Expected publication: 9 June 2020
My Rating:🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
In the summer of 1878, the Ludwig Zirkus has come to the
island Nordstrand in Germany. Big-bellied girls rush from St. Margaret's Home
for Pregnant Girls, thrilled to see the parade and the show, followed by the
Sisters who care for them. The Old Women and Men, competing to be crowned as
the island’s Oldest Person, watch, thinking they have seen it all. But after
the show, a Hundred-Year Wave roars from the Nordsee and claims three young
children. Three mothers are on the beach when it happens: Lotte, whose children
are lost; Sabine, a Zirkus seamstress with her grown daughter; and Tilli, still
just a child herself, who will give birth later that day at St. Margaret’s. And
all three will end up helping each other more than they ever could have
anticipated.
As full of joy and beauty as it is of pain, and told with the luminous power that has made Ursula Hegi a beloved bestselling author for decades, The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls is a shattering portrait of marriage and motherhood, and of the ways in which women hold each other up in the face of heartbreak.
As full of joy and beauty as it is of pain, and told with the luminous power that has made Ursula Hegi a beloved bestselling author for decades, The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls is a shattering portrait of marriage and motherhood, and of the ways in which women hold each other up in the face of heartbreak.
What attracted me to this book:
I’m often curious to see why certain books attract me, and
there were several reasons why I couldn’t pass up a chance to read this one: a)
the Nordsee setting in the mid 1800s, which promised an interesting background
to an unusual story; b) Comparison of the book to WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, which I
loved (even though I am always wary of comparisons to popular books); c) it had
a circus in it! d) I wanted something character driven, quirky and unusual, and
this one certainly fit the bill.
My musings:
I am happy to say that Hegi’s book with the unusual title
THE PATRON SAINT OF PREGNANT GIRLS lived up to all my expectations. Set in the
mid 1800s, it centres around the stories of four different women who are
loosely connected by the setting and the terrible accident that happens right
at the beginning of the book: the tragic drowning of three children when a
freak wave rips them out of their mother’s arms. Whilst this event forms the a
big part of the story, it is only one thread among many others, musing about
pregnancy, motherhood, female friendship, marriage, loss, grief and womanhood
in general in Germany in the mid 1800s. Hegi’s writing is lyrical and
descriptive and vividly painted the characters and the setting for me right
from the start.
What I love most about historical fiction – apart from
learning about different eras in history – is trying to put myself in the
character’s position and reflect on how I would act, how different my life
would be. Being a woman in the 1800s was no picnic: childbirth was hazardous
for mother and child, and many infants didn’t survive long, claimed by
illnesses and complications that are easily treated today. And if you were
unlucky enough to be young and pregnant outside of marriage, an even grimmer
fate would await you: death at the hands of some backyard abortionist or escape
to homes for unwed mothers, where the child would be taken from you straight
after birth. And yet womanhood held some of the same joys, hopes and dreams as
we experience today.
Summary:
THE PATRON SAINT OF PREGNANT GIRLS was a slow, reflective
read that gently took me on its journey. I won’t be a good fit for readers who
want action, or a definite progression of the journey towards a finale, or even
a central plot, because this story isn’t like that. Instead, it flowed gently,
like a gurgling brook, not reaching any destination. I was in the mood for such
a story and appreciated the emotions the story awakened in me whilst reading,
and the reflections it prompted. I can see that it will not appeal to everyone,
but if you like that kind of story that rolls out in dreamlike pictures and
landscapes, then I would urge you to give it a go.
Thank
you to Edelweiss and Flatiron Books for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
Hmm prob not for me right now but it does sound interesting.
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