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| The Birth House | 
 enlarge | Author: Ami Mckay
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.73
You Save: £4.26 (53%)
New (19) Used (3) from £3.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 64703
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0007233302
EAN: 9780007233304
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Lyrical pose, interesting plot October 21, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am a sucker for stories about midwifery, so when I bought this book for a friend I could not resist taking a peek inside the covers. Before I knew it I was a thrid of the way through, and knew that my friend would have to wait until I had finished before I would hand it over to her.
The characters are well written, with enough depth to enable you to love or hate them. The plot is gentle but moves along nicely so kept my interest. I like the fact that historical events play key roles in the story. Some of the descriptive passages are very powerful. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by Ami McKay.
9 out of 10 October 6, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed this, a warm story wrapped in an historical blanket.
The descriptions were excellent and I found myself there with Dora through her struggles and successes. The book is very evocative of the battles women faced to make their own choices and of a life of hard work lived in an isolated community.
Dora Rare, a bit of a loner amongst her peers, is chosen by the local elderly midwife to train in the arts of midwifery and herbal remedies. Unfortunately this natural succession is interrupted by the arrival of a new age doctor, advocating pain free births in the new modern hospital. It seems he has the law on his side and home births become 'outdated'. As the women fight for their right to choose, this battle becomes symbolic of all the things in their lives that are decided for them.
Alongside this central theme are woven details of several events that occurred at the time: the Halifax bomb, the Boston flu of 1918, the first world war and the struggles of the suffragettes.
Well researched and well written, I thoroughly recommend this book.
 Up and down October 1, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Some well-rounded characters that you can really get to know whether you loathe or love them. This is a well-written book with excellent narrative but unfortunately it just went on and on and on. I don't feel Dora's relationship with family fighting on the front line played a part in this book and could've been missed out entirely - it distracted from the lovely story of Dora and her journey to find her strength and courage to do what she wanted to do.
Miss Babineau is your stereotypical spinster from novels who wants to pass on all she knows about being a 'witch' to Dora. Eventually Dora, unlike her mentor, gets married; but hers is not a happy marriage. She discusses marriage with her friends and realises hers is not a good one. Unlike her friends, she is unable to get pregnant and performs all sorts of procedures on herself. The doctors recommendations/treatment would go down well in an Ann Summer's shop lol.
A good look at midwifery around the time of the first world war, and an interesting comparison to 'The Red Tent' (which I'd say is much better). Dora eventually becomes exhiled from her community following the death of a pregnant woman but as with all novels like this there is a happy ending and she can come home. To be honest, I had to skim read to get it finished as it could've been a 100 pages shorter.
Worth a read if you are interested in midwifery but don't be fooled by the blurb, it's not as good as that.
Birth House wow! May 19, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was in Canada recently working viewing midwifery there and was given this book by the lady who owns the b&b we stayed in!!! Wow what a faboulous book i really enjoyed reading it and was delighted i have read it and read it again so enjoyable.
Wonderful historical novel September 2, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I couldn't put it down. The story is gripping and endearing. It was empowering in that it spoke of woman's rights at a birth of their choosing. It was encouraging, with wonderful references to the midwifery of old. Well written, well researched. I enjoyed the historical references eg. Halifax bomb, Boston flu of 1918, as well as the herbal and homeopathic remedies listed (although i've not cross-referenced these, given the great amount of research obviously done for this book I wouldn't be suprised if modern herbalist still list the same for childbirth). As a student midwife who has visited Nova Scotia I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all who want to have a good read!
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