Time USA-October 3-2016

55

Time OffBooks

Donoghue

earned an Oscar

nomination for

the screenplay of

In her new novelThe her novelRoom

Wonder, Emma Donoghue

(Room) again tells the story of

a woman struggling to protect

a vulnerable child. Anna

O’Donnell is a Catholic girl

in 1850s Ireland who has not

eaten since her 11th birthday,

four months before the story

begins. She says she lives

on “manna from heaven”

and drinks only water. And

she seems to be mostly fine.

Believers say it’s a miracle;

doubters say it’s a hoax.

The novel’s protagonist,

Lib Wright, is an English

nurse who’s been brought

in to monitor Anna for

two weeks and testify as to

whether she’s truly subsisting

without food. Lib is a

woman of science and rather

intolerant of Catholics—

she clashes like plaid on

polka dots with Anna’s

sanctimonious mother. But

she does care deeply about

Anna. The girl’s health is not

perfect when Lib arrives,

but after the first week Lib

wonders if her presence has

turned a sham into the real

thing, forcing Anna to truly

go without food while under

24-hour surveillance—and

potentially pushing her

toward the grave.

Donoghue is a master

of plot, and her prose is

especially exquisite in

depicting ambiguity. “Wasn’t

bogland known to harbour

disease?” Lib muses when

she arrives in the green

countryside, admired by so

many as a starkly beautiful

landscape. “Clearly the Irish

Midlands were a depression

where wet pooled, the little

circle in a saucer.”

Anna, who believes her

brother who died months

FICTION

Of maladies

and miracles

earlier is in purgatory and

spends hours reciting prayers

to get him out, seems like a

relic of the Middle Ages. But

Lib is a heroine the modern

woman can admire. She may

not be a believer, but she is a

crusader, and her rebellious

compassion shapes the novel.

This force of optimism

in the face of ignorance and

apathy leads to a very tidy

dénouement. “With man this

is impossible,” says Jesus of

the miracle of redemption in

Matthew 19, “but with God

all things are possible.” In

The Wonder, Gospel-like in its

concern with adversity and

SPIRITUALITY

Two religious

pillars meet

how do we fInd joy In a

world filled with suffering?

That timeless question drives

The Book of Joy, a weeklong

conversation between the

Dalai Lama and Archbishop

Desmond Tutu woven into

a narrative by Douglas

Abrams. As the two men

reflect on their personal

experiences, they impart

advice for finding inner joy.

The secret? Not thinking too

much about yourself.

Over the week in

Dharamsala, India, they

go deep on feelings and

philosophy, to the point that

Abrams suggests speeding

things up. The Dalai Lama

remarks that they have time

aplenty, and the Archbishop

jokes, “Yo u must shorten

your answers.Iam brief.”

Together, they celebrate the

Lama’s 80th birthday at the

Tibetan Children’s Village

with cake and trick candles.

And they outline eight

pillars of joy, divided by

mind (perspective, humility,

humor, acceptance) and

heart (forgiveness, gratitude,

compassion, generosity).

The question may be

timeless, but their answer

has urgent significance.

—KIrsten salyer

The Wonder is

Donoghue’s 14th book;

she shifts between

historical and

contemporary settings

▽

Desmond Tutu, left,

and the Dalai Lama

spent a week in India

hope, miracles are
possible—perhaps
through God, perhaps
through woman.
DONOGHUE: HENNY GARFUNKEL—REDUX; DESMOND TUTU AND DALAI LAMA: AP —sarah Begley