Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s
May 2009 · Hachette UK
4.6star
99 reviewsreport
Ebook
368
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About this ebook
A fascinating slice of social history - Jennifer Worth's tales of being a midwife in 1950s London, now a major BBC TV series.
Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction.
Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s.
Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction.
Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s.
Ratings and reviews
4.6
99 reviews
A Google user
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April 24, 2012
I had read this book and all titles following it a long time before the TV adaptation and I have to say I find them captivating, interesting, funny in places and emotional. They are for me defo within the top 10 books I have ever read and have and will always recommend them. I also find it a shame that Jennifer Worth never got to see the adaptation before passing away.
A Google user
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June 30, 2012
Bought this book for my partner who was a student midwife at the time. My love of modern history (and the fact that it was on the tv) prompted me to read it and I couldnt put it down. It had me in tears of both sadness and laughter at points. Definitely the best of all of Jennifer Worth's books, but don't rule out reading the others! highly recommended :)
Toni Leonardi
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January 1, 2023
really enjoyed reading as I was born in 1963, and it brought back some memories. outside loo with newspaper squares, tin Bath in front of the fire in the back room. sharing a bedroom with heavy winter coats on top of blankets on the bed
About the author
Jennifer Worth trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and was later ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London, then the Marie Curie Hospital, also in London. Music had always been her passion, and in 1973 she left nursing in order to study music intensively, teaching piano and singing for about twenty-five years. Jennifer died in May 2011 after a short illness, leaving her husband Philip, two daughters and three grandchildren. Her books have all been bestsellers.
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