Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s, The Wonder-inspired by numerous European and North American cases of “fasting girls” between the sixteenth century and the twentieth-is a psychological thriller about a child’s murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes.
A nurse, sent to investigate whether she is a fraud, meets a journalist hungry for a story. The Wonder will appeal to readers of historical fiction, stories set in Ireland and of course fans of Emma Donoghue's excellent writing.Īn eleven-year-old girl stops eating, but remains miraculously alive and well.
Well without a doubt in my mind, she has succeeded in writing a realistic yet imaginative ending. It was difficult to understand just how far peoples beliefs would influence them, as it seemed they were prepared to let their own child die, as they persisted in believing in miracles.Ī difficult subject to write a novel about and whilst reading you cannot but help find yourself thinking about how an earth the author is going to be able to bring the novel to a satisfactory and believable ending. The other main character is Lib Wright a nurse a veteran of the Crimean War and trained by Florence Nightingale, who accepts an assignment to watch over Anna to try and discover if what is being claimed is all a sham!Īt first the novel felt slow and took time to figure out with the complications of religion, myth and superstition that had a big influence on Anna's family and their reactions to what was happening to their daughter. The protagonist Anna is an eleven year old Irish girl whose family are claiming she is a living miracle. It certainly did that, using as inspiration the true life stories of young people that claimed to survive long periods without food, Emma Donoghue has created with this novel another shocking yet riveting story about a child and a disturbing life experience. My Opinion: As the successful author of the masterpiece that was Room I wondered if The Wonder was going to meet my expectations.
Literary Awards: Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2016), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2016) Donoghue's masterful way with words and imagery has the reader sharing Lib's scepticism and disdain for Anna and her family's naïve religious fervour.
a tale of claustrophobic suspense and the intense relationship between a woman and a child. Review Quote: Fans of Emma Donoghue's first novel Room will not be disappointed with The Wonder. First Sentence: The journey was no worse than she expected.įavourite Quote: “How could the child bear not just the hunger, but the boredom? The rest of humankind used meals to divide the day, Lib realized - as a reward, as entertainment, the chiming of an inner clock.
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