‘That’s what influenza means: influenza delle stelle - the influence of the stars. Medieval Italians thought the illness proved the sky must be governing their fates, that they were quite literally star-crossed. I pictured that: the heavenly bodies trying to fly us like upsidedown kites. Or perhaps just yanking on us for their obscure amusement.’

I’ve read a few books lately that feature characters based on real people and that always adds to my enjoyment, researching their lives, putting them into context in history. In this case, Doctor Kathleen Lynn was a fascinating person and I liked her inclusion in this story. A timely story, too, set in Ireland in the throes of the 1918 flu epidemic, over just three days in a maternity ward for expectant mothers who have the virus. Some graphic scenes of childbirth going well and going badly. Heart-breaking back stories for some of the patients highlight how far we have moved on since those days. Great writing, as you’d expect from Emma Donoghue. Not for the queasy reader, I’d recommend it for its social relevance rather than any plot or character development.

‘I pictured trams grinding their lines across Dublin like blood through veins. We all live in an unwalled city, that was it. Lines scored right through Ireland; carved all over the world. Train tracks, roads, shipping channels, a web that connected all nations into one great suffering body.’

Julia is a 30 year old Irish nurse dealing with pregnant mothers who have ‘the grip’, or what we know as the Spanish Flu, in a world struggling with the last days of WWI, and a population also torn between the fight between Protestants and Catholics. She is unmarried and lives with her gentle brother who has returned from the war emotionally damaged and mute with the horrors he has seen. With her at the hospital is a young volunteer from the local home for young girls run by nuns, and a female doctor who is trying to keep one step in front of the authorities for being a member of the radical Sinn Fein. The book is set over only 3 days, but in that time the amount of history and horrible conditions of the time packed into only 300 pages is phenomenal and just brilliantly done.
Despite my antipathy towards books that have no punctuation for dialogue, I was hooked very early on and that dislike of mine faded into insignificance as I was drawn totally into these peoples’ lives. Both the nurse and volunteer are fictional characters, but the rebel doctor is based on a real person, Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874 – 1955) and I was so taken with her story I had to actually Google her and read more fully about her.

Emma Donoghue started writing this book during 2018, the 100th anniversary of The Spanish Flu. Little did she know that the world was about to have its own pandemic 2 years later just after she handed in her manuscript. I found it very eerie to read many of the parallels of the world we are living in now. This is a nod to all the nurses, doctors, suffragettes, soldiers, women and men of the world with their own troubles who help others no matter the cost to themselves. This is a brilliant, moving and totally absorbing story, perfect for all types of readers and especially those who love their history as well as for all those who loved the Call the Midwives TV series, though with more gore and reality. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

I enjoyed Room by Emma Donoghue so had high hopes this would be as good. I'm happy to say it was albeit a different story line. Its makes you think how things are in the current climate with Covid 19 and the content in the book was scarily similar. There was some quite in depth writing of certain medical matters so just be aware of that before you read this book. All in all a great book i would recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. I'm a big Emma Donoghue fan, each book is so well written and the premise of each so different. Set during the great flu of 1918, this book has such remarkable timing. Beautifully written and the characters are so engaging. A master of her craft.

What I love about the Emma Donahue books that I’ve read so far is that they are all so well written but they are all uniquely good reads and this one is no different.

This story is a very vivid portrayal of a fever/maternity ward in Dublin during the flu pandemic that killed millions. It is set nearing the end of the Great War and amidst the Irish uprising. It is a really poignant story given the current pandemic and makes you feel grateful that despite everything medical care has come so far and although surrounded by despair. It is hard not to draw parallels with the current pandemic and it is fascinating that 100 years on that the situation can be the same but so different at the same time but ultimately this is a historical novel, and a really good one at that. The story is quite intense and is set over 3 days as we follow the work of Nurse Julia Power as cares for expectant mothers who have come down with a flu and 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.

The Pull of the Stars is a novel set over three days during 1918 in an Irish maternity ward for flu patients, following the nurse there and the struggle with life and death. Nurse Julia Power finds herself leading the tiny three-bed ward for maternity patients with the flu, with only a new volunteer Bridie Sweeney for help, and a new doctor, Kathleen Lynn, who is on the run from the police. With Ireland under pressure from war and disease as well as divisions and inequality, the small ward sees a microcosm of the situation as birth and death go on, and Julia finds new connections with the newcomers.

It is impossible to read this book right now without thinking of the current situation, especially with all of the government warnings Julia sees and questions of who is wearing face masks and who is still going out to the cinema occurring in the background. What is impressive, however, is that it draws you into the world of the tiny ward and away from these comparisons, bringing the focus that Julia must have to care for these patients without thinking about the wider situation. There are a lot of issues raised in the novel, from the mental trauma of war to the treatment of unmarried mothers and unwanted children in Ireland, but the focus on a few characters, mostly female, gives it a human centre. The relationship between Julia and Bridie, developed over only a few days, is a highlight of the novel, showing that sparks of light can come out of dark situations, albeit briefly.

Due to the subject matter and detailed medical descriptions, some people will find this novel very difficult or not feel able to read it, but it is a gripping and touching look at a tiny example of fighting in a pandemic (and a war) from a single ward, and a wider look at Ireland in 1918. It isn't a happy novel really, but it shows the hope and strength people have to find and use during difficult times, and also women proving their skills and expertise in these circumstances. It's not the kind of novel I would've picked up if it wasn't by Emma Donoghue, but it was definitely worth reading.

Really enjoyed this book. Emma is an exceptional writer and i have always looked forward to new books. It was especially fantastic given the times we are in today and it was so relatable.

No doubt this book was underway long before any of us had heard of Covid-19 but wow, what remarkable timing.

Set in Dublin during the Great Flu of 1918, it tells the story of Nurse Julia Power, working flat out in an understaffed maternity ward, and the cast of characters she interacts with during that time.

While of course much has changed in the intervening 102 years, there are some really striking echoes with our current crisis. The insufficient supplies and the issues with sanitation and hygiene. Closure of schools and public spaces. Most of all the exhausted and overworked front line medical staff and volunteers risking their own lives to tend to the ill and dying, and the care and compassion with which they carry out this horrendously difficult work.

The book delves into many of the other social issues that Ireland faced at that time and in the years to follow. The power and oppression of the Catholic Church. The so called “Mother and baby homes” and other state run institutions, the true horrors of which have only been fully aired in recent years. Barbaric medical practices such as symphysiotomy. The aftermath of the First World War and the continuing Irish struggle for independence.

These are important parts of our social history in Ireland and are dealt with in a well researched and sensitive way, however I felt at times that the characters and plot got sidelined in places by author’s desire to highlight these and other social and cultural issues. There was a sense that the events portrayed and choices made by the characters were constructed in a particular way so as to allow certain issues to be aired, which I felt sometimes got in the way of the natural flow of the story. I personally would have liked a little more character and plot development for its own sake - I never really got lost in the story itself or felt strongly for a particular character or relationship.

Having said that I do recommend the book and it’s certainly a very timely read.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue is a novel about childbirth, poverty, the aftermath of war, nursing and love.