The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits - (Harvest Book) by Emma Donoghue (Paperback)

About the Book

Donoghue vividly brings to life stories inspired by her discoveries of fascinating, hidden scraps of the past. She brings to her tales a colorful, elegant prose filled with the sights and smells and sounds of the period. She summons the ghosts of those men and women who counted for nothing in their own day and brings them to unforgettable life in fiction.

Book Synopsis

Donoghue finds her inspiration for these wry, robust tales in obscure scraps of historical records: an engraving of a woman giving birth to rabbits; a plague ballad; surgical case notes; theological pamphlets; an articulated skeleton. Here kings, surgeons, soldiers, and ladies of leisure rub shoulders with cross-dressers, cult leaders, poisoners, and arsonists.

Whether she's spinning the tale of an Irish soldier tricked into marrying a dowdy spinster, a Victorian surgeon's attempts to "improve" women, a seventeenth-century countess who ran away to Italy disguised as a man, or an "undead" murderess returning for the maid she left behind to be executed in her place, Emma Donoghue brings to her stories an "elegant, colorful prose filled with unforgettable sights, sounds and smells" (Elle). Here she summons the ghosts of those women who counted for nothing in their own day, but who come to unforgettable life in fiction.

From the Back Cover

"An inspired dance on the narrow and exhilarating cliff-edge of art."
-THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
EM M A D O N O G H U E, celebrated author of Slammerkin, vividly
animates hidden scraps of the past in this remarkable collection. An
engraving of a woman giving birth to rabbits, a plague ballad, theological
pamphlets, and an articulated skeleton are ingeniously fleshed out
into rollicking tales. Whether she's spinning the tale of a soldier tricked
into marrying a dowdy spinster, or a Victorian surgeon's attempts to
"improve" women, Donoghue fills us with the sights and smells of the
period as she summons the ghosts of ordinary people, bringing them to
unforgettable life in fiction.
"Sprightly prose. Transcends the usual limitations of historical fiction."
-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Remarkably vivid, inventive scenes give life to each story
and make the collection absorbing." -THE VILLAGE VOICE
"Earthy, exhilarating tales." -ELLE
A SELECTION OF THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB
AND THE QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB
EMMA DONOGHUE, born in 1969, is an Irish novelist,
playwright, and historian who lives in Canada. Her novel
Slammerkin was named a notable book of the year by the New
York Times and the Washington Post.

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR SLAMMERKIN

"Superb . . . A novel of real force, filled with unforgettable sights . . . A profoundly entertaining and intelligent book."--Elle
"[A] colorful romp of a novel . . . Impossible to resist. Donoghue paints a spirited picture . . . Fabulous."--The New York Times Book Review
"This book rocks from the title on. A spectacular job."--USA Today
"What a great read this book is! Donoghue is a real writer, and she's elevated her racy story close to art."--The Washington Post Book World
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