the miracle and tragedy of the dionne quintuplets by sarah miller

Reading this book was quite the rollercoaster. A statement that the Dionnes' other children mostly denied, although it seems at least one of them had observed enough suspicious behavior to be slightly credulous. Oliva, on the other hand, they claimed sexually abused them, and made them terrified to be alone with them. Elzire, their mother, allegedly looked for reasons to be short with them and occasionally used physical corrective methods. The girls were 'kidnapped' (their words, and their parents') from their family and raised in the public view, raised up Lion King style for the paying public's admiration, or else kept in an enclosed play area while (also paying) onlookers observed, Truman Show style.Įventually, the girls were given back to their family, parents Oliva and Elzire, but their parents were exhausted and resentful of the ordeal, and later, the girls claimed they weren't treated well. Therein lies the rub- their survival was part of what made them so famous, because healthcare back then was not great, especially for women's health and natal care. Nobody believed they would survive, at least, not all of them, but due to collective efforts from doctors and nurses and donations from interested third parties, an 18th century incubator that didn't run on electricity was obtained and the quintuplets survived through infancy, childhood, and beyond. They were two months premature and collectively weighed around 13 pounds. The Dionne Quintuplets, as they came to be known, were five girls born to some low-income French-Canadians. This is a fascinating and tragic story about five girls who basically ended up becoming a sideshow attraction as the wards of the Canadian government. Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest Here, Sarah Miller reconstructs their unprecedented upbringing with fresh depth and subtlety, bringing to new light their resilience and the indelible bond of their unique sisterhood.

The Dionne Quintuplets became a more popular attraction than Niagara Falls, ogled through one-way screens by sightseers as they splashed in their wading pool at the center of a tourist hotspot known as Quintland. In an effort to protect them from hucksters and showmen, the Ontario government took custody of the five identical babies, sequestering them in a private, custom-built hospital across the road from their family-and then, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, proceeded to exploit them for the next nine years. Overnight, Yvonne, Annette, C�cile, �milie, and Marie Dionne mesmerized the globe, defying medical history with every breath they took. When the Dionne Quintuplets were born on May 28, 1934, weighing a grand total of just over 13 pounds, no one expected them to live so much as an hour.

In this riveting, beyond-belief true story from the author of The Borden Murders, meet the five children who captivated the entire world.

The miracle and tragedy of the dionne quintuplets by sarah miller