The Wonder

Content Warning: This chapter contains depictions of an eating disorder and sexual assault.

Wright tells Byrne about Anna’s confession, and he encourages her to go to the committee meeting and tell them the truth. At the cottage, Anna is too weak to be wheeled outside in her chair. Wright accuses Anna of attempting suicide, but Anna responds that it’s a sacrifice. Wright reads in Anna’s prayer book that reciting the prayer to the cross 33 times while fasting will release souls from purgatory. Anna confirms that she’s trying to bring Pat into heaven. Wright tells Anna that she has a duty to live.

At the committee meeting, Wright implores the committee to end the watch, but they refuse. One member explicitly states that he wants Anna to become a saint to bring glory to Ireland. Sister Michael appears with Anna in a wheelchair, and the committee is disturbed by her physical appearance. Nevertheless, they refuse to stop the watch. Wright leaves, distraught. Later that night, Wright tells Byrne about the meeting. He asks how far she’d go to save Anna, and Wright responds that she’d do anything. Wright reveals that she is not a widow: Her husband left, and her parents agreed to move her to London and lie about her being a widow. Byrne kisses her before abruptly leaving.

On Friday morning, Wright thanks Sister Michael for bringing Anna to the meeting. Wright observes that Anna looks like she is already dead, and Anna admits that she sometimes loses her vision entirely. Wright says that Anna has become the dearest girl in the world to her and begs Anna to eat. That evening, Wright notes that Anna’s eyes are yellowing. Sister Michael confirms that Dr. McBrearty believes she has jaundice. Wright tells Rosaleen this is evidence that Anna is dying. Anna admits that she is in pain, but describes it as being close enough to the cross for Jesus to kiss her.

Wright asks Anna if Pat ever did anything bad, and Anna replies that Pat married her in the night. Wright realizes that Pat was sexually abusing his sister. Anna worries that her brother died as a result of what she considers to be their sin, and feels guilty that he is being punished alone. Wright is devastated by this revelation, and Anna attempts to comfort her. A few hours later, Wright wakes Rosaleen to tell her what she has learned. Rosaleen immediately dismisses Wright as a scandalmonger, and accuses her of repeating Anna’s lies.

Early on Saturday morning, Wright arranges to meet Byrne near the rag tree. Wright tells Byrne that she’s decided Anna can’t live with the O’Donnells any longer, as they don’t protect her. She tells Byrne that she can’t watch another child die: Her own child died after just three weeks and three days. Wright suddenly decides that she is going to take Anna away herself, and Byrne tells her that it must happen that night.

When Wright arrives at the cottage that afternoon, Mr. Thaddeus is in Anna’s bedroom performing the sacrament of penance as part of the last rites. As he’s leaving, Wright asks Mr. Thaddeus if Anna ever talked about her brother in confession. Thaddeus replies angrily that he told Anna many times that her sins were forgiven, and not to gossip about the dead. Wright arranges to stay late on Saturday so that Sister Michael can attend the special mass being held to pray for Anna. Wright silently prays that Anna will live through the day.

When the family leaves for mass, Wright brings a bottle of milk into Anna’s room, telling Anna that she has a message from God. Wright asks Anna if she would like to wake up in a new body, as a new girl with no sins. Anna nods silently. Wright tells her that the bottle contains holy milk, and that if she drinks it, 11-year-old Anna will die and a new girl, 8-year-old Nan, will be born. Wright assures her that Anna will be in heaven with Pat, and Nan will live a new life far away from Ireland.

Anna agrees, says grace, and takes a spoonful of milk and a piece of oatcake, breaking her fast. Wright closes Anna’s eyes, declaring Anna dead, and tells Nan to wake up. Wright wraps the girl up in as many clothes as she can, then carries her outside, where Byrne is waiting on his horse. Wright tells Byrne that the girl’s name is Nan, and tells him to feed her another spoonful of milk in an hour. The two ride away. Wright turns back to the cabin and pours the lamp’s burning fluid all over the cabin. She lights one of the girl’s cards on fire using the lamp, and flame quickly engulfs the cabin.

On Sunday morning, Wright waits to appear before the committee, wondering if they’re going to charge her with a crime. Sister Michael approaches and tells Wright that she left mass early on Saturday night because of her concern for the girl’s health. When she approached the cabin, she saw a vision of an angel taking the girl away. Sister Michael asks Wright if she thinks it was a true vision, and Wright responds that it was. Wright is called into the committee room, where she is questioned about the cause of the fire. The committee believes that it was an accident, but blames her for destroying evidence of a miracle.

The novel ends with Byrne’s final dispatch for the Irish Times, which explicitly blames the O’Donnell family, Dr. McBrearty, and Father Thaddeus for Anna’s death, and a letter of resignation from Wright to her hospital, citing her grief.