Customer Reviews
Both heart-warming and heart-breaking at once - By: R. Boden, 12 Oct 2008 
Matthew Parris statesin the blurb on the back of the book that reading this made him cry on a crowded train. It managed to make me burst into floods of tearsin the middle of Schipol Airport at 6am - not many books manage to make me cry anywhere - let alonein public. It's a wonderfully evocative read, based on Worth's life working as midwifein 1950s London. The fascinatingly detailed descriptions of the housing, the patients, the costermongers & the nuns make the book quite un-put-down-able I found. The story of Sister Monica Joan is poignant yet makes you smile with every other line, whereas the story of Joe is heartbreaking from the off. I can't wait for the next instalment of Worth's memoirs!
An excellent follow up to Call the Midwife... can't wait for the third book - By: C. Riddell, 07 Sep 2008 I read this bookin 24 hours- I just could not put it down. I had high expectations, having "enjoyed" Call the Midwife. I say "enjoyed" because I also found it horrifying & I cried over the stories of Mary & Mrs Jenkins.
This book doesn't disappoint, & the stories of Jane, Peggy & Frank are just as compelling. It's writtenin the same style as Call the Midwife so you can really get your teeth into a character's storyin each chapter.
The stories are not as bleak as CTM's- Jane finds lovein later life which finally helps to restore the sparkle she lost when she was badly beaten & humiliatedin the workhouse. Peggy & Frank have each other, & Joseph Collett doesn't see his own situation as bleak, & is appreciative of the filthy tenement rooms that he's been given. His story is fascinating & I think the friendship between him & Jennifer is beautifully portrayed, especially the incidentin the final pages of the book.
The only gripe I have is that I thought a lot of pages were wasted on the trial of Sister Monica Joan, which I didn't find as fascinating as the author I'm afraid. But it's a small gripe, & all adds to the characters of the nuns of Nonnatus House.
Jennifer Worth is very fairin her description of workhouses. They served a purpose, even though they were ill thought out & socially destructive to those who were ripped apart from their family members. Descriptions of lifein the workhouse are well written & the most grisly details arein general spared us although clearly implied- the sexual abuse that was alluded toin Frank's story for example.
I want more! I can't wait for the third book. Jennifer Worth must have thousands of storiesin her head of the people she met- I want to hear them all.
A Truly Definitive Account of the Meaning of Poverty - By: Joan H. Hammond, 05 Aug 2008 I was bornin the East Endin the 1950's, & still live there. However, Jennifer's account has brought to life the tales my parents & grandparents told me about how much a struggle life was for so many people, barely a bus ride from where I was living. Jennifer's portrayal of Mr. Collet's demisein an 'old folk's home',in the 60's, which was little better than the workhouses of 30 years previously starkly reminds us that man's inhumanity to man can comein many different forms, no matter how affluent / civilised / reformed our societies pretend to be. This book should be read by anyone who worksin public office, if only to remind them that the attitudes & conditions of the recent past have not gone away; they're still out there & will come back if we allow them to.
Jennifer's comparison of modern East London tower blocks & housing estates taking the place of the old tenements tells us that rather than improving conditions, society has simply torn down the old & replaced them with tacky copies. Jennifer Worth should have gone into politics, for judging from her excellent books, this is one person who would have made a real difference. Next time I travel through Poplar, Limehouse & Stepney, I will now do so with a new interest.
midwifery in the raw - By: Ms. A. McGregor, 06 Feb 2007 
This is a excellent bookin many ways. It tells of a young woman's trainingin midwifery, undertaken under the supervision of an order of nuns whose mission was nursing & midwifery,in the poverty of east end Londonin the 1950's. If you are a training midwife (as I am) some of the discriptions are truly horrifying - watching a young woman die of eclampsia, stillbirths & diseases that you will never seein Britain today. It also shows how midwifery used to be practisedin this country,in a time when midwives were independent & worked alone, when most women gave birth at home (sucessfully). As a social document it is also incredibly valuable - a discription of the devastation that workhouses leftin their wake is a valuable reminder of how we used to treat poor peoplein this country, & how we must not allow shallow prejudices about teenage mothers & single parents (so easily scapegoated!) let us treat them as lesser, non-citizens. Also a useful reminder of how "the good old days" are a myth - things are better nowin many ways, & there were teenage mums, drugs, prostitution & people trafficking then, too. I heartily recommend this to any one interestedin midwifery, social history, & women's studies.
I will never complain about my life being hard ever again! - By: , 30 Dec 2005 If you enjoyed Call the Midwife, you will definately enjoy this book, although the content is not midwifery related. There are three parts to the book, each containing stories of people who the author had known through her work.
Her descriptions of the hardship & poverty of early 1900's London, along with personal tragedy & sacrifice will make you weep, & feel thankful to be livingin the 21st Century.
- Frank & Peggy, brother & sister, separated from their parents by death & then from each other by the workhouse... courage, hope, joy, & a real tear-jerker ending.
- Joe Collett - this story is a testament to the truly caring & generous spirit of the author - she goes above & beyond the call of dutyin my opinion to befriend an old man - & hears a tale of army life & family courage spanning three wars, with more than a touch of tragedy along the way.
Beautifully written, I could not put it down.
