Coming of age in two very different settings
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth gained her midwife training in the 1950s among an Anglican order of nuns dedicated to ensuring safer childbirth for the poor living amid the Docklands slums on the East End of London. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies-from the plucky, warmhearted nuns with whom she lives, to the woman with 24 children, to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side-illuminates a fascinating time in history, and especially in London. Beautifully written and utterly moving, Call the Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother.
I first became aware of Call the Midwife through the BBC series that debuted shortly after the latest season of “Downton Abbey” had ended. At first I was only looking to fill Sunday evenings, but I’m glad I gave the miniseries a chance. Not only is it a change from the usual 19th century period dramas, but it delves into the East End, an aspect of London that we Americans don’t really see on screen-i.e. definitely the less glamorous side.
As a memoir, Call the Midwife is no less absorbing. Worth may not be the most polished writer but she is a natural storyteller, and her accounts of her patients drew me in with their honesty and sensitivity. For Worth, who prior to moving to the East End had a respectable middle class upbringing, midwifery opened her young eyes to wide range of circumstances that can surround a single newborn child. Some are born into loving families, who are only happy to add one more healthy member; others are born into illicit or desperate circumstances due to poverty or prostitution or worse.
Whether the child was wanted or not, Worth’s narrative impressed upon me how much women were at the mercy of their pregnancies before the arrival of birth control. That’s always been true for most of human history, but in the 1950s, when the world was already using modern technology like TVs and airplanes, it’s amazing how primitive childbirth and midwifery remained. (And on the flipside, the tools for an under-the-table abortion were also horrifying.) Women were not only expected to stay at home (anyone who worked before being pregnant simply had to resign from work) but also bear the pain of childbirth over and over again-without having a real say in the matter. Call the Midwife is a moving read, and I look forward to picking up the next two installments.
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains.
After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th Wave, just one rule applies: trust no one.
Now it’s the dawn of the 5th Wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from them, who roam the countryside killing anyone they say. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
Mild spoiler warning
Probably one of the most anticipated YA titles of 2013, The 5th Wave is a gripping sci-fi/dystopian thriller that stays smart and true to its characters. From the first awful gunshot fired, the book is packed with dramatic, heart-pounding action sequences, but at the heart it’s the intimate story of a teenage girl’s desperate struggle to survive. Just as the aliens take over the Earth in devastating waves, internally Cassie goes through fluctuating waves of self-doubt, hopelessness, and sheer determination to make it out alive. Cassie’s vulnerability and helplessness made her more real, and like the most memorable YA heroines, only her grit and will to survive see her through.
As enjoyable as The 5th Wave is, there are some aspects I couldn’t help but be nitpicky about. There is one particular section where the narrative switches from first person to third person narrative, which seemed unnecessary in light of what happens later; I think it would’ve been more suspenseful to leave it out. (Also, I think it’s lazy in terms of writing style, but I digress.) I also thought the transformation in Evan’s feelings toward Cassie was a bit dubious, because of his inherent nature. Considering who he is and what he has done-and what his mission is-I found it hard to believe that this commitment would follow so soon. I was more convinced by Cassie’s ongoing reluctance to trust him.
At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth gained her midwife training in the 1950s among an Anglican order of nuns dedicated to ensuring safer childbirth for the poor living amid the Docklands slums on the East End of London. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies-from the plucky, warmhearted nuns with whom she lives, to the woman with 24 children, to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side-illuminates a fascinating time in history, and especially in London. Beautifully written and utterly moving, Call the Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother.
I first became aware of Call the Midwife through the BBC series that debuted shortly after the latest season of “Downton Abbey” had ended. At first I was only looking to fill Sunday evenings, but I’m glad I gave the miniseries a chance. Not only is it a change from the usual 19th century period dramas, but it delves into the East End, an aspect of London that we Americans don’t really see on screen-i.e. definitely the less glamorous side.
As a memoir, Call the Midwife is no less absorbing. Worth may not be the most polished writer but she is a natural storyteller, and her accounts of her patients drew me in with their honesty and sensitivity. For Worth, who prior to moving to the East End had a respectable middle class upbringing, midwifery opened her young eyes to wide range of circumstances that can surround a single newborn child. Some are born into loving families, who are only happy to add one more healthy member; others are born into illicit or desperate circumstances due to poverty or prostitution or worse.
Whether the child was wanted or not, Worth’s narrative impressed upon me how much women were at the mercy of their pregnancies before the arrival of birth control. That’s always been true for most of human history, but in the 1950s, when the world was already using modern technology like TVs and airplanes, it’s amazing how primitive childbirth and midwifery remained. (And on the flipside, the tools for an under-the-table abortion were also horrifying.) Women were not only expected to stay at home (anyone who worked before being pregnant simply had to resign from work) but also bear the pain of childbirth over and over again-without having a real say in the matter. Call the Midwife is a moving read, and I look forward to picking up the next two installments.
Click to viewThe 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains.
After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th Wave, just one rule applies: trust no one.
Now it’s the dawn of the 5th Wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from them, who roam the countryside killing anyone they say. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
Mild spoiler warning
Probably one of the most anticipated YA titles of 2013, The 5th Wave is a gripping sci-fi/dystopian thriller that stays smart and true to its characters. From the first awful gunshot fired, the book is packed with dramatic, heart-pounding action sequences, but at the heart it’s the intimate story of a teenage girl’s desperate struggle to survive. Just as the aliens take over the Earth in devastating waves, internally Cassie goes through fluctuating waves of self-doubt, hopelessness, and sheer determination to make it out alive. Cassie’s vulnerability and helplessness made her more real, and like the most memorable YA heroines, only her grit and will to survive see her through.
As enjoyable as The 5th Wave is, there are some aspects I couldn’t help but be nitpicky about. There is one particular section where the narrative switches from first person to third person narrative, which seemed unnecessary in light of what happens later; I think it would’ve been more suspenseful to leave it out. (Also, I think it’s lazy in terms of writing style, but I digress.) I also thought the transformation in Evan’s feelings toward Cassie was a bit dubious, because of his inherent nature. Considering who he is and what he has done-and what his mission is-I found it hard to believe that this commitment would follow so soon. I was more convinced by Cassie’s ongoing reluctance to trust him.