by aseleener
- Current
Type: fiction
Status: liked
Author: Ami McKay
Tags: Halifax, midwife, Nova_Scotia, women's_sexuality WW1,
Description: The Birth House was an enjoyable read. It is about Dora Rare, a woman living in the backwoodsThe Birth House was an enjoyable read. It is about Dora Rare, a woman living in the backwoods of Nova Scotia during the First World War. She becomes the apprentice of Marie Babineau, a Cajun woman who served as the region's midwife. When Miss B. dies, Dora takes her place, delivering babies and treating all kinds of "womanly" ills with Miss B.'s stash of herbal remedies. After the death of a woman Dora treated, she becomes persecuted and accused of being a witch by the woman's husband and Dr. Thomas, who recently opened a "maternity home." Dr. Thomas is desperately trying to abolish the institution of "midwife" so that he can drum up business for himself. Dora is forced to flee the area, sailing to Boston where she stays with her brother and his girlfriend. While there, she learns about the fight for women's suffrage in America, and survives an influenza outbreak. Soon people learn that her accusers could not be trusted to tell the truth, and she able to return home and opens her home as a birth house.
This book was well-written. It was straight-forward, first-party narration. McKay mixes things up by using some different techniques to tell her story. Some of it was presented as journal entries. At least one event was told from the perspectives of three different characters. The book also contains a number of personal letters to and from Dora; from her brother at war and to her friends when she is in Boston. And the most interesting technique McKay uses is newspaper articles and advertisements. I really enjoyed that method of alerting the reader to certain events. It gave the book a better feel for the time period, I thought.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't the edge-of-your-seat, couldn't-put-it-down type, but enjoyable nonetheless. While it took place in the past, it didn't constantly remind of it by showing off little tidbits from history like some do. It was done very tastefully. It gave great insight into rural life in the early Twentieth Century and attitudes towards women's sexuality during that time.
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2008-05-13
