The Pull of the Stars

This month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection was The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue and it could not have been a more timely pick. It is set in Dublin in 1918 when a world war still raged on and people were dying by the thousands of the Spanish flu. Julia Power is a nurse at a very understaffed hospital and is, therefore, put in charge of a small three bed ward for pregnant women who are quarantined with the flu. It is the first time that she has been given any authority and comes to rely on her own instincts, rather than the rigid rules, as she does her best to help her patients who come from all walks of life. She is given an assistant, a volunteer named Bridie Sweeney, who is very young and knows nothing about nursing but is a fast learner and a hard worker. Bridie takes great pride in knowing that she is useful for the first time in her life. Because of the shortage of doctors in the hospital, Dr. Kathleen Lynn (a real-life character), a woman suspected of participating in the Easter Rising of 1916, is brought in to help and becomes a mentor to Julia in the field of medicine and in the development of her social conscience. The three women have a profound effect upon each other as they struggle to keep the patients alive and bring new life into a world gone mad. The novel takes place over three consecutive days in the small confines of a ward that is essentially a converted supply closet and the claustrophobia really adds to the sense of urgency. Every action has a dramatic consequence so it is very intense to read and the medical practices of the time are quite primitive by modern standards so it is extremely gory.  However, in the midst of all of the trauma and heartbreak, there is definitely a sense of hope at the end of the novel which readers who are going through a similar global pandemic are sure to appreciate. I was really struck by the similarities between 1918 and now including the canceling of all major events, the supply shortages, the spreading of misinformation, the backlash against taking simple precautions such as wearing masks, the desperation to find a cure, and the willingness of health care professionals to do the impossible to save people. I was also struck by the fact that people started to become more aware of social injustice as a result of how the flu spread and that seems to be echoed by events today (I, for one, really hope that this leads to change as it did back then). Donoghue spoke about this during the virtual Q&A held last night which I found to be fascinating. I also enjoyed her discussion of the title which comes from influenza delle stelle (the influence of the stars).  People believed that the illness was caused by fate but all three of the main characters take matters into their own hands to change fate and I loved that! Donoghue also addressed my one criticism of the novel which is that there are no quotation marks to denote dialogue (a trend I despise in the publishing world). Her explanation was that she wanted the reader to be inside Julia's head with little distinction between what she is thinking and what she is saying which is valid given the chaos of what was happening in the ward. Ultimately, I loved the character development in this novel as well as the highly relevant subject matter and I would definitely recommend it!

Note:  Next month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection is Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. Once again this selection was announced earlier than usual so I am already almost finished with it because it is so captivating! There will be another virtual discussion with the author via Facebook on October 6.  Go here for more information.