A 2016 Shirley Jackson Awards FinalistA New York Times Book Review ’Paperback Row’ selectionThe latest masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room In the latest masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, an English nurse brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-soon finds herself … to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-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–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” (Newsday)more
I think this is the strangest book I’ve read recently as the subject matter is completely different than everything I’ve read. I really enjoyed the book.
This is the second book I’ve read from Emma Donoghue (the first was Room), and found this one just as compelling. I found this book hard to put down – Donoghue creates interesting characters and sets them in motion. A lot was said & done in such a small space. I recommend this for anyone who likes historical fiction, psychological thrillers or for people who have her other works by the author.
A girl is rumored to be surviving without food for a long period of time. Is a miracle at play, or something far more sinister? I had absolutely no idea how this book would end, and even though I speculated, I was in no way prepared for the finale. Wonderful writing that kept me on the edge of my seat.
Finished The Wonder last week! I’d read Room, and as you’d gather from the description, this book is absolutely nothing like ROOM. Set in the mid-19th century, The Wonder follows British nurse Lib into “the dead center” of Ireland, as the locals call it, on a strange assignment: A young girl allegedly hasn’t eaten for four months, and Lib is to determine what’s really going on. Is it all a publicity stunt, or is Anna being satiated by her strong faith in God, as her family claims?
I won’t say anything else about the plot, but I will say I thought The Wonder was quite good. One beautifully drawn, complex relationship (as we saw in ROOM) and lots of interesting reflections on guilt, faith, doubt, etc. Donoghue is Irish, but she does a fantastic job seeing the country from the perspective of an Anglican British nurse who is understandably baffled by Irish superstition and the oddities/gloom of 19th-century Catholicism.
The premise is just squirmy enough to draw the reader in, as is the slow dawning of realization that there is far more to nurse Lib’s story than meets the eye. The pacing of the story is part of “the wonder,” starting slowly, even puzzlingly, but picking up speed as it subtly goes along until I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
Wow! this is unlike any book I’ve ever read. It is wonderful and awful at the same time. Awful in subject, not in writing. The writing is brilliant. It is a story of religious fervor gone wrong, a shadowy secret, and one woman who has to risk everything to restore all that was damaged. This is my second book by Emma Donoghue after loving how she wrote Room – another appalling story in the hands of a masterful writer. I am definitely going to check out her backlist.
This was a slow burn, and yet not. I kept turning the pages as I read because there’s just something compelling about how Emma Donoghue writes. Her setting is as vivid as her characters. You will feel conflicting feelings toward almost every character in this book, but I think that’s the point. These are flawed individuals hiding secrets and wrapped in differing beliefs. It’s a unique and heart wrenching story. I recommend!
This book meets all my reading criteria: it’s dark, has religious undertones, and reflects a wonderful protagonists’ arc.
If you’ve read ROOM, you’ll know what I mean by dark; Emma Donoghue does not shy away from what is hard to swallow, just as she didn’t shy away from it in The Wonder. (And if you haven’t read ROOM, I suggest you give it a try.
I also liked the slight romantic undertones. I’m not a big romance reader, but the author did a credible job of one thing leading to another.
In 1859, Lib, a Protestant, non-spiritual, pragmatic but devoted nurse trained by Florence Nightingale, herself, is sent to a small Catholic village in Ireland to examine the case of an eleven-year old girl who is said to survive without food. It is believed that the young girl has not eaten in months. Lib did not expect to find Anna so endearing. She is merely to observe the girl to discover the truth. Is she getting nourishment from any source? Is she a miracle child as the townspeople believe? After nearly a fortnight of observation, Lib discovers the sad truth about her young charge.
What a wonderful and exciting book this is! Wonderfully crafted characters lead us in a maze of discovery about human nature, the power of superstition, and one woman’s bravery. This book is, indeed, a wonder!
That was a strange book. An interesting premise and well written with character depth. There was a little too much repetition, but an explanation I didn’t see coming but ending I did. A bit of historical fiction with psychological notes and the religious fervor of Ireland.
another must read
Another complex and deeply thought-provoking work from Emma Donoghue.
So Emma Donoghue seems to find subjects that ordinarily I care nothing about and then trick me into all night reading marathons because I can’t bear not to know what happens next. Wonder is such a book.
Powerfully strange and unexpected. Always nice to read something unexpected.
This was a book that I kept coming back to. Although it wasn’t a classic page-turner, I needed to know what was going to happen. It was also wonderfully written with a number of intriguing characters that have stayed me for a while.
While the book had a slow beginning, the story of the young girl who was seemingly able to live months without food was a mystery that unfolded piece by piece to show the real reason behind the starvation. Can’t get it out of my mind.
I enjoyed the book very much. It was a different story line that I hadn’t read before in a novel. Liked the ending !
This book was so amazing. I stuttered through the 19th century European Enlish, but wow! It was beautiful and haunting.