In 1850s Ireland, nurse Lib Wright has been called to monitor a girl, Anna, who has miraculously lived without food for months, subsisting only on manna from heaven.

Ever the skeptic, Lib carefully watches the eleven year old girl, looking for moments where someone must be slipping Anna food.

Lib seriously doubts Anna and her family’s claims of miracles, especially as Anna’s health begins to deteriorate but no one appears to be alarmed, except for Lib. What’s a nurse to do when everyone thinks this is gods will, including the patient?

I really enjoyed this story. It was definitely a mystery and I found myself developing theories of how this girl is still alive after months of fasting, and wasn’t sure which way the story was going to go. I was frustrated by the inaction of characters in the face of miraculous claims, but was rooting for Lib the whole time. 

Great piece of historical fiction haunted by the spectre of Ireland’s potato famine. Definite recommend! The author provides contexts at the end for the inspiration around the story, which is the mysterious fasting girls of the UK, Europe, Ireland, and North America - where some lived for heads with seemingly no food and hadn’t been proven to be hoaxes.