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Emma Donoghue

The Wonder Hardcover – September 20, 2016

by Emma Donoghue (Author)

2,806 ratings

3.6 on Goodreads

79,418 ratings

Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

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Now a Netflix film starring Florence Pugh: In this “old-school page turner” (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review) by the 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 months—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)

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

September 20, 2016
Dimensions

6.38 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0316393878
ISBN-13

978-0316393874
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Popular Highlights in this book

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Calm was crucial; a strident female voice caused men’s ears to close.
Highlighted by 313 Kindle readers
That was what nobody understood: saving lives often came down to getting a latrine pipe unplugged.
Highlighted by 271 Kindle readers
But that was part of the definition of madness, Lib supposed, the refusal to accept that one was mad.
Highlighted by 227 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

The Wonder

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fascinating.... Like The Turn of the Screw, the novel opens irresistibly, when a young woman with a troubled past gets an enigmatic posting in a remote place.... Heartbreaking and transcendent and almost religious in itself."―Sarah Lyall, New York Times

"A fine, fact-based historical novel, an old-school page turner...Donoghue has written, with crackling intensity, about [spirituality's] power to destroy."―Stephen King, New York Times Book Review

"[Donoghue's] contemporary thriller Room made [her] an international bestseller, but this gripping tale offers a welcome reminder that her historical fiction is equally fine."―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Outstanding.... Exploring the nature of faith and trust with heartrending intensity, Donoghue's superb novel will leave few unaffected."―Sarah Johnson, Booklist (starred review)

"Donoghue demonstrates her versatility by dabbling in a wide range of literary styles in this latest novel.... The closely imagined, intricately drawn story possesses many of the same alluring qualities as her bestseller, Room. .... Donoghue's engrossing novel is loaded with descriptions of period customs and 19th-century Catholic devotional objects and prayers...[and] asks daring questions about just how far some might go to prove their faith."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Donoghue is known for her bestselling novel, Room.... [But] she is also well versed in historical fiction. THE WONDER brings together the best of all, combining a gracefully tense, young voice with a richly detailed historical setting."―The Millions

"Readers of historical fiction will gravitate to this tale."―Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times

"A riveting allegory about the trickle-down effect of trauma."―Megan O'Grady, Vogue

"Donoghue poses powerful questions about faith and belief all the while crafting a compelling story and an evocative portrait of 19th-century Irish provincial society."―Tom Beer, Newsday

"Donoghue's superb thriller will keep readers hanging on to every word, pondering how far one will go to prove her faith."―Liz Loerke, Real Simple

"Gripping."―Claire Stern, InStyle.com

"What at first seems a simple matter becomes far more-stick with it, the payoff is there."―Steph Opitz, Marie Claire

"Fresh and unusually lively historical fiction. [Donoghue's] latest novel brings together both her preoccupation with child peril and her gift for history."―Boris Kachka, Vulture

"A haunting novel about good vs. evil."―Brenda Janowitz, PopSugar

"Like [Room], THE WONDERexplores a dark, insular, and rigidly controlled environment.... Donoghue's clever use of an outsider as narrator lets her explain anomalies to us-what a creepie is (a log stool) and why people tie rags to a tree (to hold their pain)-as she encounters them herself. But there is more to this mystery than superstitions and local dialect. Lib must decipher the private truths of Anna and her family, who have closed ranks in grief over the loss of a son. She must puzzle out the community itself and its contradictory beliefs in religion, science, and tradition. And Lib has her own sorrowful secrets, her own need for personal redemption. Donoghue deftly pairs the two stories, and as Lib uncovers the truth about Anna, she gradually owns the truth about herself."―Roxana Robinson, O, The Oprah Magazine

"Riveting.... Highly recommended."―Valerie Koehler, Literary Hub

"THE WONDER by Emma Donoghue is just that: 'a wonder' of a story about religious delusion and self-denial [that] teem[s] with drama and great moral questions.... Donoghue manages to engage larger mysteries of faith, doubt and evil without sacrificing the lyricism of her language or the suspense of her storyline."―Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

"Donoghue proves herself endlessly inventive.... This is the kind of book that will keep you up at night and make you smarter."--Julie Buntin, Cosmopolitan

"Rich hauls of historical research, deeply excavated but lightly borne.... [An] ingenious telling."--David Kipen, Wall Street Journal

"All spectacle and gothic horror and inevitably hard to put down."―Stassa Edwards, Jezebel

