shadows of the workhouse by jennifer worth

You can pick them up and put them down as you wish, but the book was so compelling I just wanted to keep reading!ĭon't let the narrator reviews from Call the Midwife discourage you! Nicola Barber is a talenter narrator, and she pulled out all the stops in this second biography in the trilogy.In this follow up to CALL THE MIDWIFE, Jennifer Worth, a midwife working in the docklands area of East London in the 1950s tells more stories about the people she encountered. Yes! The stories are continuations, 1-3 hours each, but interwoven with Worth's own journey. Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting? Perhaps having several years' more experience under her belt made this a much better listen than it would have been when CTM was released. Her accents were beautifully done as well. There were certain portions of that here, but those were moments where nicola Barber was depicting fear or sadness - very appropriate times for such expression. She did a wonderful job! My main quibble with CTM was with her narration (occasionally whiny and whispery). What about Nicola Barber’s performance did you like? How beautiful that love can and does infuse someone with such confidence. There wer emany, but I would have to say Jane's courtship. What was one of the most memorable moments of Shadows of the Workhouse?

While much less personal than CTM, it is still a compelling, if difficult (in parts), read. It is the continuation of stories from characters in Worth's first biography, Call The Midwife. It is a deep look at an institutional setting that is rarely, if ever, acknowledged in history. Would you listen to Shadows of the Workhouse again? Why? I didn't realize this is now a popular series in Britain by the BBC, you can view it on Netflix.Įxcellent Continuation of Call the Midwife Sister Monica Joan continues to steal the show with her antics, the book is worth the credit to see her arrested and in court for stealing jewelry. There remains a James Herriot feel to the books which consists of multiple short stories flowing together around the theme. I do genealogy and have found several family members who lived and died in the poorhouses, so it was very personal to me. I really enjoyed this book: it is tender, humorous, heartbreaking and makes history real. You get a vivid insight to the system that damaged families and left many who were still alive in the 1950's scarred by their experiences. Shadows of the Workhouse focuses less on the work of the midwives, rather on the experiences of older neighbors, nuns and patients who either lived in or were strongly effected by the workhouse (poorhouses).

Although the next two books both stand alone, I would strongly suggest reading it first. 'Call The Midwife' was my favorite book of last year.

Shadows of the workhouse by jennifer worth