PDF Call the Midwife A Memoir of Birth Joy and Hard Times The Midwife Trilogy Book 1 eBook Jennifer Worth

Product details File Size 1368 KB Print Length 352 pages Publisher Penguin Books; Reprint, Media Tie In edition (August 29, 2012) Publication Date August 29, 2012 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B008MFVH0C

Call the Midwife A Memoir of Birth Joy and Hard Times The Midwife Trilogy Book 1 eBook Jennifer Worth Reviews

• Most reviewers seem to think that it is their job to outline the plot of the book that they are reviewing. I'm not going to do that. What I am going to do is tell you that I am an avid reader. I am 69 years old and I read about 3 books a week. Sometimes more. I have now read all three of Jennifer Worth's books and I have found all of them to be outstanding! If you're like me, you will learn an incredible amount about Post-War life in the lower East side of London. I had no idea that such abject poverty existed there during my lifetime. When I was little, whenever the bills came in, my father would always moan, "Off to the poor house!" I had not a clue that there really were such things, nor could I have imagined the horrors that they held within. Worth writes eloquently about life before the Pill, the Polio vaccine, and indoor plumbing. All things that we take for granted.
  
  I can't imagine a novel being any more captivating than these memoirs. The characters all come alive--they literally seem to leap off the pages and you can almost smell the streets of the lower East side as the midwives furiously pedal to assist their next mother-to be. I think what amazed me the most was the quality of the writing. Often memoirs are ghost-written, or they are interesting but the writing is amateurish. In this case, the author is one of the midwives and I have to say that her writing is as good as any accomplished author. Her stories are mesmerizing, heart-wrenching, at times humorous, but always beautifully written. Jennifer Worth died recently and I am so sorry that I never had the chance to write to her and tell her how much I loved her books.
• All my friend were talking about a television series called Call the Midwife and praising it, so when the book the series was based on turned up for $2.99 I figured it was worth a try. I wasn't wrong. This well written memoir from one of the midwives of Nonnatus House is full of delightful stories about being a midwife in a area of the docks of east London.
  
  Her stories are full of fascinating characters among the nuns of Nonnatus House, her clients and families, and the other midwives. They work hard, sometimes nearly around the clock. Babies don't respect shift work and come when they're ready. If you are on call, you go. No wonder these women had the respect and protection they needed to go out alone along the dock at all hours of the day or night.
  
  Life was hard for the dock workers and pay was low. In spite of this, men and women stayed together and children were loved and cared for by large extended families. Material goods were few, but there was always nearly always enough love to go around. When there wasn't, a good home could be found for a newborn.
  
  These are gripping stories of a time gone by. The slums have been pulled down and the people scattered. The author left midwifery to pursue her dream of music. Fortunately for us, before she left, she preserved the memory of a life filled with joy and hard times.
• This was a choice for our book club. We all agreed this was a significant book. Jennifer Worth was a trained midwife in England, and writes of people she knew, and her experiences, using pseudonyms.. She includes details that inform the reader about the history of this profession, life in the workhouse, and the nursing professionals convent where she lived. This is a memoir of actual experiences, so the character sketches are even more fascinating. It is not a novel, but short stories of specific people or situations. Humor, candor, and history make this a most enjoyable read. It is not for the faint of heart as there are graphic descriptions of medical situations. This is the first of 3 volumes of Call the Midwife. A PBS series is based on her books.
• I returned it. The first few chapters were fascinating and I loved them, then it turned pornographic with vivid details of prostitute sex. I could not stomach that, I stopped reading and returned it. Just be warned!
• This book introduces Jennifer, Chummy, Trixie, Cynthia, and the Sisters of Nonnatus House in Poplar, a poverty-stricken neighborhood in the East End of post-war London. I've now read all 3 books in the series, and strongly recommend that the reader start with this one. You'll soon decide if it's to your liking. The books are memoirs of a now vanished way of life; the chapters are vignettes, but the main characters continue throughout the series, and some minor characters reappear in later stories. The books are all enjoyable reads, and portray a way of life that now seems rather quaint, and often very harsh.
• If you enjoy the television series based on this book, you must read the source material. If you haven't watched the series, I still recommend this for its humanity and insight. Some of the characters are a bit rougher around the edges here than their TV counterparts, and some situations end a bit differently than in the series, but on the whole, the book is a wonderful look at a way of life that is long past. The way people lived in this area of London seems absolutely primitive to us today, yet the crowded homes with few amenities, and families with half a dozen or more children were routine. Take a step back in time and see what being a midwife in post-WW II England was like!