In this masterpiece by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, an English nurse is brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle - a girl said to have survived without food for month - and 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)