The Wonder + Penicillin
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue is a historically inspired novel about an English Nurse, Lib Wright, who is brought to the Irish countryside in order to observe a miracle… or a deception. Wright has come to see Anna O’Donnell, an eleven-year-old girl who is said to have survived without food for months. Initially, this book comes off as a domestic story inspired by the fasting girls of the 16th-20th centuries. But, quickly it evolves into a psychological thriller where two strangers influence each other in unimaginable ways. True to her past writings, Donoghue tells her story with a lovely combination of feelings and historical context, And, we witness religion and science and emotion and responsibility compete with one another to resolve an unspeakable circumstance. (Published by Little Brown and Company)
Penicillin
(As seen on Instagram via @mr.bostonoffical)
Lib Wright is a nurse who was trained by none other than Florence Nightingale herself. Progressive, confident, and self-assured, Lib is just the type of person who would have rejoiced at the advancements of science. And while this book is set a good 70-odd years before Alexander Fleming isolated Penicillin, there is no reason why we shouldn’t enjoy a modern classic. Appropriately named, Penicillin is just the drink the doctor, or in this case the nurse, ordered. Take your medicine as directed and get reading.
Penicillin
1.75 oz Scotch Whiskey
0.75 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
0.5 oz Honey Syrup
0.5 oz Ginger Liqueur
0.75oz Smoky Scotch Whiskey, such as Islay or Sky
1 Lemon Wheel
Shake four first ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled Old Fashion glass. Float smoky Scotch on top and garnish with lemon.
“Adults could be barefaced liars too, of course, and about no subject so much as their own bodies. In Lib’s experience, those who wouldn’t cheat a shopkeeper by a farthing would lie about how much brandy they drank or whose room they’d entered and what they’d done there. Girls bursting out of their stays denied their condition till the pangs gripped them. Husbands swore blind that their wives’ smashed faces were none of their doing. Everybody was a repository of secrets.”
