Call the Midwife : : Shadows of the Workhouse

Locations
Call Number: 921 Worth, Jennifer
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Worth, Jennifer	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Worth, Jennifer	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024

"First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Merton Books" --T.p. verso.
When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood's most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century. Orphaned brother and sister Peggy and Frank lived in the workhouse until Frank got free and returned to rescue his sister. Bubbly Jane's spirit was broken by the cruelty of the workhouse master until she found kindness and romance years later at Nonnatus House. Mr. Collett, a Boer War veteran, lost his family in the two world wars and died in the workhouse. Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds.
Contents: Call the midwife.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Not what you would expect submitted by amym on June 16, 2014, 11:01am I had heard this series compared to James Herriot's books, but these books are much grimmer. Her description of the workhouses was horrifying. I also was shocked at her discussion of what life was like for Victorian women. I knew it was bad, but I didn't have any idea of how completely powerless they could be. For example, she talks about one woman who was committed to an insane asylum because her husband wanted to marry a younger woman.

It's very well-written and entertaining, but don't expect a light read.