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Debbie W.'s Reviews > The Pull of the Stars
The Pull of the Stars
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by
Debbie W.'s review
bookshelves: spanish-flu, own, canadian-authors, historical-fiction, literature-united-kingdom-ireland, wwi, 2021-reads
Jan 15, 2021
bookshelves: spanish-flu, own, canadian-authors, historical-fiction, literature-united-kingdom-ireland, wwi, 2021-reads
An interesting and informative historical fiction read that not only was easily relatable to our current times in regards to living through a pandemic, but also about how a society dealt with their war veterans, their unwed mothers and their orphaned children.
Why I liked this story:
(1) well-developed plot and characters (I especially liked Bridie Sweeney and her hard-working initiative!);
(2) the similarities, then and now, of home remedies, superstitious beliefs, correct (and incorrect) behaviors and directives, notices about closures and physical distancing, and shortage of supplies;
(3) detailed descriptions of childbirth and autopsies;
(4) the significance of the title and this particular cover design; and,
(5) new vocabulary learned (e.g. barmbrack and shillelagh) as well as a mention of the Magdalene Laundries (I have a book about that on my WTR list!)
A couple of teeny issues that I had with this story:
(1) the lack of quotation marks occasionally confused me, and
(2) the motions Mary O'Rahilly uses to make the sign of the cross are written in the wrong order.
Recent and relevant news report: On January 13, 2021, Irish prime minister, Micheal Martin, formally apologizes to survivors after an investigation into Ireland's Church-run mother-and-baby homes. About 9000 children died in the 18 institutions under this investigation!
Why I liked this story:
(1) well-developed plot and characters (I especially liked Bridie Sweeney and her hard-working initiative!);
(2) the similarities, then and now, of home remedies, superstitious beliefs, correct (and incorrect) behaviors and directives, notices about closures and physical distancing, and shortage of supplies;
(3) detailed descriptions of childbirth and autopsies;
(4) the significance of the title and this particular cover design; and,
(5) new vocabulary learned (e.g. barmbrack and shillelagh) as well as a mention of the Magdalene Laundries (I have a book about that on my WTR list!)
A couple of teeny issues that I had with this story:
(1) the lack of quotation marks occasionally confused me, and
(2) the motions Mary O'Rahilly uses to make the sign of the cross are written in the wrong order.
Recent and relevant news report: On January 13, 2021, Irish prime minister, Micheal Martin, formally apologizes to survivors after an investigation into Ireland's Church-run mother-and-baby homes. About 9000 children died in the 18 institutions under this investigation!
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Reading Progress
July 2, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
July 2, 2020
– Shelved
September 11, 2020
– Shelved as:
spanish-flu
September 11, 2020
– Shelved as:
own
January 7, 2021
–
Started Reading
January 7, 2021
– Shelved as:
canadian-authors
January 7, 2021
– Shelved as:
historical-fiction
January 7, 2021
– Shelved as:
literature-united-kingdom-ireland
January 14, 2021
–
Finished Reading
January 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
wwi
February 24, 2021
– Shelved as:
2021-reads
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Yvonne G
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Jan 08, 2021 10:26PM
This one sounds really good, although maybe a little sad and poignant and perhaps a bit too close to home, given the current situation. Perhaps one we should all read though, to make us think twice about why we have rules that need to be obeyed! I shall be interested to see what rating/review you give it! :)
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Yvonne (Fiction Books) wrote: "This one sounds really good, although maybe a little sad and poignant and perhaps a bit too close to home, given the current situation. Perhaps one we should all read though, to make us think twice..."Thank, Yvonne! I'm enjoying it so far! An interesting note: Ms. Donoghue sent this to the publisher shortly before COVID-19 hit! Because of this newest pandemic, the publishers were keen on getting this book out!
