Library Book Group

February's selection: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

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Julia Powell, a dedicated nurse at a Dublin hospital in 1918, pours her energy into caring for patients in the women’s fever ward, tending to pregnant women struggling to both give birth and fight off the flu. Turning 30, Julia is unbothered by the prospects of never marrying, focusing her concern instead on the prospects of recovery for her brother, Tim, back from the war with no physical wounds but deeply wounded, nonetheless. At work, Julia laments the extra cots jammed into wards and dire newspaper headlines. She is on the front line in what had been seen as a golden age of medicine conquering maladies from anthrax to malaria but is now no match for the disease “beating us hollow.” In the tumult of influenza and the post–WWI era, she meets two extraordinary women: a sprite of a helper, Bridie Sweeney, a young woman well acquainted with the battle to survive poverty, and the indomitable Dr. Lynn, a firebrand indicted in the Irish uprising who was released to help in the overcrowded hospital. These two women will change everything Julia thought she knew about life, nursing, politics, and love. Donoghue (Akin, 2019) offers vivid characters and a gripping portrait of a world beset by a pandemic and political uncertainty. A fascinating read in these difficult times.

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association.