"Has that vivid, ripped-from-the-headlines feel that comes from an author's utter fascination with a real-world subject.... THE WONDER is deliciously gothic.... Dark and vivid, with complicated characters, this is a novel that lodges itself deep."―Steph Cha, USA Today, 3/4 stars

"Fodder for endless book club debates."―Meghan O'Gieblyn, Los Angeles Review of Books

"A fine work, adept and compelling in voice, plot, and moral complexity.... Donoghue deals out the cards with real skill."―Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe

"A locked-room mystery, set in atmospheric 19th-century Ireland and as spare, in its own way, as Room.... A fable as lean and discomfiting as Anna's dwindling body.... Donoghue keeps us riveted to Lib's perspective throughout.... Thanks to the complexity of Donoghue's ideas, there's plenty on which to ruminate."―Amy Gentry, Chicago Tribune

"Donoghue, a writer of great vitality and generosity-one gets the sense that she would gladly have her characters over for dinner, as long as they'd agree to eat-has been drawn repeatedly to the genre of historical fiction not so much to inhabit or reinterpret the past as to try to fit together its overlooked, missing pieces.... Fiction is small solace for history's grief, but it's one way to set the record straight."―Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker

"A blazing historical novel."―Marion Winik, Newsday

"Donoghue is a master of plot, and her prose is especially exquisite in depicting ambiguity...

Lib is a heroine the modern woman can admire."―Sarah Begley, Time Magazine

"As in "Room," Ms. Donoghue proves a shrewd observer of the parental urge to distort reality to protect children-and themselves"―Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"Donoghue's measured prose is at its best when depicting damaged and failing flesh with extraordinarily vivid economy"―Financial Times

"An excellent new novel that is as much a mystery as it is an analysis of the extent to which some people are governed by their faith."―Houston Chronicle

"A haunting page-turner, filled with Donoghue's enchanting phrasemaking―The Seattle Times

"This a completely engrossing read-you will barely be able to tear yourself away from it".―Next Avenue

About the Author

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She also migrates between genres, writing literary history, biography, stage and radio plays as well as fairy tales and short stories.

She is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (Frog Music, Slammerkin, Life Mask, Landing, The Sealed Letter) to the contemporary (Akin, Stir-Fry, Hood, Landing). Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and was a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; Large Print edition (September 20, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316393878
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316393874
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #288,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,721 in Historical Thrillers (Books)
- #6,819 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #15,068 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2,806 ratings

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Emma Donoghue

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Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the international bestseller "Room" (her screen adaptation was nominated for four Oscars), "Frog Music", "Slammerkin," "The Sealed Letter," "Landing," "Life Mask," "Hood," and "Stirfry." Her story collections are "Astray", "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits," "Kissing the Witch," and "Touchy Subjects." She also writes literary history, and plays for stage and radio. She lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two children.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

2,806 global ratings

5 star		46%
4 star		30%
3 star		16%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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M. Bernstein

The wonder (of it all)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

What drew me to this book what is the movie, the wonder.

but first I had to learn what it was to break the fourth wall in the movie. I will not go into that.

The movie tracks the book quite accurately. and the nurse who in mid 19th century Great Britain had been in the student of Florence nightingale, and as such was a nurse in the Crimean war.

Now she found her self as a nurse hired to watch an 11 year old girl who seem to be able to live without food for four months.

The girl living in the Irish Midlands seem to be able to survive without eating. The role of the nurse was to watch the girl for two weeks to ascertain whether or not the child was indeed able to live without eating.

What struck me about the book was the obvious contempt which the nurse had for the Irish-generally.. there was almost nothing of what she knew about the Irish. She did not understand their Catholicism, the remains of livelihood, or their beliefs. I

But it was the ending of the movie that drew me to the book. For that I urge you to watch the movie.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A Tough Story to Review

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2017

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This is a hard book for me to review. I was attracted to the story by two elements: first, I really liked the writing in the sample I read; and second, I wanted to know how the author would resolve so challenging a premise. Sadly, by the end of the book I had somewhat soured on both.

As for the writing, it was continually good, but the author's use of short, incomplete sentences began to wear on me. At first I loved them. She used them to open a scene--sort of a transition device--and as a way to quickly and succinctly give the reader the "lay of the land". It did work well in some cases, but not in all; and I tend to feel that as a device it would be better served being utilized in action scenes only.

