The Complete Call The Midwife Stories: True Stories Of The East End In The 1950s (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I downgraded my initial rating from 5 to 4 stars, since I feel each book in the trilogy deserves its own rating. 5 stars for"Call the Midwife" is the first of these three volumes of memoir by Worth that inspired the BBC/PBS series of the same name. The TV series does a great job of capturing the quirks of the characters and the hardships residents in London’s impoverished East End faced, but Worth’s writing is clear, poignant, and insightful. It fills in historical gaps and explains much of the medical practice. When we watch the show, we keep reminding ourselves that it’s the late 1950s, which I can personally remember. Seeing midwives bicycle about tending to women in their own homes, which sometimes lack private bathrooms, makes it feel like we’ve stepped back to the 192os or 30s. (In fact, I think my mother was born in a hospital in 1922.) Worth reminds us that most of London was destroyed in WWII, so there were terrible housing shortages, especially for the poor. Conditions were dreadful, but people pushed on full of love, hope, and mostly good humor. These stories make you care.4 stars for Book two is Shadow of The Workhouse. I'd drop it back to four stars only because the sections that tell us about how workhouses operated sound more like a research paper and lack the energy and warmth of the first book. Fortunately, we got some very lively human interest stories to make the information worthwhile. In the second half of the book we go back to Nonnatus House and Sister Monica Joan’s trial for shoplifting, which was treated wonderfully on the TV show. In other words, about 80% of this book lives up to the first one.4 stars forFarewell to the East End is my second favorite of this boxed trilogy. Call of the Midwife is by far the warmest, and hence my favorite. This volume did return more to life at the convent and ended with a summary of what happened to these characters I’ve come to love from the show. We’re also treated to several more colorful tales about the wayward Sister Monica Joan and about Chummy. A journey into the East End in the 1950's with the midwives and Nuns of Poplar. The characters are an insight into the world of some of the poorest people who lived and worked around the docks. As well as the lives of the Nuns & midwives of Nonnatus House who delivered the babies into this changing world. Celebrate the lives, loves, births, deaths, of the families and the people who care for them.
What do You think about The Complete Call The Midwife Stories: True Stories Of The East End In The 1950s (2012)?
Okay only be prepared for some graphic details of childbirth and all that can go wrong during it...
—kattylyna
Very interesting stories that inspired the PBS series. Most enjoyable reading.
—zaire
Extremely interesting. I will go on and read the other 2 books in the series.
—mamabear
