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 work in a labor and delivery unit, and this story just grabbed me straight away! The characters come right off the page, and you feel like you are there to help with the delivery. Wonderfully written!
I’ve enjoyed the PBS series based on the book, and found that the book is even better! Fascinating memoir of the East End of London in the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, written from the perspective of a young woman and nurse.
I love the TV show, so I knew I would enjoy the book. I’m delighted to see that the book has even more information and details than the TV show.
The 1950’s were a very different time in health care, especially in the poor sections of London. This book, by a midwife of that time, gives an insight into those differences.
Loved the book and love the TV series on which it is based.
As a fan of the BBC show, I wanted to read this book to find out more about the characters and the story of British midwives. Although many of the characters in the show did not make an appearance in the book, this book did not disappoint.
Having watched the television series, it was a real treat to read the book it was based on.
I’ve read this book and two others in the series. Based on facts and real people. Excellent reads.
I learned many things i did not know. Loved these books
An informative, witty, and easy read! Midwifery is very interesting and these woman are very knowledgeable and this line of work is not for just “any woman.”
Being a fan of the television show, I enjoyed reading this book which is full of anecdotes about working as a midwife in post-war England. It’s a fascinating view of a time when society was on the verge of the huge cultural changes brought about in the 1960s.
One of the best historical books I have read recently. It vividly brings to life, the struggles, joys and hardships faced by the dock workers in London after WWII and the heroic and dedication of the Midwives and Nuns that share their lives.
Just like the TV series. If you like the TV series, you will love this book!
The writer was a midwife in a very poor part of London in the late 1960s. I think as Americans we’re used to all the ways that life modernized rapidly after WWll, but for some of the people of London, their lives hadn’t changed much since the 19th century. She brings an outsider’s perspective to the matter but lives and works there long enough to have her perspectives change. Very funny, very tragic, very moving, very graphic–& particularly relevant concerning poverty, health care, and women’s lives/bodies.
Love it!
Great read and an excellent companion to the Public Television series.
Real life post ww2 in England
Really enjoyed this step back into time as medecine expanded its horizons… The hearts these ladies have are bigger than the moon!
I loved, loved,loved this book. A look at young nurses and nuns in the fifty’s. What they went through and how they survived every day life.
Loved the book, will read the rest of the series