This was a great read! Set in a more remote part of Nova Scotia in the early part of last century. The family of Judah Rare were part of a group of Scottish immigrants who came because of being storm blown off course in the Scots Bay area during the last half of the 19th century, and stayed. The family was known to only have sons, except for Dora who in some ways might have been more like a boy should be at that time (and the story is set with all the mores and issues of that period of time, and she came into her coming of age at the beginning of world war 1. I'm very familiar with herbal medicine, and women's history, in a way I am tired of hearing about it over and over again..."Aint it just Awful..." Well, be willing to bet they're little if any worse than our today's thoroughly modern versions, and I'm rather sick of the know it all and can't wait to share it, them, too. Same six crimes, same violence, same equivalent sales for money....I'm into the latter half of my 70's and am determined to make my priorities getting one foot in front of the other and living my life to the fullest. On some things I really don't care that much anymore. Especially if you want something from me, count on it, if I wanted to give it or if it meant something to me to have you have it, you'd have it already!! And you don't and you won't. But this book in telling it like it is, really hits a core that caught my attention and appealed to me. The author was a viewer along with the reader and observer in her own unique way that made you a part that added on much more than facts. Yeah, of course we couldn't vote. What we got done was with our own blood, sweat, and tears. And the some of the costs we didn't feel were worth it at all, especially at times people just ran back to where they felt it might not really be safer, but surely more secure and predictable. It's good to be older, if not always with the great respect for the species of us humangus beings. Just because one is a degreed doctor, it does not mean they are god-like in all respects including infinite knowledge and understand. And honesty. And although women can vote, the domestic violence problem has not gone away. Or the division of the workload has not become a stable and happy reality. And I doubt that mother-in-law jokes are any less in the modern world...not to mention fathers in the same breath of course.... chips of the old block" If you like what I like, this book is very good reading. But how do you ever really know! I'd chance it though. Even though people are writing minions on when to give up on a book, you can always put it down if you don't like it....
Since I bought this the first month it came out, I have read it multiple times, and I am likely to read it again.Ami McKay paints a picture of a time when midwives were the most called upon form of doctor, not just for childbirth, but for all of the other everyday medical practices that we now go to a doctor for, but also for relationships, taboos, domestic violence and smaller, but no less interesting things such as food choices, and religious beliefs. She leads us through the life of the first girl born to a family of mainly men in a very long time, and takes us from her being a young girl to her being a married woman and beyond.Before you discount the book, and what is in it, you must remember that Ami McKay is writing from a different perspective, a different time era. She masterfully created characters that you can remember well after the last time you opened the book, from the neurotic aunt, to the loving mother, to the doctor who nobody likes (after a spell). She has used authentic props, authentic settings, and a wide variety of emotions throughout the novel, which are tangible from the first page to the very end, where, if you're keeping an open mind and not considering it a women's lib book, you wish it wasn't ending. You root for more than just the main character, you can revel in folklore and the idea that once upon a time, life was actually like this, and in retrospect, no matter how hard it seemed then, it would be fairly idyllic now - Ami McKay paints a lush period piece filled with description, design and emotion while keeping all of her characters witty, intelligent and believable.I would recommend this to absolutely anybody I know.
What do You think about The Birth House (2007)?
What I found interesting about this book it pits science against religion, and I ended up rooting for religion-mainly because it's presented as a refreshing mix of open-mindedness with a splash of mysticism and intuition, instead of the more over used portrayal of religion equaling ignorance. It starts an interesting debate in favor of midwives over doctors, mostly because the doctor in this novel is really just in it for the money, so he can easily be turned into a villain (therefore science into a a villain as well). Yet, it also reminded me that there are homegrown remedies that have been around since the beginning of time, that might be better for us, yet we're presently in a society that makes us choose manufactured medicine every time. This book is very feminist in that the main theme is that women have a right to choose-from birth control, to abortion, to how they want to have their babies. There was one really creepy birth in a hospital in which the mother was completely knocked out with chlorophorm (did I mention this was set in 1917?), and the doctor just extracted her baby for her. Since she didn't experience any of the birth, the midwife thought that this made it less real for the mother, and broke a vital connection with the child that needed to be established, which is just one of the many points this book brings up that I just never considered before.Some of plot development is really predictable, but otherwise, a pretty good read.
—Jennifer
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was so good I found myself wanting to read slowly so I could really pay attention to her descriptions and use of language. The book is set in the early 1900s in Canada during WWI. The main character, Dora is an apprentice midwife during a time when an obstetrical center has just opened nearby and the big push is for the end of home births and midwives. The women of the town fight for their right to be involved in the birthing process. The book also has a section of old midwive's cures which were really interesting.
—Joanie
I don't think there's much I could say about this that hasn't been covered by other reviewers of this book - it's splendid.The book centers on Dora, a midwife-in-training who learns the old ways of doing things and runs up against the new doctor in town, who wants to not only put her out of business with his new-fangled birthing methods (drugs and forceps)and see all her clients be sent down the mountain for giving birth, he also diagnoses her as histrionic and gives her a vibration treatment (giving her her first orgasm)Poignant, sweet, with engaging characters and at times achingly funny, this is a good read.
—daysgoby
