The highest-rated drama in BBC history, Call the Midwife will delight fans of Downton Abbey Viewers everywhere have fallen in love with this candid look at post-war London. In the 1950s, twenty-two-year-old Jenny Lee leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in London’s East End slums. While delivering babies all over the city, Jenny encounters a colorful cast of … encounters a colorful cast of women—from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives, to the woman with twenty-four children who can’t speak English, to the prostitutes of the city’s seedier side.
An unfortgettable story of motherhood, the bravery of a community, and the strength of remarkable and inspiring women, Call the Midwife is the true story behind the beloved PBS series, which will soon return for its sixth season.
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I really enjoyed this book because I knew nothing about the midwives in London early in the century. Great stories about their experiences.
I adore this book as well as the PBS series.
I had read this book and then found The Call the Midwife show. Loved both! It was very informative of the lives of the midwives and their patients and life in that era. One of the best books I have read in a long time.
Technal but interesting to this o b nurse
Loved this book! I learned so much about Britain post WW II. Amazing how much healthcare was provided by midwifes.
I’ve been hooked since the first page! Wonderfully written real life story. You immediately get attached to all the characters in this book. The writer shows us a picture of what life was like in those days. The hardships but also the extraordinary experiences and people she has had the incredible luck to encounter. A great book!
I was inspired to order and read this book after having seen the Midwife series. Jennifer Worth wrote so beautifully, often about heartbreaking experiences she lived through every day as a midwife in a very poor district of London just after WWII. Daunting problems to survive constantly. One wonders how she could have had such resoluteness and strength to stay on. This book is c’est magnifique, as she was.
I loved this book. A bit of history. Strong character s.
I love the BBC show, but the book is even better because of how realistic the writers descriptions are.
I watch this TV show and am definitely hooked. When I found out that it was not only a true story, but a book series, I knew I had to have it.
This is the story of the author’s time as a midwife in the 1950s in the poor East End of London. She lived at a convent and worked with the poorest women of the area delivering hundreds of babies in her time there. She speaks about the harsh conditions these families lived in, what it was like to take care of families who had 10 children or more, and even when she cared for the older folks who lived in condemned conditions of the area.
It is a great book. I stayed up late at night finishing chapter after chapter. It is a facinating tale, and – as a nurse myself – I tried to visualize what it would be like to work in this area at this time in history. A lot of the stories in this book were covered in the TV show, but it was great to read the true details of what happened and get further in depth with the lives of the people she worked with.
I am anxious to read the next book in the series. There are 4 books total, and I plan on reading them all. This is a series you should not pass up.
Oh, what women have to endure to continue the human race, and definitely not in the best environment. I couldn’t believe how happy the lady was, who was about to give birth to her 24th. Oh my…….
All of the “Call the Midwife” series are great. You learn so much about what life was like during those times.
Such a wonderful book with a group of women I would love to sit down with and have a long chat.
I came to read these after seeing the series on PBS and am I ever glad I did. The books are wonderful, and tell of a time gone by with wit, humour and love. Do yourself a favour and read it. Read the whole series. They do not disappoint.
Great characters, setting, story, and message.
it gives n honest of society in the time period.
I watched the series 2 years ago. I read this and book 3 and it made me want to rewatch the series. I enjoy the characters. Good book
Excellent
I loved it …but I’m an OB RN so… I love the show on PBS also
Having watched all of the seasons of the PBS series, I was curious to read the books on which the series was based. This is the first in the series and it is well written and really serves to fill I details and provide more depth of understanding to the people, place, and time.