As for the premise, I loved it in the beginning until it became more obviously a veiled attack on the Catholic Church. Before I proceed, let me make it VERY CLEAR that I am not Catholic and I do condemn those crimes, past and present, that have been committed by priests and others of that faith. My complaint is strictly from a story standpoint. As a story, this attack on mainstream religion has been done ad nauseam, to the point that it has a become a tired cliche. I have read far too many books (and seen far too many movies) in which the broken, hardhearted agnostic (or occasionally atheist) confronts evil, corrupt religious people and in the end finds some sort of righteous redemption.

The author mentions in her postscript that she had been inspired by reading accounts of "fasting children" from the past. I do not question whether horrific events like this took place, I just wish someone would write the opposite--how someone of faith reveals the bankruptcy of agnosticism. Both types of books are valuable, but over the last hundred years or so, more of one has been written than the other. In fairness, there probably was a time in which we saw more books in the latter vent than the former, and why that has changed I will leave for others to analyse. My point is that as a reader, I would like to see more balance in literature.

Now, a warning: If you have not read THE WONDER and intend to, skip the rest of this review as it contains spoilers.

As I said earlier, I loved the premise and the writing and that sustained the book for me for a few chapters. After that the events in the story became monotonous. Of course the events themselves were monotonous for our protagonist--one "watch" after another with no change in Anna's condition--but that does not forgive the author from boring her readers. Stories are not real life. They are literary depictions of real life, meaning a good story should never bore its reader. The author must find a creative way of depicting those slow times.

Part of the issue was that the premise became like a one-joke movie--a film where the premise was great, but it never went anywhere. THE WONDER does finally pick up some momentum once Anna turns down her mother's illusive feedings and begins to truly die. At that point I was really championing Lib, hoping she could find some way to reach this poor, disillusioned girl. But when Lib confronted the village priest and the other members of the committee with the evidence of Anna's imminent demise and they turned a blind eye, all of this fell apart for me. These people would have never responded that way upon seeing Anna's wasted condition. The author tried to hedge this negative response by placing her story in the mid-1800s when people in Ireland were supposedly more superstitious and pigheaded. Whether that was true, I don't know. All I know is that as a story it didn't work because I couldn't bring myself to believe people in their situation would react so callously. Here I think perhaps the author was trying too hard to show her disdain for Catholicism, and she let it impact her storytelling.

But what hurt the story more than anything for me was after spending the whole novel showing how determined Anna was to move her brother from hell to heaven via her death, she suddenly and inexplicably allowed Lib to talk her out of it at the point of finally achieving that goal. The author had built such a strong character in Anna that she painted herself into a corner where her only way out was a type of deus ex machina. I'm sorry, but after months of suffering, people like Anna don't change their minds at the last possible second. They die.

Then there were the practical sides of the story. If Anna had died in the fire, she would have left behind bones. Everyone from the police to the townspeople would have known that. And since all of these religious zealots were willing to let Anna die so they would have a martyr to draw pilgrims to their tiny village, they would have zealously excavated her bones to put on display. And then there was Anna's physical condition. Again, this is where the author did her job far too well. Her description of Anna's condition at the end of her life was so horrific I found it impossible to believe she would have survived her escape, much less gone on to flourish. And finally there was Lib's love interest--Byrne. Why? Why do men and women working together to achieve a worthy goal have to fall in love? My guess is some publisher told the author that you can't have a successful novel these days without a love interest, and if that is so, then so be it. But I just wish once in awhile two people of the opposite sex would work together without it being a romance.

So, after all of this criticism, why did I give THE WONDER three stars and not something less? Because the writing was excellent, the characters well defined, the settings were expertly painted, and the premise was intriguing. Would I recommend it? That's hard for me to say. THE WONDER was one of those books that had a lot going for it, it was just not for me. That's not to say others will be willing to overlook those things that bothered me. One of "the wonders" (excuse me, I couldn't help myself!) of literature is that we're all different, and what doesn't work for one of us, will undoubtedly work for another. This diversity is what makes the world a more interesting place.

28 people found this helpful

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Diane Scott Lewis

Grim, fascinating, with a twist at the end.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2022

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This story of an English nurse keeping watch on an Irish girl who hasn't eaten in four months can be repetitive, but hang in for the twists to come later. Is the girl a fake? The Catholic Church and the Irish take a bashing which seems over the top, and the ending seems improbable, but it still kept my interest. The life of the Irish village poor is well depicted. I felt the chill and the claustrophobia.

