Call the Midwife was recommended to me by a friend who seems to know the sort of books I like to read and she was spot on about this one. While I know PBS has turned this book into a series, I had no knowledge of either the book or the series until my friend passed this book along. It has been a gem of a read and a blessing at a time in my life when my stress level has been very high. Leave it to a book to remind me that, despite stress, my life is good.
Call the Midwife is a memoir written by Jennifer Worth, who apparently was a young (22 years old) midwife in the slums of East End London in the 1950's. Her tales remind me of something my teacher friends and I often say about things that children say, parents say, or events around the school: "You can't make this stuff up." I feel certain Worth felt the same way and was able to create a magnificent book about her experiences. I am intrigued to watch the PBS series, but since I have yet to even watch Season 1 of Downton Abbey, I bet the likelihood of me actually watching the show is slim.
What I loved most about this book is that each chapter, or series of 2-3 chapters, tells the story of one delivery, or of one Sister, or of one interesting soul Worth encountered as a midwife. The result is that while it took me a month to read the entire book, I was able to read a few pages at a time and feel as though I accomplished something. I have been trying to take a recertification class, pack up 19 years of school things, and 12 years of a house for four over the past month in anticipation of the end of school, and my career, and an impending move. Finding time to read something other than chapters in my Children's Lit textbook has been hard. So, it was nice to read 5-6 pages at a time and feel as though I was keeping up with the story while reading something memorable and worthwhile.
Worth's time as a midwife was not glamorous, but she changed lives. Her working conditions were not ideal, the people she worked with were not always ideal patients, yet she did her job every day believing in her work, and being proud of the work she did. Her work ethic is something we could all learn from. It's something that seems to be missing from the modern world. But, I'll close this post before I step up on that soapbox!
This is a great read! Thanks, Marcie, for the recommendation!
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
No comments:
Post a Comment