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Fiction. Literature. HTML:In this masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, an English nurse is brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle â?? a girl said to have survived without food for month â?? and soon finds herself fighting to save the child's life. Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl. Written with all the propulsive tension that made Room a huge bestseller, The Wonder works beautifully on many levels â?? a tale of two strangers who transform each other's lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil. Acclaim for The Wonder: "Deliciously gothic.... Dark and vivid, with complicated characters, this is a novel that lodges itself deep" (USA Today, 3/4 stars) "Heartbreaking and transcendent"(New York Times) "A fable as lean and discomfiting as Anna's dwindling body.... Donoghue keeps us riveted" (Chicago Tribune) "Donoghue poses powerful questions about faith and belief" (News… (more)
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A complex and intriguing novel that kept me enthralled . The Wonder is on the 2016 Giller Shortlist. This is a great page- turner that I think will have a broad appeal. I much preferred it to Room by the same author.
Heartily recommended! 4.25 stars
Lib is determined to maintain a professional detachment, tracking vital statistics in her notebook and scouring the girl's room for hidden crumbs. Yet she is drawn to Anna, a sweet and intelligent girl whose health suddenly starts fading. Her seemingly blind acceptance of her fate as "God's will" maddens Lib, but neither Anna's parents not her priest and not even her doctor will urge her to take nourishment. It is William Bryant, a visiting journalist, who helps Lib to begin unraveling the mystery of Anna's fast.
What appears to be a simple story with a lot of local color becomes more complicated in author Donoghue's hands, and it is fascinating to watch Lib herself change as she sorts out the subtle clues to Anna's past. And Lib, we learn, is not without secrets of her own. I've long been a fan of Donoghue's work, and The Wonder does not disappoint. I was gripped by the story and finished the novel in just a few days.
Lib Wright trained under Florence Nightingale in the Crimea. Now, she's been hired for two weeks in rural Ireland with no details given. Arriving, she finds out that her patient
This was just such a meaty, atmospheric story. Lib's a prickly, cold woman, but she won me over and there is just so much to think about in this book; the role of religion in Ireland's history, the power of the Catholic church in Ireland, what living through the famine did to people and the question of what to do when doing your job is hurting someone. Emma Donoghue researched the phenomenon she's describing here, and she certainly has a talent for evoking specific times and places.
In mid-nineteenth century rural Ireland, eleven-year-old Anna O’Donnell has been
Donoghue writes beautifully – The Wonder is cast in that same spare, compelling prose that made Room such a success. Tense and multi-layered, she asks big questions here about faith and about human nature, while at the same time telling a simple, uncomplicated story of two strangers who will transform each other’s lives. Highly recommended.
"None are so blind as those who will not see." (287)
It took me a good long while to get into this book, but in the end, I found it to be very moving. The characters were well drawn. At first, I really didn't
Anna is something of a local celebrity and a candidate for beatification because she has been fasting for months with no visible effects. Lib has been hired by a committee of local leaders to keep an eye on Anna, just to make sure that this is not a hoax. Lib is confident that it is indeed a hoax and that she will be able to demonstrate that quickly.
By introducing wider issues, Donoghue opens this rather simple tale, based on historical fact, into something much more complex and interesting. She exploits the differences between English sophistication and Irish poverty/superstition as metaphor for the tensions that exist between science and religion. Family and the Church are used to explore the excesses and damages that can result when faith becomes superstition. Lib’s early impression of Anna and Ireland is as “a great liar in a country famous for them.” Irish Catholicism is portrayed as misogynistic and cruel, while the rural Irish are seen as abusive and superstitious.
Although intended as a thriller, the plot moves at a snail’s pace until the later pages when Lib begins to suspect that Anna’s fast has morphed into actual starvation and accepts some of he blame. “Could the Watch be having the perverse effect of turning the O’Donnells’ lie to truth?” This, along with revelations regarding Anna’s real motivations for the fast, ramp up the tension, but its final resolution seems too heroic, contrived and unsatisfying.
Donoghue succeeds in developing two believable and nuanced characters in Lib and Anna. However, the other characters are stereotypes. The Irish Times correspondent, William Byrne, is a dashing hero figure. Dr. McBrearty is a fool who wonders if Anna’s “metabolism (might) not be altering to one less combustive, more of a reptilian than mammalian nature?” The local priest is fixated on sin and penance. Sister Michael, Lib’s colleague in the observation, is a dullard, who is definitely not unbiased. Anna’s mother is a suspicious, overbearing and manipulative woman who controls her family.
Donoghue claims that she enjoys doing research for her novels and this shows in THE WONDER. Her depictions of this post-famine land, its people and customs are superb, evoking bogs, destroyed houses, women begging roadside and, of course, the ever-present smell of peat. Her descriptions of a poor 19th Century farmstead and its inhabitants are likewise excellent, as are the various religious objects in the home and the devotional habits of the family.
The story begs the reader to ask the following questions: Is Anna really receiving sustenance from God? Is she somehow sneaking small bits of food when no one is looking? Is her family involved in trying to pull off some sort of fraud? Or is something else entirely going on?
