"
Heartbreaking and transcendent, Emma Donoghue's The Miracle replicates the gripping writing of the bestselling Room in an even more intriguing context. "A beautiful historical novel based on true events, a gripping classic [...]. Donoghue has written with crackling intensity about the destructive power of religion." — Stephen King
Ireland, 1859. Eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell refuses to eat and yet survives for months, seemingly without serious physical consequences. A miracle, say the inhabitants of the village deeply rooted in the Catholic faith.
But when Lib Wright, a young and skeptical English nurse, is hired to watch over the girl day and night, events take a different turn. Anna begins to wither away, faced with everyone's passivity and Lib's helplessness.
And so the mystery grows around this poor farming family, seemingly shrouded in lies, promises, and secrets. Is what the world is witnessing a sophisticated fraud, or a revelation of divine power?
Written with the tension that made Room a worldwide bestseller, The Miracle is a story about two strangers who transform each other's lives, as well as a powerful psychological thriller and a narrative about how love can conquer evil in its most diverse forms.
“Donoghue demonstrates versatility by delving into a wide range of literary styles in this novel [...]. The rigorously imagined and intricately crafted story possesses many of the seductive qualities of her bestselling * Room* [...] and asks bold questions about the lengths to which some people will go to prove their faith.” — Publishers Weekly
“Fascinating. Like Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, the novel opens irresistibly when a young woman with a troubled past is given an enigmatic assignment in a remote place [...].” — The New York Times
“The contemporary thriller Room made Donoghue an international success, but this gripping story offers a welcome reminder that his historical fiction is equally masterful.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Extraordinary. Exploring the nature of faith and trust with searing intensity, Donoghue's magnificent novel will leave few readers unscathed.” — Booklist
"
