Summer Reads: The Pull of the Stars

This is part of my Summer Reads series where I’ll be reviewing a series of “not just cookbooks”.

I might just be a glutton for punishment with this week’s Summer Reads choice. I mean, who chooses to read a novel about a pandemic DURING a pandemic? Uh, me (see my review of Songs for the End of the World from last summer).

A friend (I can’t remember who now but thank you!) read this earlier in the summer and I put a library hold on it immediately. It came through just last week and once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. It may not be the read for you right now (considering, well, everything) but it should be on your list at some point.

From the publisher:

Dublin, 1918: three days in a maternity ward at the height of the great flu. A small world of work, risk, death and unlooked-for love, by the bestselling author of The Wonder and Room. 

In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. 

In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, caregivers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work. 

Ok, so it might sound a bit like a hopeless, dark scenario, but this is a story with a lot more sparks of hope and brightness than you’d imagine. Julia, the main character is compassionate and brave. Through her eyes we experience unimaginable suffering and pain, dealing with some of the situations she is faced with at the hospital (heads up – it’s quite graphic in parts but doesn’t feel “sensationalist” if you see what I mean, everything is very matter of fact in its description) – she suffers along with her patients.

We learn of the patients lives, their stories. Expectant mothers delivering babies during a pandemic when there was little knowledge of how to stop the infection rates. A scary time indeed. But the care and dedication shown to these women by Julia, Dr Lynn and Bridie is second to none. The “ward” might only have three beds but it’s a busy place. Bridie, with no prior experience, jumps at the chance to volunteer with Nurse Julia, delivering babies and caring for the expectant and post-partum mothers (many of them sick with or recovering from the flu). And, between them they manage to make the best of their situation and care for the women with intelligent, thoughtful compassion. There are a lot of little moments of normality (those cups of tea and biscuits that seem to make everything better) and we, as readers enjoy these as much as those experiencing them. Towards the end of the story there is the “unlooked-for love” plot, a death and Julia’s life takes an unexpected turn.

But this is not just a tale of a small, hectic “maternity ward” in flu-ravaged Ireland. It’s more than a tale of women battling medical odds and fighting to survive with their newborns. The Pull of the Stars also gives a lot of historical contextual detail about the status of women in post-WW1 Ireland. Of the conditions they endured (so many babies! and terrible treatment if those babies happened to be born out of wedlock – for both the baby and the mother). It’s a fascinating (in a kind of gruesome way) look at post-war, flu-ravaged Ireland and the living conditions in which they were fighting the pandemic then. And it seems amazing that Ireland, and, indeed, the world pulled out of it (albeit after many years) with such (compared to nowadays) primitive medicine and knowledge.

The actual pandemic is interesting to read about – especially in today’s context. The government warnings (not to shake hands, to cover your coughs and sneezes, recommending to “lay down for a fortnight” – “would they be dead if they stayed in bed?”) hit a little close to home this year but to read about something that happened over 100 years ago that is SO close to what we are experiencing today is truly something. Donohue originally started researching this book to commemorate the 100 years since the 1918 flu pandemic, not knowing that we’d soon be living a similar tale. The draft manuscript was handed in in March 2020 and the novel was fast-tracked and released 4 months later.

Graphic? Yes, very much. Dark? Yes. Hopeful? Sometimes. An engrossing, un-putdownable read. Of note: there is no punctuation for the dialogue which takes some getting used to.

 

Buy The Pull of the Stars on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country). Or, for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.

Please note: This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  This post also contains affiliate links from The Book Depository. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!

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