I thought this was a well-written story that did a good job of exploring and tying together religion, science, & family dynamics, all with a mysterious aura. However, the story moved a little too slow for my taste. Though it was a fairly quick read, the first half of the book dragged. I enjoy Donoghue's writing, but this wasn't my favorite of hers.
I wondered part-way through if there had been people who really thought they could live without eating, and in fact, there were. Donoghue’s book was not based on one specific person, but on multiple people. Some did have people watch them at all times, as well. Donoghue’s author’s note tells us that each real-life instance had different outcomes.
I might have rated it higher, but the story was pretty slow-going. For the last third of the book or so, I thought it picked up quite a bit, but decided that I’d keep my rating at “ok”, which is where it fell for me for most of the book. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at the crazy religious people.
In August 1859 a report of an 11-year-old girl who has lived without any food for four months is causing quite the sensation. Is she a fraud? Could she be a “living wonder”? The town physician proposes a scientific watch, employing two nurses unknown to
Lib is the narrator and she struggles to understand the family, the town, the physician, the priest, and most importantly, Anna, the child she’s been hired to watch. Lib is English, and an Anglican. She’s unfamiliar with the beliefs of the Catholic Church and finds it difficult to understand the Irish brogue at times. She views the family, and villagers, as ignorant and superstitious. But she sets out to methodically observe and record Anna’s condition and, in order to do so, she also tries to gain the girl’s confidence. Her medical training tells her that it is not possible for anyone to live without any sustenance. And as the week passes, she notes the child’s deterioration. As the nurse’s eyes are opened to what has happened in the family and how Anna perceives her fast in terms of her religious beliefs, Lib’s personal mission changes from one of pure scientific observation to trying to save this girl’s life.
Her eyes are opened initially by a journalist who has traveled to the village to report on the phenomenon, or more accurately to unveil the fraud. William Byrne befriends Mrs. Wright and finagles a way to casually meet Anna, “just to see for myself.” And what he sees is a child starving to death. The question is “why?”
And the only person who can answer that is Anna (and perhaps her mother). Anna may not have much education, but she is clearly intelligent and curious and learns quickly. She seems to be a quick judge of character and I really enjoyed the conversations between Lib and Anna. But Anna is so steadfast in her faith, in her beliefs in the redemptive power of prayer, that getting to the underlying truth of what led her to undertake this fast is difficult at best. I was as stunned as Lib to discover
In the course of the novel Donoghue explores issues of faith, belief, guilt, abuse, family dysfunction, social mores and the role of the Roman Catholic Church and her priests in protecting (or not) children. I had to remind myself a few times that the time frame of the work is the mid-19th century. Definitely a thought-provoking book, and I think it would result in a great book-group discussion.
Kate Lock does a fine job of voicing the audiobook, however …. Her Irish brogue is so thick in places that I had difficulty making out the dialogue. Thank heavens I had the text available. Despite Lock’s skill as a voice artist, I do not recommend listening to this book.
Lib also encounters a young man, William Byrne, who is a reporter for an Irish paper who is equally suspicious. After a few days, Lib soon realizes that the girl is starving herself to death. Extremely devout, Anna is praying constantly for her brother who has recently died. A strange and eerie situation soon becomes clear to Anna regarding the relationship between the siblings. Eventually Lib with the help of William confront Anna to the ruse and convince her that she can be saved.
The ending of the book shows the three of them arriving in Australia. Good read.
Libby, a widow at twenty-five and a nurse trained under Florence Nightingale, arrives at a small village in Ireland. Her job is to observe her patient, Anna, a child who has refused food since her eleventh birthday, four months ago. Not emaciated, Anna seems in full control of her
The story is absorbing, intriguing, and suspenseful. Lib is determined to do her job and exasperated by her inability to solve the mystery. Donahue masterfully writes Lib's suspicions, setbacks, and diligence. Cultural superstitions and resentment from Anna's family haunt Libby. Is the whole scenario balderdash or a miracle?
Supremely written, imaginative, and evocative, Emma Donahue's new release is highly recommended.
ARC supplied by the publisher and NetGalley for my unbiased review.
It's odd how sometimes life's events and the books we read intertwine. Being the lapsed Catholic that I am, at a funeral today I was distracted by the question of why we must pray for those that have already passed. I had a lesson at lunch with the priest on the finer points of purgatory, that was interesting and relevant to the reading. He was very old school.
The book is a bit predictable, some of Lib's self-berating borders on annoying, but the story moves along at a good enough pace to overcome these small faults. I'll be going back now and reviewing her other works to see if something else appeals to me. I recommend this one.
Emma Donoghue has written another page-turner (after her best-seller Room) that is filled with period detail and genuine insight into her characters. I suspect (Donoghue does not state this) that the novel is based on the case of the celebrated Welsh "fasting girl" Sarah Jacob (1857-1869).
Highly recommended as one of the best books I've read in 2016.
Lib is a nurse assigned to observe Anna, an eleven year old who is gaining notoriety for sustaining without food for months. The last thing she ate was a communion host at church a few months ago and claims to have been living on "manna from heaven". Lib is an English atheist without a family who now has to work for a very Catholic family and her colleague is a nun. She is determined to have this assignment end early by finding the truth behind this obvious lie from a child. As more and more shifts go by, she begins to wonder if the child is even lying at all.
