The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (audiobook)

 genre: historical fiction

Julie Power loves her job in the maternity ward of a Dublin hospital. Working with laboring mothers and their infants gives her a solid and gratifying pleasure. But, in the fall of 1918, her job becomes one of serious risk and hardship as she tends to pregnant patients who have contracted the Spanish Flu. The line between life and death is so harrowing as a woman gives birth and never is this more true than when a mother is suffering an illness when her time begins. So very eerily timely and familiar in the current climate of COVID-19, this portrait of a strong and capable woman asked to play God for her ward of patients gives us an incredible look at an Ireland still under British rule, where poverty, political strife and superstition hang over life just as a horrific war has ended.

Oh this book, I wanted to always be listening. Unpredictable and powerful, the scenes of childbirth had me actually chewing my lip with worry. If nothing else this novel helped remind me to appreciate modern medicine and scientific knowledge - all while being amazed that a hundred years ago, people were truly fighting the same fight we are now in 2020. It’s a lovingly written, woman-centered story that left me feeling drained and a bit sad but very satisfied.