Such an interesting review, Debbie. As always, I like how you do the what you liked and what you didn't like.... and I appreciate the news bit here too as I hadn't read about it. 9000 children died?! Wow.... So tragic.
sounds like an interesting read... great review :)
Jenna wrote: "Such an interesting review, Debbie. As always, I like how you do the what you liked and what you didn't like.... and I appreciate the news bit here too as I hadn't read about it. 9000 children died..."Many thanks, Jenna! I appreciate your appreciation of my review-writing format! I'm not into writing book reports! :-)
I saw this news story a couple of nights ago, just as I was nearing the end of this book. Extremely fortuitous for me to learn about this investigation right then! 9000 children SO FAR! I'm not sure if the investigation is still ongoing...
Indiradara wrote: "sounds like an interesting read... great review :)"Indiradara, thank you! This book is getting many rave reviews!
Very thoughtful review, Debbie. Your last paragraph is alarming! You start to wonder how prevalent these kinds of things are in the world, unfortunately.
Kat wrote: "Very thoughtful review, Debbie. Your last paragraph is alarming! You start to wonder how prevalent these kinds of things are in the world, unfortunately."Thanks, Kat! It's stuff like this that authors have so much to write about without making it up!
Awesome review, Debbie. Thanks for adding the recent and relevant news report. It is so very sad.
Kathleen wrote: "Awesome review, Debbie. Thanks for adding the recent and relevant news report. It is so very sad."Thank you, Kathleen! Just as I was nearing the end of this book, I saw the above-mentioned report on the CTV National News! Talk about opportune timing!
I echo Kathleen. I just read the report the other day (horribly tragic!) but hadn't heard that about the prime minister. Great review, Debbie. Thanks for the details. I knew about the lack of quotation marks (huge pet peeve) but not the info about autopsies. I'm going to skip this one.
Caroline wrote: "I echo Kathleen. I just read the report the other day (horribly tragic!) but hadn't heard that about the prime minister. Great review, Debbie. Thanks for the details. I knew about the lack of quo..."
Thank you for your comments, Caroline! Going into this story, I was aware of the lack of quotation marks, so I was ready. For the most part, this didn't bother me, except for the occasional time, requiring me to reread something. If someone is squeamish about vivid details of childbirth and/or autopsies, you may want to skip this one.
I love the recent and relevant news report you added and your eye for detail, Debbie!
Nancy wrote: "I love the recent and relevant news report you added and your eye for detail, Debbie!"Thanks, Nancy! Unbelievable timing!
Well-presented Debbie. I like it how you even point to learning a new vocabulary :)
Annette wrote: "Well-presented Debbie. I like it how you even point to learning a new vocabulary :)"I've always encouraged my students to expand their vocabulary through reading, because we often learn new words this way that we typically wouldn't use in everyday conversation. I love books that do this for me as well!
Fine review, Debbie! :))
Great review of an interesting book, Debbie. It was good to hear about the apology by the Irish prime minister. Too bad some apologies take so long coming.
Beata wrote: "Fine review, Debbie! :))"Thanks, Beata!
This one sounds so good! A superb review Debbie! It certainly sounds like a good one to read at this time.
Barbara wrote: "Great review of an interesting book, Debbie. It was good to hear about the apology by the Irish prime minister. Too bad some apologies take so long coming."Thank you, Barbara! It's unfortunate that so many of these decisions from long ago were probably made in good faith, but in hindsight, we've realized how injurious they were to so many people.
Tina wrote: "This one sounds so good! A superb review Debbie! It certainly sounds like a good one to read at this time."Thanks, Tina! It's definitely relevant!
Wonderful review, Debbie and I'm so glad that the abuse and deaths of these children have been acknowledged!
MarilynW wrote: "Wonderful review, Debbie and I'm so glad that the abuse and deaths of these children have been acknowledged!"Thank you, Marilyn! I was almost finished reading this book when this information came on the news! How coincidental is that?
Terrific review, Debbie. I know how good Donohue can be with writing a character, so imagine this was very good. She seems to change up her genre writing as well.
