Can adults who fail to nourish a fasting child be considered guilty of physical abuse – or even a slow, excruciating murder?

Set amid the ignorance, superstition and blind faith of an Irish village in 1859, the new novel from Room author Emma Donoghue examines this question in a chilling, gut-wrenching depiction of misguided devotion.

Eleven-year-old Anna O’Donnell is proclaimed a Wonder – a girl who remains alive and alert after seemingly fasting for more than four months. Her devout parents have placed their faith, and their daughter’s life, in the hands of God, while a committee that includes the parish priest and an elderly local doctor commissions an impartial English nurse and a solemn Catholic nun to observe the girl around-the-clock. It’s their task to unequivocally determine whether they have a saint or a sinner in their midst.

Trained by Florence Nightingale, nurse Lib Wright is sceptical before her first watch – and suspicious of all who profess to care for her young charge. As she alternates shifts with Sister Michael to observe and record every action, interaction and behaviour of the young girl, they struggle to find evidence that Anna is secretly taking nourishment.

Within days, Lib is drawn to Anna’s serene demeanour and natural charm, yet she is unable to fathom the motivations and inspirations for the girl’s determination to continue fasting. While those around her are content to bask in the glory of the miracle that may be taking place in their midst, the nurse recognises that the intensity of her surveillance may actually be harming her young charge.

Donoghue is a consummate observer of human behaviour, possessing the narrative skills to convey the spiritual, moral and physical complexities associated with the unfolding events. As the nurse’s initial dispassion turns to despair, Donoghue describes – in harrowing detail – Anna’s unwavering resolve and tranquil acceptance of her fate, and the reader becomes another witness to the child’s rapid, inevitable deterioration. This is historical fiction at its finest and most compelling.

Reviewed by Maureen Eppen