I know some readers took exception with a vividly described scene of a young girl's induction into prostitution. The Reverend Thornton-Appleby-Thorton, a missionary in Africa, visits the Nonnatus nuns and Sister Julienne acts as matchmaker. I just really hated that such a wonderful read had to be almost ruined entirely by a poor editing choice. 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.

Call the Midwife - A Labour of Love: Celebrating ten years of Call the Midwife - A Labour of Love: Celebrating ten years of

It must have been a shock, but he had controlled himself, and sat thinking for a long time as he held the baby. Peggy and Frank's parents both died within six months of each other and the children were left destitute. I wanted to read the rest of the series but I think I can probably find another book to read about life in the workhouses. Sister Monica Joan was meaner than I expected, she was actually kind of a bully to Sister Evangeline.While the TV series has been based on Worth's memoirs, depicting the lives of nurses, nuns and women in the community dealing with issues of abortion, miscarriage, poverty and race, there are some differences. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings but also because of what they were expected to endure. Life in the convent, its routines and relationships - Jenny relates these things with an unaffected and honest candor.

Call the Midwife the Official Cookbook | Book by Annie Gray

I read the companion book to this last year and hadn't been able to get this in the US, but now I am in the UK with my terminally-ill mother I took the opportunity to find it. There's Jane, who cleaned and generally helped out at Nonnatus House - she was taken to the workhouse as a baby and was allegedly the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat. I think Jennifer Worth is to be commended for showing how gritty life could really be in the East End.The main reason was the print is very small in the paperback copy I have and could only read in good strong light for any length of time.

The True Stories Behind Call the Midwife - Yours The True Stories Behind Call the Midwife - Yours

Rather than being flooded with dreary despair at the thought of yet again getting into the car, I actually looked forward to it, and was even slightly regretful on Fridays at the thought of having to take a couple of days break from the story.The spring cleaning has yet to begin, and March Madness, especially for us UNC Tar Heel fans, has stolen more reading time than I expected this month. A special shoutout to Sister Evangelina who was grossly misunderstood and underappreciated: “Well, that wasn’t too bad. Wise and saintly Sister Julienne is the stability of the convent, and clever Sister Bernadette is the perfect midwife. East End was a neglected, overcrowded area of London near the docks, filled with deep poverty and dangerous, unsanitary slums. After leaving school at the age of 14, she learned shorthand and typing and became the secretary to the head of Dr Challoner's Grammar School.