The Complete Call the Midwife Stories

by Jennifer Worth

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Series

Midwife Trilogy (set)

Genres

Description

London's East End in the 1950s was a tough place: the struggles of post-war life - bombsites, overcrowded tenements, crime, brothels - bred a culture of tight-knit family communities, larger-than-life characters and a lively social scene. It was into this world that Jennifer Worth entered as a trainee midwife. But docklands life was tough, and babies were often born in slum conditions. In funny, disturbing and heartbreaking stories, Jennifer Worth recounts her time among nuns, prostitutes, abortionists, bigamists, gangsters and expectant mothers, portraying East Enders' amazing resilience - and their warmth and humour in the face of hardship. Written with affection and nostalgia, her midwife stories chronicle the lives, traditions and tales of a bygone era.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Cazzeira
Captivating, intriguing, full of pathos and without an ounce of sentimentality, Jennifer Worth relates the story of the East End of London in the 1950s. Training as a student midwife, she saw first-hand the daily grind of abject poverty and the resilience required of many families to survive.
Show More
 Threaded through this story are the lives of her fellow midwives and the nursing sisters that trained them. The stories are told with a clarity of insight and an understanding rarely shown in social history tales. It's a story written by a woman, about women and should be read by every woman...who should then give it to every man in her life to read. Worth recounts shocking pieces of history and humourous anecdotes that will make you glad we no longer live in those times and wonder if we would have the same resilience of spirit and strength of humanity.
Show Less
1 more
LibraryThing member LynnB
I really enjoyed these accounts of Jennifer Worth's time working as a nurse and midwife in London. She tells the stories of people she worked with and patients she cared for so well, really evoking a sense of the time and I was able to feel the fears, sadness and joy she felt.

Similar in this library

Goodbye to All That (Penguin Modern Classics) by Robert Graves
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

More

Amazon.comLibraryThing
Page: 0.18 seconds