Call the midwife : a memoir of birth, joy, and hard times

Select an Action

Title:

Call the midwife : a memoir of birth, joy, and hard times

Alternate title:

Memoir of birth, joy, and hard times

Author:

Worth, Jennifer, 1935-2011, author.

Barber, Nicola, 1978- narrator.

Series:

Call the midwife trilogy ;

Series Number:

Summary:

Reflects on the experiences of Jennifer Worth as a midwife in London's postwar East End, including the nuns from whom she learned her craft and the interesting and challenging births she aided during her career.

General Note:

Unabridged.

"Now a PBS series!"--Container.

Compact discs.

Physical Description:

11 sound discs (12 hr.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.

Genre:

Audiobooks.

Local Note:

Audio Editions

Personal Subject:

Worth, Jennifer, 1935-2011.

Subject Term:

Midwives -- England -- London -- Biography.

Author(s):

Barber, Nicola, 1978-

Publisher:

HighBridge,

Publication Date:

2012

ISBN:

9781611749243

Publication Information:

[Minneapolis, Minn.] : HighBridge, p2012.

Call Number:

CDB 926 WORTH

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002720525	Adult Nonfiction Books on CDs	926 WORTH	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post war Londone(tm)s East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over Londone"from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the woman with twenty-four children who cane(tm)t speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the citye(tm)s seedier sidee"illuminate a fascinating time in history. Beautifully written and utterly moving, Call the Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother.

Summary

At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post war London's East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over London'from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the woman with twenty-four children who can't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side'illuminate a fascinating time in history.

Author Notes

Jennifer Worth was born Jennifer Lee in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex on September 25, 1935. She trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and then moved to London to train as a midwife. She later worked at the Royal London Hospital, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Euston, and the Marie Curie Hospital in Hampstead. She left nursing in 1973 to study music. She received the Licentiate of the London College of Music in 1974 and was awarded a Fellowship ten years later. She taught and performed solo and in choirs throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. When she felt her musical talents ebbing, she turned to writing.

She wrote three books about her experience as a midwife: Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse, and Farewell to the East End. These books are the basis of the BBC television series Call the Midwife. Her other works include Food Allergy: The Hidden Cause? and In the Midst of Life. She died of cancer on May 31, 2011 at the age of 75.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

This memoir, the inspiration for BBC's popular series of the same name, chronicles Worth's experiences as a midwife in London during the 1950s. The story, enhanced by amazingly vivid imagery, brings to life the horror of the living conditions in the slums of the London's Docklands, the sadness of mothers who have lost their babies, and the joy of first- or 24th-time mothers as they meet their children. Narrator Nicola Barber, winner of two Earphone Awards, does an excellent job of portraying both seasoned and inexperienced midwives as well as the wide variety of British accents. -VERDICT Fans of the BBC series will enjoy this audio-book, as will anyone interested in the history of midwifery. [The Penguin hc was a New York Times best seller.-Ed.]-Jessi Brown, Huntington City-Twp. P.L., IN (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.