[book_talk] book review - Jennifer Worth
- From: "Bonnie L. Sherrell" <blslarner@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Blind Chit Chat" <Blind-Chit-Chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Books for the Blind" <Books4theblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Blind Book Lovers Cafe" <bblc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Book Talk" <book_talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 12:34:22 -0800
_Call the Midwife: the Shadow of the Workhouse_ book two of the series
by Jennifer Worth
read by Nicola Barber
I became aware of these books through the BBC television series, and
was enchanted by them. The reminiscences of Nurse Lee, now Mrs.
Jennifer Worth, are compelling as we see not only the conditions of the
slums of East London in the 1950s but glimpses of even earlier times
through what her patients and friends tell her.
So many of the older patients she dealt with lived under barbaric
conditions when younger, and we learn that the workhouses and
orphanages described in such draconian detail in Dickens's works were
still alive and well far into the twentieth century, and underwent a
mere change in name and a slight betterment of conditions even after
they were officially closed down in the 1930s. So many who had spent
all or most of their lives in the workhouses were unable to adapt to
life outside their walls, and as Britain was as much in the throes of
the Great Depression as were the United States, there was no employment
available from many who could now leave them behind now that they had
the choice. Not that having no way to provide for oneself gave many
now free to go a choice anyway.
These tales of the lives of a brother and sister condemned to the
workhouse after being orphaned, a young girl who'd been born
illegitimate whose spirit was broken by the Master's behavior toward
her, elderly Sister Monica Joan, and old Mr. Cullet give us a distinct
feel for what they went through and the compassion felt for them by the
young District Nurse whose life they all touched so strongly.
A fascinating book, and a worthy successor to its predecessor. Got it
from Audible and highly, highly recommended.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise
cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
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