Relief Reads 18 - Call the Midwife

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Charity Shop: One that uses a green price sticker, lets go with Oxfam

Charity: Oxfam are the provider of charity shops throughout the UK, particularly renowned for its book shops. More importantly however Oxfam is a globally renowned aid and development charity with 70 years of experience, working and campaigning with partners in over 90 countries worldwide.


Price: £0.99

Book Blurb: Life in the London's East End in the 1950s was tough. The brothels of Cable Street, the Kray brothers and gang warfare, the meths drinkers in the bombsites - this was the world Jennifer Worth entered when she became a midwife at the age of 22 (ah, younger than me!) Babies were born in slum conditions, often with no running water. Funny, disturbing and moving, Call the Midwife brings to life a world that has now changed beyond all measure.

Expectation: The TV series. Stories of life as a midwife in 1950s East End, plus incite into behind the scenes at the Nunnery.

Reality: As expected, I recognised some of the stories from the TV series, however it was a bit different. Knowing it was real life made parts heart-wrenchingly sad, more so than the TV version because I get more of an emotional relationship with book characters than TV ones. There was an overriding storyline and that was Jennifer's journey to faith with the closing sentence is 'That evening, I started to read the gospels'

Overall Rating

It was a struggle           2        3        4        5        6        7        8       9      Gripping page  

to make it                                                                                                        turner

I was gripped, helped by the fact I read it (almost) in one sitting on a long train journey. The ending is beautiful and as I finished I looked out of the window to see Durham Cathedral lit up by the evening sun making it even more beautiful.
Didn't give it top rating as as it was lots of individual stories, all linked, it would be possible to put it down and pick it up again later.

Twist Scale:

Knew the beginning,                                                                                 As twisty as the 

middle and end         2       3        4         5       6        7        8        9      bendy wendy road

from the first line 

Can't really rate it, not that kind of book. The individual stories didn't always pan out as expected, particularly the story of Conchita Warren, but I won't give anything away.

Tear-jerker Scale:

 As dry as a house       2        3       4         5         6         7       8        9     Cried an ocean

 throughout

I shed tears in public over the Mrs Jenkins story. I don't cry.
That said it wasn't all tales of woe. There were positives along with the negatives, like real life really!

Main Character(s): Jennifer. It's her story, so everything is from her perspective. 

Moral of the Story: The book made its own conclusion, so I shall quote (from Jennifer's quotes of Sister Monica Joan)
""Do not ask me to immortalise the great Mystery of Life. I am just a humble worker. For beauty, look to the Psalms, to Isiah, to St John of the Cross. How could my poor pen scan such verse? For truth, look to the Gospels- four short accounts of God made Man. There is nothing more to say" ..... "No one can give you faith. It is a gift from God alone. Seek and ye shall find. Read the Gospels. There is no other way.""

***

Coming up: The map that changed the World by ????