One person found this helpful

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TowTruck & Wayward Reader

Eerily gothic tale

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 13, 2022

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Imagine reading a news report of a child living only on water. For four months. Astonishing? Believable? Suspicious? Lib Wright was trained by Florence Nightengale and nursed patients during the Crimean War. She is asked to travel to Ireland and observe an eleven-year-old girl who claims to have eaten nothing in four months. The village council has concerns with the girl's claim and wants to verify it before they are embarrassed. They hire Lib and a nun experienced in nursing. Both women are to trade off watching Anna giving 24-hour observation and not speak to each other to compare findings.

Lib has a much stricter view of nursing and finds herself at odds with the family hygiene, food, and constant arrival of visitors. Sister Michael seems unconcerned with the conditions and calmly observes Anna. Neither woman is to compare notes but Lib is certain her training will help her uncover the hoax quickly. How could Anna still be alive after four months with no food? Where is she getting her nutrition? Is Sister Michael assisting this farce?

Despite her best intentions, Lib finds herself caring for the child, Anna. Lib is afraid that Anna will not survive for much longer. Against her training, she works to find someone to help. She can no longer observe a child starving to death. Who will help her? Will Lib find out whether this is a farce or not? Anna is deeply religious, do her strongly held beliefs influence her condition in any way?

Two damaged souls meet and learn to appreciate each other. Their friendship helps them heal. This story is similar to a gothic thriller with the underlying tension gradually becoming stronger. Anna's parents seem loving and caring. How far will you go for your child? The characters are imaginatively crafted and the tension is palpable. Leave this century and enter this unusual story.

10 people found this helpful

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JBG

I had to know what happened!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 11, 2022

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I really enjoyed Emma Donoghue’s book Room, so when I heard about The Wonder from a friend, I dug right in. I felt transported to 19th century Ireland, where the story was set. Like Room, there is some subject matter in The Wonder that is hard to read, but the story was very engaging. I felt the need to know what would happen and read the book rather quickly. Ultimately, I was very satisfied with how the author ended the story.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction.

One person found this helpful

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Glenn T. Webb

old library books can be in great shape and cheap

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 19, 2022

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After seeing the NETFLIX version of the story I wanted to read the book it was based on. Got it! Many thanks.

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M. Dowden

Intriguing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is the first novel that I have read by this author, and although there are some rather obvious flaws here that will come to your attention, for instance the ending, this still makes for an intriguing read that will not only make you think, but also more than hold your attention.

We find ourselves in central Ireland in 1859, where Elizabeth ‘Lib’ Wright, one of Florence Nightingale’s nurses has been sent to nurse a child. What Lib was originally told, and thus what she is expecting are not quite the same things, as she finds herself in a shabby little village, observing an eleven-year-old girl who supposedly has not eaten anything in four months, who lives with her family on a small farm.

Taking in then this girl so as the tale proceeds, we see how the little girl, Anna O’Donnell has managed to live so long without apparently any food, just an occasional sip of water, why she is doing what she is, and the end result. Fasting girls were not that uncommon in the past, and here we have a case known as anorexia mirabilis, or holy anorexia. For Anna she believes that she has been feeding upon Manna, but has now stopped this, thus having no nutrition apart from some teaspoons of water. This thus takes in this phenomenon, as well as manipulation, abuse and the harm done to people by others. Lib’s pay is coming from a committee formed in the village to see whether the girl is really going without food, or whether it is a fraud, mainly because the local doctor has let details of the girl be known in the public domain, which has led to a lot of hilarity. Thus, with the reputation of the village and its inhabitants at stake we have both Lib, and a Holy Sister taking it in turn to watch the girl all the time.

Taking in religion and superstition so we have on one side the Catholics and on the other Lib, who although classed as a Protestant is really more an atheist. With the local priest taking a more background role, so he does not want to make a laughingstock of the Church, whilst the local doctor has visions of making his name due to the appearance of what could be a new evolutionary step for mankind. We also have various other views coming into play in this story as we are held on tenterhooks with whether Anna will die. Using both the gothic tradition as well as being a psychodrama there is a really good atmosphere built here, along with the descriptions of both places and people. As I have already mentioned, this is flawed in some places, and the ending is more akin to that of a 19th century triple decker but is still something that I found I loved reading.

