The Pull of the Stars

De: Emma Donoghue

Narrado por: Emma Lowe

Three days in a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu. The Pull of the Stars is the Sunday Times Bestseller from the acclaimed author of The Wonder and Room.

'An immersive, unforgettable fever-dream of a novel' – The Times

The old world dying on its feet, a new one struggling to be born . . .

Dublin, 1918. In a country 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 an unfamiliar 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 the course of 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, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue tells an unforgettable and deeply moving story of love and loss.

Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards -- Eason Novel of the Year
The Telegraph's 'Best Novels of 2020'
Guardian's 'Brilliant Books to Transport You This summer', 'Best Books of 2020'
Cosmopolitan's 'Best Books to Read this summer'
Stylist's 'Best summer Reads

Reseñas de la Crítica

<b>A visceral, harrowing, and revelatory vision of life, death, and love in a time of pandemic. This novel is stunning</b> (Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven)

<b><i>The Pull of the Stars</i> has a fever dream-like quality</b> . . . as a tender record of humans coping as best they can with a pandemic,<b> it’s about as moving and absorbing as it gets</b>

<b>A timely, exquisite and unputdownable reminder of love and compassion</b> in the smallest room where women are giving birth and other women are dying and yet love - in all its joy and complexity - still finds a place (Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry)

<b>Extraordinarily prescient</b> . . . With <i>The Pull of the Stars</i>, [Donoghue] again conjures up a setting that is at once <b>claustrophobic in feel yet epic in sweep </b>

Donoghue writes with such brilliant relish . . . <b>fascinating and resonant</b>

<b>Eerily topical, Donoghue’s new novel reads like an episode of <i>Call The Midwife</i> set during a pandemic</b> . . . It is some cocktail and Donoghue mixes the ingredients with <b>impressive </b>skill

<b>Remarkably prescient</b>

<b>One of the Emerald Isle’s most glittering literary lights, Donoghue here delivers a historical fiction turned timely reminder of human resilience</b>

<b>It is rare for such a fast-paced story to be told so beautifully, and the writing is comical &amp; exquisite</b>

<b>Moving, gripping and dazzlingly written</b>

<b>As strong and compelling as Jack in <i>Room </i>and Lib in <i>The Wonder</i> . . . a haunting and finely balanced literary novel</b> (Sarah Moss)

Certainly, the currency of <i>The Pull of the Stars </i>gives it a gripping edge, but at its heart <b>this is a story about friendship, love and compassion in extraordinary times</b> . . . It's an <b>engrossing </b>read. Donoghue's writing is visceral and her female characters strike a powerful chord of humanity that stays with you

<b>Donoghue</b><b> offers vivid characters and a gripping portrait of a world beset by a pandemic and political uncertainty. A fascinating read in these difficult times. </b>

Narrator Emma Lowe's layered characterizations include distinct Irish accents and diction that illuminate the backgrounds of the protagonists and hospital staff. The pregnant women in their care are depicted with particular sensitivity; their pain, joy, and loss are all keenly felt. As circumstances around the women intensify, so will listeners' investment in the outcomes of their stories.

Engrossing and powerful

I’ve never listened to anything by this author but what a rollercoater of hope, joy and despair. The fierceness of Julia and her determination to save her patients made me feel like shouting out for the medical community. It seems like we’ve forgotten already how hard they fought to keep us all alive during our pandemic.

The combination of the two horsemen of war and influenza in 1918 makes our experience of Covid in 2020 seem almost placid. Except of course to the people who lost loved ones. That we’re even questioning the intent of our doctors, nurses, and public health officials makes me rage.

Some people would find the medical descriptions here unsettling but I was mesmerized through out the entire book. And I loved the drama of the personal tragedies and triumphs of the hospital.

Emma Lowe was amazing with the delivery of the story

Ok

It felt a bit like a half told story and what was told happened in a bit of a rush.