The Wonder

By Emma Donoghue,

Book cover of The Wonder

Book description

Now a Netflix film starring Florence Pugh: In this “old-school page turner” (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review) by the 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…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked The Wonder as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Like many, I came to know Emma Donoghue through Room, which was adapted into the 2015 film. But she’s mostly a writer of historical fiction.

This book (which also became a movie) is set during the Irish Potato Famine when an English nurse is called to examine a supposedly miraculous “fasting girl” who claims to have gone weeks without food. 

From Emily's list on historical fiction with mysteries.

I can be cynical. I can refuse to see the miraculous even when it’s right in front of me. I don’t want to be like this, but I’m a skeptic. But what if I let myself believe something surprising, beautiful, and impossible?

This book made me want to believe in miracles, prayer, faith, and one person’s ability to change everything. 

From Heather's list on when you’re feeling your worst.

If you love The Wonder...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like The Wonder?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Wonder.

Browse books like The Wonder

Book cover of Possession
Book cover of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Book cover of Fingersmith

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Wonder, you might also like...

Book cover of At What Cost, Silence?

At What Cost, Silence? By Karen Lynne Klink,

Secrets, misunderstandings, and a plethora of family conflicts abound in this historical novel set along the Brazos River in antebellum Washington County, East Texas.

It is a compelling story of two neighboring plantation families and a few of the enslaved people who serve them. These two plantations are a microcosm…

Book cover of Return to Hope Creek

Return to Hope Creek By Alyssa J. Montgomery,

Return to Hope Creek is a second-chance rural romance set in Australia.

Stella Simpson's career and engagement are over. She returns to the rural community of Hope Creek to heal, unaware her high school and college sweetheart, Mitchell Scott, has also moved back to town to do some healing of…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in nurses, Ireland, and girls?

Nurses 31 books
Ireland 311 books
Girls 92 books