The Birth House

A Novel (P.S.)

Paperback, 416 pages

English language

Published Oct. 1, 2007 by Harper Perennial.

ISBN:
978-0-06-113587-3
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(4 reviews)

An arresting portrait of the struggles that women faced for control of their own bodies, The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare—the first daughter in five generations of Rares.As apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, Dora learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and unfulfilling sex lives. During the turbulent World War I era, uncertainty and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. In a clash between tradition and science, Dora finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put into her care.

13 editions

Review of 'The Birth House' on 'Goodreads'

I enjoyed this book. It has quite a few pages to it, so I found it surprising it only took me a few days to read it.
I found the characters, the ladies especially, well liked for me anyway.
I don't know much about midwives, but I found this book interesting and the history with it, the first war, The Halifax explosion, etc.
I would certainly read more books like this again, and more by the author. It was well written to me

Review of 'The birth house' on 'Goodreads'

Para quem nunca ouviu falar deste livro vale bem a pena. Um dos livros que mais gostei de ler nos últimos tempos, é a história de vida de uma parteira tradicionalista que ainda utiliza mézinhas e rezas para que as mães e os bebés nasçam bem, para fazer abortos, para melhorar doenças.
É a história da medicina como a conhecemos e a discriminação que trouxe às parteiras e aos cultos antigos, é a história da guerra e das dificuldades económicas mas também da amizade e da força que existe na comunidade.
Está escrito de forma brilhante e entramos neste mundo que ainda sentimos mágico mas que é o nosso.

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Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Fiction - General
  • Literary
  • Fiction / General
  • General