Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s 1918 and we‘re on the maternity ward of a hospital in Ireland, right in the middle of the flu epidemic. We spend three days with Nurse Julia Powell, Dr Kathleen Lynn, and Bridie, an orphan who comes to volunteer. Nurse Powell narrates a very detailed story of births and deaths, hope and despair. I love nurses as much as the next person, but I might be a little tired of them after the nurses in The Women.

Not for the faint of heart— you may find yourself rooting for the killer. Of course, the murders are also painful & affecting, but who was most guilty? Quite thrilling but damn dark 🖤

I've enjoyed every book I've read by this author. My first was A FALL OF MARIGOLDS and the last one was ONLY THE BEAUTIFUL. Both were such wonderful books. All of this author's books that I have read are so good. Well written and heart touching historical. I look forward to many more. If you get a chance grab THE NATURE OF FRAGIL THINGS. You won't regret it. All of her books are good so never be afraid to read any one of them.
5 stars

It‘s not often that I wish a book were longer, but the author‘s decision to limit this to three days meant that there were great gaping holes in some storylines. But Donoghue did an excellent job immersing the reader in a hospital ward for pregnant women with the flu. She captures the beauty the chaos the joy and the pain. Ready for book club and wondering how the discussion will go.

Interesting graphic novel about the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.

I‘ve been reading this book off and on for several weeks. It was good but I wasn‘t as pulled into the story as other readers. I did love the Philly setting and learning about the devastation brought on in 1918 when the Spanish Flu swept through the world. This book was written pre Covid so I wonder what the author might have done differently. A story of a family, undertakers who must deal with the dying as both a business and personal tragedy.

I have no idea what my experience and opinion would have been had I read this when it was published in 2018. But reading HF about the Spanish flu that was not influenced by the divisive politics during Covid-19 was fascinating. I think it would be impossible to write this story without 2020-2021 influences today.

#14books14weeks2023 Book 9
@TheHeartlandBookFairy

This was so interesting and eye opening. I found myself both appalled and horrified whilst at the same time unable to put the book down. Truly, a very good and educational read given the pandemic we all just went through. #nonfictionread

This book was ok but didn't love it. The characters were well written although some of their story lines were ended very quickly and with not much thought. Most of the book read a bit too slow for my liking and while parts picked up the majority was on the slower end. I did enjoy reading about the Spanish flu and how alike it was to the pandemic we just had. No rhyme or reason as to why some only got a bit sick and it took others lives.

I don't think I'm going to hit my goal of finishing the book. But I'm heading into part two now. It took a bit but by the end of part one I was starting to get into the book. Hopefully it continues to pick up.

#JoysOfJune #Readathon #MorningReading