hardly what I would call a relatable character, to the point where I can certainly see many of you finding her unlikable. She seems to have a disdain for virtually every one of her patients, looking down on either their lack of medical knowledge, as well as their religious and/or social standing.

However, with the arrival of Kathleen and particularly Sweeny, we start to see change slowly flowing its way through our protagonist, as her heart softens piece by piece and her perspective starts opening towards compassion and empathy. This without a doubt one of the finest, smoothest and most believable character transformations I've read this year.

Additionally, the side characters mentioned above provide a welcome variety to the perspectives we are given about the time period, and they too undergo their own transformations as a result of everything they see.

As the cherry on top, the story almost feels like it's going at an action-style pace at times, with there being a constant sense of movement and development. New problems never cease to appear during the three days covered by the novel, and it never gets old watching the three women struggling to accomplish the impossible... and then succeeding.

The Final Verdict

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue is a remarkable piece of historical fiction, one which delivers realistic details about the time period, complex and masterfully-shaped characters, and a plot which never lacks in excitement.

If you're in the market for any kind of medical fiction taking place at the start of the twentieth century, then I think this novel is one of the best you could choose right now.

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Emma Donoghue Personal site Emma Donoghue is a Canadian author from Dublin, Ontario whose niche as a writer has been primarily made up of contemporary and historical fiction novels so far. Her more famous works include Room (which received a screen adaptation), Frog Music, The Wonder, and The Pull of the Stars.

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