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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Jennifer Worth is an amazing storyteller and her stories are deeply emotional and compelling. I loved [b:Call The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times|6114607|Call The Midwife A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times|Jennifer Worth|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405348324s/6114607.jpg|6292672], her first memoir of being a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s, on which the series "Call the Midwife" is based. This book is similar, but tells fewer, longer-form stories. There is a lot less midwifery, and less of Jenny herself. She doesn't limit herself to describing events she personally witnessed, but instead expands on backstory scenes with vivid, fictionalized detail. She is a poetic writer and certainly in a good position to speculate about these scenes given her extensive oral history and research knowledge; still, one can't help but wonder, "How could she possibly know this? How much of this is true?"
Still, it's just as heartrending and almost as addictive as "Call the Midwife." She explores the horrendous childhoods of people brought up in workhouses. An old soldier that Jenny comes to love as a patient is living a lonely and solitary life after a career of being cannon fodder and then watching his family members killed one by one in various wars. Even the relatively light-hearted "Trial of Sister Monica Joan" story, which features the young nurses we've all come to love playing drunken Monopoly together, shows how an inflexible criminal justice system bewilders and persecutes an old woman. The stories are real and human and, collectively, condemn the inhumanity of British bureaucratic institutions. At the same time, the series as a whole is a love song to the National Health Service. Worth is in no way anti-institution, but her stories show the importance to providing services in a way that honors the dignity, autonomy, culture, and humanity of the poor.
Still, it's just as heartrending and almost as addictive as "Call the Midwife." She explores the horrendous childhoods of people brought up in workhouses. An old soldier that Jenny comes to love as a patient is living a lonely and solitary life after a career of being cannon fodder and then watching his family members killed one by one in various wars.
Spoiler
As a final indignity, the government decides to tear down the house where he has lived for years, and he lives the rest of his days in an old folks' home that was once a workhouse and has not improved much.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This book is truly harrowing. It was a great read, but I never want to read it again.
I am a sucker for this series. This book once again gives a very thoughtful, even-handed, humane look at life in this corner of the world at a particular point in history. I look forward to reading the next two.
This book did not actually discuss anything related to midwifery in the East End, but it was still good. It was extremely sad. Two of the stories had me sobbing at the end.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
thought there was going to be more stories of people in workhouses but it’s mostly just accounts of the author during her midwife era. sad stories though, had me in shock and seemed too unbelievable to have happened only 100 years and less ago.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Oh, I love these Jennifer Worth memoirs. And this is one case where I was glad I'd watched the series first. (Usually the rule is to do the book before the video, but I think these work well the other way round.)
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Although I usually read books before I watch the series or movies based on them, with this one I made an exception. I plan on reading the third in this series of books also. These are wonderful memoirs, giving us a glimpse into London in the 50's and also earlier from the many people Jennifer got to know through her work. The stories they tell are of a poverty we can not imagine. But they are also stories of respect for people, no matter what their walk in life. I highly recommend this book series! I am left feeling so very fortunate for all I have and Jennifer (Jenny) is giving me a wonderful education in life and love and acceptance of others.