Kirkus Style Review
Set in a small Irish village during the nineteenth century,
an English nurse, who lived through the Crimean War as an aid to Florence
Nightingale, is commissioned to watch and to ultimately credit or discredit a
local ‘miracle’ child.
Nurse Lib Wright, from England, and a nun from a nearby
village, Sister Michael, are summoned to central Ireland for a rather
extraordinary and unusual assignment. Donoghue’s exquisitely constructed
character, 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell, claims
that she has not eaten for four months by the grace and will of God. Anna
believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and her strictly religious
family and community feed off and encourage this belief. Anna surrounds herself
with the comfort of holy cards and Scripture, and only allows a spoonful or two
of water to cross her lips per day. A local physician, Doctor Dr. McBrearty, is
convinced of the girl’s truth, along with most other officials of the village, and
have consequently hired Lib and Sister Michael to expel all doubt from the ‘miracle’.
Upon Lib’s arrival and consequential 24-hour watch of the girl, Anna’s health
begins to fade rapidly, proving to Lib without doubt that the girl had been
snuck food before the surveillance began. Taken by the girl’s pious, gullible
nature, Lib takes responsibility for Anna’s well-being, pleading with the
family to see the girl’s distress and declining health. Adamantly denying
accusations of previously provided food and accusations of the girl’s health
decline, Anna’s parents continue to parade local villagers, carrying gifts for
the family, through the small home to visit Anna. Distressed and desperate, Lib
turns to a Dublin journalist, William Byrne, who is covering the story of Anna,
and that possesses the same doubts as Lib about the validity of the miracle. Combing
a tense and twisting story-line, hints of romance between unlikely characters, and
unexpected motherly instincts, Donoghue grips her readers from the first page
and reels them through the story until the ultimately ‘successful’ conclusion.
Emotionally charged, thought provoking, and sometimes just
downright disturbing, The Wonder proves
that best-selling author, Emma Donoghue, can not only write in the
historical-fiction genre, but thrive.
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderfully written review! I would not necessarily pick this book up to read based on the premise, but after reading this, it might just land on my TBR list. I especially like how your phrasing, as the review progresses, replicates the tense qualities you are describing. I think reviewing is something you are quite good at!
EXCELLENT conclusion! Really Kirkus worthy!
ReplyDeleteI read "Room" by Emma Donoghue and really liked it. She is a compelling writer and her characters are so vividly real. I chose her book "Frog Music" for one of the read-alikes in the first prompt we did, and that sounds really good, too. I haven't read any synopses of this book before, but it sounds great! I will most definitely put it on that giant "to-read" list I've got going. In fact, I'm so intrigued, it just may be next! Great review!
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