Call the midwife Shadows of the workhouse

Jennifer Worth, 1935-2011

Book - 2013

The Call the midwife trilogy is comprised of Call the midwife (not included here, c2002), Shadows of the workhouse (this book, c2005), and Farewell to the East End (not included here, c2009). Together, this series chronicles Jennifer Worth's career as a midwife from start to finish, from her arrival in the war-scarred Docklands as a wide-eyed trainee, to the demolition of the tenements and subsequent closure of Nonnatus House. It provides a fascinating snapshot of social history, documenting the East End in the days when there was a real sense of community, when times were tough but there was plenty of good humour and neighbourly support to help the inhabitants through the harsh economic climate. The book also enables readers to follow... Jennifer's personal story, as she discovers the amazing resilience of a population still bearing the scars of war, and the vibrant community of nuns with whom she lives and who teach her the skills of midwifery. In stories that are funny, disturbing and moving in equal measure, we meet prostitutes and abortionists, bigamists and mischievous nuns, and see Jennifer earn the confidence of people whose lives are often stranger than fiction.

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Location Call Number   Status
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Subjects
Published
New York : Ecco/HarperCollins [2013]
Language
English
Main Author
Jennifer Worth, 1935-2011 (-)
Edition
First U.S. edition
Item Description
"First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Merton Books" --Title page verso.
Physical Description
294 pages ; 21 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (page 294).
ISBN
9780062270047
Contents unavailable.
Review by Library Journal Review

This memoir is one of three in which Worth (Call the Midwife; Farewell to the East End) recounts her experiences as a midwife in London's East End in the 1950s. They were recently adapted for a BBC television series, Call the Midwife (now in its third season). The quality and pacing of the audio is excellent. The narrator, Nicola Barber, is a perfect match for the memoir and vividly recounts the hardships and poverty that Worth encountered during that time. The stories are not all about pregnancy and childbirth but also depict a poor community with a sense of family and caring. VERDICT Excellent for all public libraries.-Michele Lauer-Bader, Half Hollow Hills Community Lib., Dix Hills, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.