Anna is a young child who is very strong in her faith (she prays the same prayer 33 times a day, along with the rosary at night) yet is losing strength in her body. She does not complain, instead believes the fast from food is worth the struggle if it means her dear brother Pat can be saved from purgatory. "Poor Pat" died quickly from a stomach illness months before the novel begins. The illness was so swift that he was not able to confess his sins before his death and therefore believed to be stuck in purgatory until his family prays enough for him to be released into heaven. Can Anna's love for her brother keep her strength going long enough for Pat's release?
Anna's parents, the O'Donnells, are grieving the loss of their son, yet trying their best to maintain their farm and handle Anna's new fame. People from far distances stop by their humble home just to catch a glimpse of her. Mrs. O'Donnell especially seems to enjoy the visitors and Mr. O'Donnell prefers to keep working rather than entertaining. But when Lib insists that the visitors be turned away for the duration of this observation, Mrs. O'Donnell makes her disapproval very clear.
All of these factor into why I really enjoyed this novel. The culmination was very effective, as was the character development of Lib in particular. There were a few surprising pieces of the novel that add depth to the characters. There were a few characters that did not turn out to be who I was expecting them to be. Emma Donoghue has a way of describing day-to-day routines in a way that is unexpectedly intriguing. Furthermore, the evolution of the daily routines disguise the change in path towards the uphill road leading to the conclusion.
Please note: a copy of this novel was generously provided via the publisher through NetGalley.
The backbone of this novel is the traditional dichotomies: science versus reason, head versus heart. The novel
A family purports their daughter survives without food, and the town rallies to prove that this miracle is not a hoax. No-nonsense nurse Lib Wright is one of two people called to keep a watch on the girl to prove or disprove the claim. The other watcher is a nun, a curiously undeveloped character. The other characters are stock heroes and villains, indistinguishable from any other persons populating a novel with a similar premise.
The plot is maddeningly predictable, and the ending is big screen-ready. The nuances of plot and characterization that characterize Donoghue's earlier works are absent entirely. In the past, she has written novels featuring unlikable anti-heroes and done the job brilliantly: the life and soul that sustains those works is completely missing here.
1) Emma Donoghue really hates the Catholic Church. Like really hates it. And she despises the concept of miracles.
2) Emma Donoghue loves and hates Ireland is roughly equal amounts. This book
3) Ireland is a place where people live to hope, and then actively and inexplicably destroy all possibility of hope being fulfilled and thereby define their fate.
4) Donoghue knows the pain of bearing guilt for not saving men from their own weaknesses. I suspect she knows this is intellectually indefensible and personally inescapable.
5) People prefer faith to knowledge because it is easier, and people who prefer faith to knowledge deserve their ruin, but most often then bring others with them.
6) Love trumps ignorance.
7) Parenthood comes in many different ways.
I will fill in the blanks and recreate my review at some point, but that covers things pretty well.
ETA: I listened to the audiobook and the reader was excellent.
The Wonder by author Emma Donoghue, although fictional, is based on real-life cases of women of the period who claimed not to eat and who were watched to establish the veracity of their claims. Despite this rather creepy but not terribly shocking historical basis on which she built her story, Donoghue has created an extremely intense, compelling, and well-written page-turner of a suspense novel. Lib and Anna are complex and sympathetic characters who both harbour secrets and they make the reader care about the outcome of the tale.
I did feel that her portrayal of many of the other characters was somewhat stereotypical ie the Irish peasant steeped in superstition controlled by their religion especially given that the only one who wasn’t was a journalist who had spent a great deal of time in England But, if these other characters are, as a result, less sympathetic, Donoghue also provides some historical details about the so-called potato famine of the period that are too often ignored in historical accounts that provide interesting background to the story and help at least partially to explain this behaviour. I also felt that the ending was somewhat problematic but, given the strong emotions created by the two main protagonists, it may not be the ending it seemed to demand but it is certainly an ending most readers will appreciate.
Still, despite these criticisms, I must say not only did I find The Wonder impossible to put down, I found myself rereading parts just to reexperience the rhythm of the prose. This one gets a definite high recommendation from me.
4.5
Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunityto read this book in exchange for an honest review
Donoghue (bestselling author of Room), weaves a magnificent and haunting tale of a young Irish Catholic girl fasting herself to death and a nurse determined to save her. Eleven year old Anna O'Donnell
The Wonder's dust jacket synopsis doesn't really do it justice. It's a kind of Gothic tale, set in Ireland; all rain and bleary skies and fog and religion. It deals with prejudice, religious piety, professional healthcare, internal conflicts
Emma Donoghue is a very atmospheric writer. The tension in this story is passive and you FEEL it like a slow burn. I really hope Emma gets the chance to adapt this into a screenplay because it'd work so well as a low-budget feature. This book really reads like a script (an excellent one) because the dialogue is wonderfully constructed.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one so much - its synopsis, again, would not have led me to purchase it. I got it on a whim as my first Book of the Month.