The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of the Rare family. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing and a kitchen filled with herbs and folk remedies. During the turbulent years of World War I, Dora becomes the midwife's apprentice. Together, they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives.
When Gilbert Thomas, a brash medical doctor, comes to Scots Bay with promises of fast, painless childbirth, some of the women begin to question Miss Babineau's methods - and after Miss Babineau's death, Dora is left to carry on alone. In the face of fierce opposition, she must summon all of her strength to protect the birthing traditions and wisdom that have been passed down to her.
Filled with details that are as compelling as they are surprising-childbirth in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion, the prescribing of vibratory treatments to cure hysteria and a mysterious elixir called Beaver Brew- The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to maintain control over their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.(Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
I can definitely attest to this novel as being compelling. It was hard to put down and stuck with me even when I wasn't reading it. I was all worried for the characters and wondering what would happen next. Dora really gets put through a lot in the span of three years. Her best friend dies (which is not a spoiler since it says so in the summary), she marries a total jerk, the new doctor starts messing with her head, some people turn against her, etc. She manages to hold her own throughout the story and comes out stronger overall. She's really only a kid too. I was getting ready for college when I was her age and she's being trained to catch babies and administer holistic medical treatments. She does have a small support system, and I loved all the women who looked after and cared about her. Some aspects of the story reminded me of how people treated Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Both Dora and Belle love to read, are looked upon as strange, have men in their lives who try to control them (I'm not talking about the Beast here), etc. Also the way the townsfolk become an angry mob to attack the Beast is similar to how people act toward Dora and Miss B when they try to help various women.
Ami McKay is great with her use of description without it being overwhelming and she gives a strong feel for the time period, which made me feel like it was non-fiction. I love how she uses advertisements from that time period and how they fit in so well with the story. It reminded me of when I'd go to Wendy's as a kid and they'd have these old-time newspaper articles and advertisements as the artwork on the tables. I'm not as familiar with the events of World War I, but Ami kept that side of the story interesting instead of being just dry facts. She tied the events of the story into what was happening with the war.
There are a LOT of characters in this story and it's sometimes hard to keep names and information straight. I had to go back to earlier chapters to remember who was who sometimes. There was even an age slip-up for one of the characters that never got caught before going to print. I also would not recommend reading this book in public unless you're prepared to heavily blush, as some parts were a bit raunchy. I didn't blush the same way I would for a steamy romantic novel. No, this was on the darker side of the scale, to the point of making me uncomfortable. One aspect even made me think of a situation from Sex and the City.
I remember that when I was reading Call the Midwife, I was thinking how times are so different now and how much more advantageous we are to have choices about where and how we give birth. While I chose to go the obstetrics route, I know others who have chosen to have home births with midwives at hand. Everyone is different and I don't judge people for how they want to have their babies any more than they should judge me. As long as the baby is born safely and their well-being is seen to after their birth, why should it matter where they were born? What was definitely concerning in this novel, and still comes out in other ways nowadays, is how men think they have governance over women's bodies. That's a whole other can of worms to open though and my review is not meant to spark debate. There's only one question I have that went unanswered: What is tea with mitts? I couldn't find anything about it in the "Willow Book" glossary at the back of the book.
The Birth House has given me a reason to be less judgmental over other books that might not be of interest to me at first. I have already been recommending it to others and will continue to do so!
I had a few casting ideas in mind for a movie version (surprise, surprise...)
Dora: Stephanie Hunt (I recently saw her on an episode of Glee and then immediately pictured her in this role.)
Archer: Colin Farrell
Hart: Joe Manganiello
Dr. Thomas: Dean Chekvala
Miss B: Loretta Devine
Maxine: Paula Patton
Precious: AnnaSophia Robb
Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
1 comment:
Interesting!
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