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mustbeinwantofawife's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
5.0
josiefeltham's review against another edition
2.5
Although I enjoyed the content of this book I found it a bit of a hard slog to read. Won't be reading the second book but have already started the series!
nlbogard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
vtsarahd's review against another edition
4.0
The PBS series was recommended to me but I read the book instead. A fascinating glimpse into the east end of London in the 1950s and the lives of women at the time. Vignettes ranged from humorous to touching and heartbreaking.
eggjen's review against another edition
3.0
There were things I really liked about this book - reading about childbirth in the 1940s and 50s was very interesting and a good way to make you feel fortunate about the advances in science today, but also to think about how much we were capable of back then. Some of the stories were very moving, some heartbreaking and others funny but on the whole the book was not perfect. Because it is written in a style more like a series of short stories, it often felt like it was jumping around and never quite finishing stories that I would have liked to have seen further fleshed out. I'm definitely planning to watch the mini series and look forward to seeing how it compares to the book.
elisakissa's review against another edition
4.0
The conversational style made this an easy read, while the stories were eye-opening, and at times heart-breaking or hilarious. The chapters changed between light stories from the neighborhood or the convent, to gripping scenes of birth with interesting medical information of the time, to harrowing descriptions of what some of the women had to endure at the time. All the while God had it all in his hands. And that was the most beautiful part of it all.