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)
