The Wonder

Starred review from July 4, 2016
Donoghue demonstrates her versatility by dabbling in a wide range of literary styles in this latest novel. Set mostly in a small, spare room inside a shabby cabin in rural 1850s Ireland, the closely imagined, intricately drawn story possesses many of the same alluring qualities as her bestseller, Room. Lib, a widow and former nurse, is summoned from London to the peat-smelling village of Athlone for a fortnight to assess whether 11-year-old “living marvel” Anna O’Donnell has truly been able to survive without food for four months. It could be some sort of hoax perpetrated by the girl’s family or the village parish, and Lib confidently assumes that it’ll be an open-and-shut case. But as each day passes and Anna’s health suddenly begins to deteriorate, not only does Lib grow more attached to the earnest girl, but she also becomes convinced that Anna’s reasons for fasting—a recently deceased brother, devotion to God, her parents’ influence—run far deeper than Lib imagined. Inspired by the true cases of nearly 50 “Fasting Girls”—who lived throughout the British Isles, western Europe, and North America between the 16th and 20th centuries and became renowned for living without food for long periods of time—Donoghue’s engrossing novel is loaded with descriptions of period customs and 19th-century Catholic devotional objects and prayers. Even with its tidy ending, the novel asks daring questions about just how far some might go to prove their faith.

Starred review from January 30, 2017
In the mid-19th century, English nurse Lib Wright is sent to a tiny Irish village for an unusual task. An 11-year-old girl, Anna, is being hailed as a miracle and potential saint because, it is claimed, she has eaten nothing in four months yet survives in good health. Lib’s job is to watch the girl like a hawk for two weeks and either confirm that she doesn’t eat or expose her as a fraud. But over the course of her watch, she uncovers a dark secret and faces an urgent moral dilemma. Voice actor Lock’s narration is masterful: she creates a wide variety of memorable voices with authentic accents (from Lib’s English accent to many different types of Irish voices—lower-class rural people, men, women, the elderly, and innocent little Anna). During scenes of conversations and arguments, listeners may think they are hearing a full cast of actors, so distinct are the voices and so committed is Lock’s performance. At every moment, Lock is fully engaged, giving every word meaning and emotion and suspense. It’s a thrilling, award-worthy performance of this dark and suspenseful mystery with a rich historical background. A Little, Brown hardcover.

Starred review from September 1, 2016

In August 1859, nurse Lib Wright accepts an unusual assignment: to observe a devout 11-year-old Catholic girl in Athlone, Ireland, who has not eaten in four months and yet remains mostly healthy. Having trained under Florence Nightingale, Lib is ideally equipped to verify whether Anna O'Donnell's fast is a hoax. She initially suspects the child's piety is a scam for attention, but Anna's gentle nature softens the nurse's heart. As Anna's health deteriorates, Lib investigates and discovers that the girl's heart is burdened by a deep shame reinforced by her loved ones' narcissistic pieties, while the medical implications of Anna's fast blind her physician to her alarming decline. Lib resolves to save Anna's life. To do so, however, she may have to commit a murder. The author's depiction of Anna is especially marvelous and her narrative pacing masterly. VERDICT Donoghue's most recent offering is as startlingly rewarding as her celebrated novel Room. Heart-hammering suspense builds as Lib monitors Anna's quickening pulse, making this book's bracing conclusion one of the most satisfying in recent fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16.]--John G. Matthews, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016

Donoghue follows up 2014's much-starred Frog Music with another historical that sounds as wrenching as her Man Booker finalist, Room. In a remote 1850s Irish village, young Anna O'Donnell has decided to demonstrate her faith by fasting, and folks from all over arrive to stand in the shining light of this presumed miracle (will she survive?). English nurse Lib has another assignment--to determine whether Anna is a fraud--but instead finds herself wondering whether Anna is succumbing to slowly unfolding murder.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 15, 2016
An English nurse confronts Irish history and entrenched prejudices--some of them hers--in this stinging latest from Donoghue (Frog Music, 2014, etc.).Lib Wright has survived the Crimean War and a failed marriage by the time she's summoned to central Ireland to watch over 11-year-old Anna O'Donnell, whose parents claim she has eaten no food in four months. The girl's physician, Dr. McBrearty, and a committee of local bigwigs have hired Lib and a nun to provide round-the-clock surveillance. Lib quickly realizes that Dr. McBrearty, at least, is weirdly anxious to prove the girl's fast is no hoax, even if he deplores loose talk of a miracle. An advocate of the scientific nursing principles preached by Florence Nightingale, Lib has nothing but contempt for such an absurd idea. Yet she is charmed by Anna, as whip-smart as she is pious, and alarmed when the girl's surprisingly robust health begins to falter shortly after the nurses' watch begins. Clearly someone has been feeding Anna until now, but it's also clear she believes she has eaten nothing. Lib's solution of this riddle says nothing good about provincial Irish society in the mid-19th century, seen through her eyes as sexist, abusive, and riddled with ridiculous superstitions. Irish Times correspondent William Byrne counters with a scathing analysis of the recent potato famine, angrily instructing this blinkered Englishwoman in her nation's culpability for mass starvation as well as the centuries of repression that have made the Irish a defensive, backward people. Nonetheless, nothing can excuse the wall of denial Lib slams into as she desperately tries to get Anna's parents and the committee even to acknowledge how sick the child is. The story's resolution seems like pure wish fulfillment, but vivid, tender scenes between Lib and Anna, coupled with the pleasing romance that springs up between feisty Lib and the appreciative Byrne, will incline most readers to grant Donoghue her tentative happy ending. Her contemporary thriller Room (2010) made the author an international bestseller, but this gripping tale offers a welcome reminder that her historical fiction is equally fine.

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Starred review from July 1, 2016
In her outstanding new psychologically intense and suspenseful novel, Donoghue (Frog Music, 2014) plunges readers deeply into her protagonist's confounding situation and its ethical consequences. In 1859, Lib Wright, an English nurse trained by Florence Nightingale herself, is tasked with an unsettling mission: watching over Anna O'Donnell, an 11-year-old girl in a small Irish village who, so it's claimed, hasn't ingested any nourishment in four months. While Anna doesn't appear to be starving, neither is she blooming with health. Her devoutly religious mother acts proud of her seemingly miraculous restraint. Believing this extraordinary wonder to be a lucrative scam, Lib determines to locate Anna's secret food source and expose her as a fake. She has two weeks to do so. However, Anna, an unforgettable character, is a delightful, curious child who awakens Lib's protective nature, increasingly so as Anna's well-being deteriorates. Donoghue excels at evoking the social and religious atmosphere that proves difficult for the secular-minded Lib to penetrate. Fervent Catholic piety intermingles with folk superstitions, and the confined setting of the O'Donnells' meager cabin feels tangibly immediate. The mystery about Anna forces readers to weigh every word for clues, while the creeping tension urges them to read faster, with a growing sense of urgency. Exploring the nature of faith and trust with heartrending intensity, Donoghue's superb novel will leave few unaffected.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With the resounding success of the film version of Donoghue's novel Room, her readership is vast and hungry, and this will be promoted accordingly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)