The Birth House

Dora Rare is a shipbuilder's daughter who apprentices as a midwife in order to improve her lot in life. Through the entries of this "literary scrapbook," we learn more of what it took to be a traditional midwife in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, as the technology of the early Twentieth Century was beginning to intrude. Along the way, we read about love, lies and what it means to live in a small town.
As a doula, I was impressed with the research of the author. I could recognize several of the conditions that Dora's clients suffered from just from the descriptions provided. I also felt like I learned a lot about the so-called "modern" technology used by OB/GYNs at that time; these male practitioners would have benefited greatly from listening and sharing their techniques with the old-fashioned midwives.
Some of the characters could have been developed more - some of the occupants of Scots Bay seemed stereotypical - and the plot seemed somewhat secondary to creating the atmosphere. That being said, I really loved the characters of Dora Rare and her midwife mentor Marie Babineau and would highly recommend this title to anyone who is a birth junkie like myself.