Book
The patron saint of pregnant girls / Ursula Hegi.
"From beloved bestselling author Ursula Hegi, a new novel about three mothers, set on the shores of the Nordsee, perfect for fans of Water for Elephants and The Light Between Oceans. 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"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781250156822
- Physical Description: 274 pages ; 25 cm.
- Publisher: New York, New York : Flatiron Books, 2020.
- Copyright: ©2020
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Pregnant women > Fiction. Islands > Fiction. Ocean waves > Fiction. Germany > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Domestic fiction. |
Available copies
- 15 of 15 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Terrace Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 15 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrace Public Library | HEG (Text) | 35151001106624 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 May #2
Perennial book-club favorite Hegi's (Children and Fire, 2011) compassionately observant new novel takes place on Nordstrand island in North Frisia, Germany, where the line between fact and centuries-old myth can feel as blurred as that between sea and sky. The offbeat characters enhance the quasi-dreamlike effect, but the scenarios they face are starkly real. After a giant wave sweeps her three oldest children into the Nordsee in 1878, Lotte Jansen withdraws from life and from her infant son, Wilhelm. While Lotte's husband, Kalle, a toymaker, runs away with a traveling circus, Wilhelm is nursed by Tilli, an 11-year-old resident of the St. Margaret's Home for Pregnant Girls, whose own baby is adopted at birth. The nuns at St. Margaret's are an unorthodox bunch who instruct their young charges in art and scholarly pursuits. Meanwhile, Sabine, the circus' seamstress, seeks a husband for her cognitively impaired daughter. The plot ambles along while threading together the stories of the women, who have the heaviest burdens to bear. Their emotional hardships are satisfyingly leavened by softer moments of romantic and familial love. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2020 April #2
A folklore-inflected tale focused on three mothers, a highly unusual group of nuns, and a chorus of Old Women who comment on everything. The main narrative unfolds in the wake of a freak wave that breaks over the beach on the island of Nordstrand in August 1878, sweeping away Lotte and Martin Jansen's three oldest children. Devastated and even unable to love their remaining baby, Wilhelm, Martin literally runs away with the circus, in this case the Ludwig Zirkus, a traveling band of free spirits in the harshly judgmental society of 19th-century Germany. Among its denizens is Sabine, abandoned by her husband and fiercely protective of her developmentally disabled daughter. Another Nordstrand refuge for misfits is the St. Margaret Home, founded by art-loving Sister Hildegunde, where nuns care for unmarried pregnant girls with love and without judgment. Grieving for her newborn given up for adoption, 11-year-old Tilli becomes Wilhelm's wet nurse while he and his near-catatonic mother are temporarily staying with the nuns, and her devotion becomes an issue with Lotte. That's a lot of plot to launch a novel, partic ularly since Hegi intersperses Sabine's and St. Margaret's backstories in chapters dating back to 1842. The Old Women's interjections sometimes seem unnecessary, though it's a pleasure to hear of them giving a brutal husband his comeuppance. Hegi's contrast between the censorious, sanctimonious pillars of society and the kind, tolerant nuns and circus folk is a bit pat, particularly in both groups' anachronistic acceptance of open homosexuality. The vaguely magical realist elements aren't a strong point for this author, who has excelled in probing the moral complexities of both personal and political relations in such previous works as Children and Fire (2011) and Salt Dancers (1995). Still, her characters in this less satisfying book are still full-bodied, and their various conflicts lead to tender final resolutions for the three protagonists. Not one of Hegi's best, but this thoughtful writer's work always merits attention. Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2020 April #4
In Hegi's mesmerizing tale (after
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.Children and Fire ) the loss of three children in a freak accident transforms their parents. In 1878, Lotte and Kalle Jansen are walking along the shore with their four small children in Nordstrand, Germany, when a hundred-year wave crashes on the beach, carrying away three of them. In Lotte's grief, she can't care for Wilhelm, her remaining child, who's still nursing. The nuns at the St. Margaret Home for Pregnant Girls intervene by allowing 11-year-old Tilli to serve as wet nurse. By breastfeeding Wilhelm, Tilli assuages her sorrow over the adoption of her own infant daughter. Lotte soon rallies, paying more attention to Wilhelm and assisting as a midwife at St. Margaret's. Kalle, a toy maker, believes his fantasy of traveling caused his children's deaths, so he leaves town with the circus, convinced that Lotte and Wilhelm are better off without him. He returns a few months later to find that in her mourning, Lotte and Tilli have made a bizarre plan for their family's future. Beautiful prose keeps the pages turning, and Hegi's command of the plot and ability to render poignant characters create a satisfyingly emotional story. Hegi's fans and devotees of literary fiction will treasure this.Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman. (June)
