Set in the time of the Spanish Flu pandemic, Julia is a Dublin midwife assigned to a makeshift ward for pregnant women who have contracted the disease. Shunted away into a storage closet, the pregnant women are given little attention by doctors and medical supplies are scant. The bulk of the story is written in real-time, and we experience the stress and pain of Julia and her wards as each suffers the horrors of this aggressive flu and childbirth, each with her own level of success. Towards the end of the book, however, the story radically changes course--there were so many interesting themes in the story that were left at loose ends in exchange for a hasty, nonsensical ending. It really felt that [a:Emma Donoghue|23613|Emma Donoghue|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591714728p2/23613.jpg] rushed this story to market, causing the resolution of the book to suffer. Well-written, but ultimately disappointing.