The sequel to Jennifer Worth’s New York Times bestselling memoir and the basis for the PBS series Call the Midwife
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 … 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. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at people’s lives in the poorest section of postwar London.
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This is a wonderful story about a group of nuns who end up serving as nurses. It is a gripping story.
Love this series!
I loved the first Call the Midwife book so I was really looking forward to this one. SO very different that I wonder if it was really written by the same person. Horrifying. Yes, the workhouses are part of British history, but I don’t want to put that stuff in my brain. Too graphic and tragic. I only read the first half of the book and then Noped it right off my Kindle.
I didn’t like this one in the series.
I have read many of Dan Walsh´s book and this one did not disappoint! I don´t usually pick up a book about animals, but am so glad I picked this one up! What a wonderful story! Beautiful characters, including Parker the dog!
Wonderful to read the books that inspired the tv show.
Last fall, I got hooked on the BBC/PBS series Call the Midwife, which is based on a series of memoirs by Jennifer Worth (formerly Jenny Lee) of the same name. In December, I reviewed the first book (titled simply Call the Midwife). A few weeks ago, after discovering I would be something like number 57 or 58 on the library’s waitlist, I broke down and bought a copy of volume two, Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse. This volume, which is written in the same clear prose that manages to be both lively and nostalgic as the first book, focuses on Jenny’s work as a district nurse, as opposed to focusing on her work as a midwife.
In this volume, the reader encounters siblings Peggy and Frank as well as the old soldier Joe and the painfully shy Jane, a nursing assistant-type character introduced in season two. The story of Sister Monica Joan’s light fingers and inheritance of jewels is also revealed. Since Jennifer makes clear in book one that she did not see Jimmy for decades after they parted, it’s not surprising that he had nothing to do with helping prove she had not stolen the jewelry, but otherwise I was impressed with how closely the show hewed to the book (and I should say this is the case for almost all episodes and characters, with the notable exception of Jimmy).
As the title implies, the common theme running through the lives of the characters in volume two is the scars left by the workhouse, whether having spent time in one or simply harboring the fear of ending up in one. As in the first volume, Worth captures the speech patterns of her patients perfectly; their Cockney accents dance across the chapters and into the readers ears with an ease that belies the difficulty Worth described of trying to put the dialect into writing.
In addition to the next episodes of Call the Midwife, I’m also looking forward to reading the third (and final) volume of memoirs, Farewell to the East End.
P.S. Given that the three books were originally published in England in a single volume, I think anyone doing, say, a 400+ page challenge this year could read all three together, if she were interested, and not be cheating on the challenge. Individually each book runs to about 300 pages.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2013/03/call-midwife-shadows-of-workhouse.html)
I enjoyed his journey of walking that seemed impossible.
Loved
Just like the PBS show.
I don’t think many people think about the UK post-WWII. The hardships they endured and how absolutely strong the survivors were. Reading this book took me into their homes and their lives. Surprisingly, they pulled themselves out of an amazingly horrifying situation. I loved the way this book was written, when it ended I wanted more — more stories of a very strong people.
Very informative of the early 1900s England.
An amazing read! You won’t be the same afterwards.
Excellent.
A nice book, but I thought it would be more like the TV series about Midwives delivering babies.
This background information gives depth to the characters seen in the B B C production. Well written and sobering.
Good characters and easy read
Absolutely wonderful series of memoirs. It creates a great picture of East End London after the war. One becomes very invested in the series because of the Fantastic characters. The PBS series is wonderful too.
Great followup to the PBS serices.
Love these books. Makes you feel like you have known the characters your whole life. You will feel so many emotions. Wonderful, just wonderful!