The Quintland Sisters: A Novel Paperback – March 5, 2019

I knew who the Dionne quintuplets were—I think my mother must have heard about them on the radio (she was only a few years older) and she told me about them when I was a girl—just that they existed, however. Not about all the hullabaloo.At the beginning I got sidetracked about the nasty egg that decided it was too good to produce a singleton and decide to split into 5 (or 6, maybe, judging by Wikipedia, which I don’t trust). But I slowly grew to love Emma (never fell in love with the babies/girls, but felt horribly sorry for them by the end). Also loved the descriptions of the surroundings (naturewise). Felt sorry for the mother, too, popping out one kid after another. Sort of shocking to read about life in rural areas in the ‘30s in such detail. Common then in the US too, but I never really thought about it. Anyway, I got caught up in all of it. Totally recommend.

I'm giving this book a rare 5, not only for interest, but also for the unique manner in which the story is told. Instead of telling the story through the eyes of the girls, it is told by a young girl, perhaps going into midwifery, who is present at the birth. As the year's pass, we hear her thoughts on what is happening to the girls that she's grown to love, and for whom she continues to care. There is a part at the end where a great deal of license is taken, but I wasn't put off by that. If you don't remember the Dionne Quintuplets, or if you do, this is a great read.

I was delighted to see this book on Amazon. They were 6 months younger than I, and when I was old enough to pay attention, I heard my mother and family talk about them. When I started playing with paper dolls and coloring books featuring them it was a thrill for me. This book is a fictional account of their first five years of life, and over the years I have heard some sad things about them, so I think the book was interesting to read, but now I want to read about what it was really like for them. I was surprised to learn that two of them are still alive. ( But then again, so am I ) The ending of the book was sort of a surprise - not about the girls, but about the (fictitious) nurse. I had to go back and check some of the dates. Be sure to read the epilogue.

I loved this book. Well written and researched the author uses a fictional setting to tell the almost impossible tale of the Dionne Quints. I read We Five when I was a teenager and have always been fascinated by their story. It's a cautionary story on how not to raise multiple birth children. There is an overwhelming sadness about the Dionne sisters, the way they were removed from parental care, made wards of the government, put on display like a chimpanzee act and robbed of the trust fund that had been set up for them. I couldn't put the book down. It would make a great book for a book discussion group or as an introduction to this sad group of identical sisters.

While this is a fiction book, it has been well researched and includes many of the actual newspaper articles about the quints. It follows the actual events of the first 5 years these girls were alive. It is told from the point of view of a nurse who was there at the birth assisting the midwife until she leaves when they are five. It was a page turner for me and has motivated me to purchase another book about the quints. I better understand the moral dilemmas faced by the doctor, the parents and the trustees.

I hard about these girls when I was a young girl. I was named after Annette. When I got older I collected a few pictures of them. my mother also had their spoons with there names on them. So as I got to become a adult my interest became more and more. When I seen the book The Quinland Sisters I just had to have it. I was so shocked at how the Canada government took over their lives from first born to almost the day they died. This is a must read book. It will keep your interest and that is for sure. I loved the book and will read it again and again. Their lives were so awful . No wonder they ended up the way they did. I advise people to read this book and when they do they will be shocked.

The Dionne quintuplets were born to French farmers in a very rural part of Northern Ontario, Canada, in 1934. They were believed to be the first set of identical sisters born alive who survived. This is a fictionalized account of their early life as told through the eyes of a 17-year old girl who, as an aspiring midwife, assisted at their birth and who remained with them until they were five years old. From the time of their birth, they were separated from their parents, who had five other children, and were considered wards of the British king. They were sheltered from the outside world. They were the objects of a custody battle and provided a lucrative source of revenue for the people who were not necessarily concerned with what was best for the girls. A sad story told through a fictional character but supported by written accounts from articles published during their childhood.

I enjoyed the first part of this book, detailing the Dionne Quints birth and the perseverance and the round the clock care so many people out in to keep them alive...but after that, the story kind of died for me. I was expecting more focus on the Dionne family and the girls as individuals but the "details" regarding the girls were simplistic generalizations. The Dionne parents, even DaFoe, were flat, with little development. This was more a historical fiction novel about the life of one of the first respondent's (so to speak) interspersed with the drama surrounding the Quints' care.

I enjoyed reading about the Dionne quintuplets and the strange life they were forced to lead, and I felt very sorry for them in many ways. The book was really interesting and I liked the way it was written, up until the ending, which was just not necessary and ruined a good book.

Great story

I was very curious to know more about the Dionne quintuplets and I think this book offers a peek at what took place between 1934 and 1939. The quintuplets were born in the small town of Callandar, Ontario to a local farmer and his wife. At birth, the biggest baby was about 3 lbs and the smallest just over 1 lb. No one expected them to survive but a medical team was dispatched and they accomplish nothing less than a miracle to keep them alive. At the age of three months, the five girls were moved to a hospital/nursery especially built for their survival and they spent most of their childhood at that location.The book covers many aspects of their lives including the custody battle between Dr. Dufoe and Mr. Olivia Dionne; as well as the exploitation of the quintuplets by the media, film industry and many more. It was a very interesting book. I would have given it 4❤️ but I did not like where the author took the story near the end, I think there could have been a better choice for concluding the nurse's story.

I absolutely LOVED this novel! I noticed that The Quintland Sisters shot all the way to #1 on the Canadian Bestsellers List in its first week of release and that it is still at number one after 2 weeks.(Globe and Mail and Toronto Star) So elegantly written, and such an amazingly well researched yet devastating story of love, heartbreak woven around one of the craziest stories in Canadian history.

The story of the Quints is told by a fictitious nurse/artist. The book is well researched but very drawn out. The ending was just horribly rushed and unnecessary. There may have been some truth to the matter but we need to remember, descendants of this family will still need to live with what you wrote.