3 people found this helpful

Sally Zigmond

Wonderful.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 21, 2022

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When just after the awful potato famine ended, a Florence Nightingale-trained nurse is offered well-paid employment caring for a young Irish girl in the Irish midlands, she has no idea what she will find. She arrives with all the usual English prejudices and ignorance of Roman Catholicism and the Irish. She also has a high opinion of herself, her nursing skills and her intelligence. She discovers this 11-year-old girl has not eaten anything at all and drunk very little, yet she smiles, says she is happy, is polite and surprisingly intelligent. So the nurse, who refuses at first to tell the girl her name, suspects a massive fraud. Who is behind it and why? Her terms of employment are strange. The girl must be watched constantly either by Libs or a taciturn nun. She is not to do anything but watch but how can she? She is a qualified nurse. She cannot sit and watch the progress of slow starvation.

Slowly and fitfully, a strange relationship developed between young Anna and Lib, the frustrated nurse, as the horrifying truth about both of them, emerges drip by drip.

This sounds depressing (yes, I did cry a lot) I also laughed and smiled as well) because I couldn't put down this page-turning thriller as we watch the girl die slowly. But will there be a miracle? The ending is rather unbelievable but so what?

Emma Donoghue is now my favourite author. Having read one or two of her novels. I have already bought several more.

2 people found this helpful

Char Louise

and I found her unnecessarily haughty and offhand with the locals of the village

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 8, 2017

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This book had an intriguing premise that made me want to find out more. A young and deeply religious girl, Anna, claims not to have eaten for several months and to be living on ‘manna from heaven’. A nurse, Lib, is brought in from England to conduct a watch over the girl, along with a local nun, and find out the truth – is it a family conspiracy to make money, a girl’s cry for attention, a physical or mental illness, or a true miracle?

It was very slow to get started though, and took a long time to set the scene. The chapters are long (over an hour) so the first 40% felt a bit hard going, as nothing much really happens. The initial analysis of Anna and her health is intriguing, but then the pace slows down for a while. I also didn’t warm to Lib for the first half of the novel: her character wasn’t developed that much until then, and I found her unnecessarily haughty and offhand with the locals of the village.

But after the half way point she develops a lot more character and emotion, and you can really feel her frustration and heartbreak that no one is listening to her about Anna’s state of health. There are several twists in the story as it goes on, in both Anna’s and Lib’s history and motivations, some of which I guessed and some I didn’t. In the end, Lib’s choices are reckless but brave, and I did find myself rooting for both Lib and Anna to have a happy ending.

13 people found this helpful

Tony48

Haunting tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 7, 2022

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The film caught my attention and I wanted to read the novel before tackling the film version. I read a generally positive review by Stephen King and enjoyed every moment of it. Spoiler alert: The only weakness was how the child’s ‘body’ was not exhaustingly searched for as she had nationwide fame. The character of Nightingale nurse Lib is one of the strengths of the tale. Her antipathy for the rural Catholic Irish people and their ways and beliefs is another enjoyable feature. Overall a very good read.

One person found this helpful

djeffrey

A wonderful novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 31, 2016

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THE WONDER was written by Emma Donoghue, author of ROOM. Inspired by various true accounts of "fasting girls" and set in the mid 19th century, The Wonder is the tale of a young Irish girl, Anna O'Donnell, whose Catholic family claim she has eaten nothing since her eleventh birthday... four months ago.

Libby Wright is an English nurse who has trained under Florence Nightingale and worked with the wounded during the Crimean War. She is an atheist and knows nothing about the Catholic faith. She knows very little about the Irish, either, and she makes the journey to Ireland only to discover that she has not been given the job of nursing her young charge, Anna, but of watching over her to make sure that she is indeed being given nothing by mouth.

Libby intends to expose the young girl as a trickster, but even she begins to wonder if the young girl is surviving on "manna from heaven."

I LOVED this book, which is nothing like ROOM!

I adored the characters of Libby, Anna and William Byrne, the journalist Libby befriends. The pace is a little slow in the first half, but this allows the reader to really get to know the characters. Then it picks up and gallops all the way to the end - and what a fantastic ending!

This book has been described as a psychological thriller. For me, it doesn't really fall into that genre, which isn't to say that there isn't any suspense! It is a story of relationships between family members, between men, women and children. It is a love story. It is the story of parochial beliefs, post-famine Ireland and preconceptions challenged. It is a moving story and in a category of its own. It's probably the best novel I read in 2016.

7 people found this helpful

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Ships from: Amazon

Sold by: srwilson62

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