The Pull of The Stars by Emma Donoghue

Last summer, some friends and I zoomed with our friend Dr. H., who is an anesthesiologist at a local hospital. He was preparing to begin the night shift, and we were eager to hear what his job was like during the pandemic. When we asked what kind of patients he would see, he said, “It’s very quiet. I’m just waiting for the babies to be born.” And that is when it first hit me: Women would be delivering babies, as usual, during the pandemic. This is the territory of Emma Donoghue’s book, “The Pull of The Stars,” which details a maternity ward during the 1918 influenza outbreak an urban hospital in Ireland. The author’s note describes the novel as “fiction pinned together with facts,” and was completed before our Covid hit. The story centers around Julia Power (a midwife), Dr. Kathleen Lynn (a doctor with a criminal past) and Bridie Sweeney (a kind-hearted volunteer raised in the orphanage system). Short-staffed with hospital beds filled, the three women must treat patients in the “fever and maternity” ward, which includes pregnant women suffering with influenza symptoms. Armed with only the basic essentials (whiskey and chloroform), the three women must do the best they can to keep the patients comfortable. Like her 2010 bestseller “Room,” Donoghue is a specialist when it comes to describing details and emotions within the space of one room. At first glance, the early 20th century hospital ward might seem like an old-fashioned story, but the common thread of a pandemic, then and now, is chilling. Yet, as the death toll numbers continue to be counted around the world today, so do the stories of hope and survival. “The Pull of The Stars” provides an inspirational tale, and a testament of admiration to all those healthcare workers putting their lives on the line every day. We must be grateful for all that they do. Thank you, Dr. H., too. To buy this book on Amazon click here