Debbie, you review is simply terrific! I will do some internet searching on this subject based on your passion here. I am currently reading about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society scandal that broke in 1950. As a fairly new resident to Tennessee from CA I feel compelled to check this one out. The book ‘Before We Were Yours’ by Lisa Wingate is based on this true facts of this scandal. I’m reading ‘Before and After’ which is the book about the impact Lisa’s book had on the family’s impacted by the adoptions from the TCHS. So tragic!
I am glad that we both enjoyed reading this book! Wonderful review, Debbie! It’s scary how similar the two pandemics are.
Ron wrote: "Terrific review, Debbie. I know how good Donohue can be with writing a character, so imagine this was very good. She seems to change up her genre writing as well."Thank you, Ron! I've only read two books by Emma Donoghue (this one as well as Room), and both were very well written! I agree that she seems quite talented switching up genres! I hope to read her book The Wonder soon!
Terrie wrote: "Debbie, you review is simply terrific! I will do some internet searching on this subject based on your passion here. I am currently reading about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society scandal that ..."Thanks so much for your kind comments, Terrie! It's amazing how many books are currently being written about this subject! I own the book Before We Were Yours, and based on all the positive reviews it has received, I better get to it soon!
Marilyn wrote: "I am glad that we both enjoyed reading this book! Wonderful review, Debbie! It’s scary how similar the two pandemics are."Thank you, Marilyn! Yes, they are quite similar, aren't they? Seems like we haven't learned too much in 100 years!
Very helpful, Debbie. Thanks!
HBalikov wrote: "Very helpful, Debbie. Thanks!"Thanks, H!
Lee wrote: "Great review"Thank you, Lee!
Sometimes apologies are a long time coming, but still welcome. Too bad someone back in 1918 who was in a position to do something about this abominable condition never did anything to help out the situation then.
Sher wrote: "Sometimes apologies are a long time coming, but still welcome. Too bad someone back in 1918 who was in a position to do something about this abominable condition never did anything to help out the ..."Unfortunately, many of these decisions from years past were often made with good intentions, without consideration as to how the people affected might feel.
Fantastic review! This one sounds fascinating. I am so looking forward to reading it soon. (:
Appreciate your easy-to-read review with lists of likes and issues. Thanks for the recent and relevant news report. I am Native American with family who were sent to the Indigenous boarding schools and have tried to educate myself about this emotionally-charged history.
Elisabeth wrote: "Fantastic review! This one sounds fascinating. I am so looking forward to reading it soon. (:"Oh my, Elisabeth! I just got your comment today! 😠 I hope this book has moved up on your WTR list!
Denise wrote: "Appreciate your easy-to-read review with lists of likes and issues. Thanks for the recent and relevant news report. I am Native American with family who were sent to the Indigenous boarding schools..."Thank you for your kind comments, Denise! It's truly unfortunate how so many children around the world were treated like this, all in the name of providing "better care".
Fantastic review, Debbie! I'm reading this book right now and it's gripper.. I really like Bridie and Julia! What amazing women 💚
Should be " gripping".
Kellie wrote: "Fantastic review, Debbie! I'm reading this book right now and it's gripper.. I really like Bridie and Julia! What amazing women 💚"Kellie wrote: "Should be " gripping"."
Haha! Glad you're enjoying it so far, Kellie!
Thank you very much, Debbie 💕 the subject matter is a bit hard to read, but it's written so beautifully! 💚
Kellie wrote: "Thank you very much, Debbie 💕 the subject matter is a bit hard to read, but it's written so beautifully! 💚"👍😊
Such a great review, Debbie. I loved that you added that news tidbit. The governments and churches have many apologies to and compensation to give out yet will probably never happen without pressure. Makes me sick to my stomach
Karina wrote: "Such a great review, Debbie. I loved that you added that news tidbit. The governments and churches have many apologies to and compensation to give out yet will probably never happen without pressur..."Seems like so many governments and churches around the world need some 'splaining to do!
