Synopses & Reviews
When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhoods most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century.
Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at peoples lives in the poorest section of postwar London.
Review
“Barber delivers all the author’s compassion, frustration, and humor in a genuine, convincing manner. . . . A moving and memorable account of a special time and place.”
—AudioFile
Review
“The quality and pacing of the audio is excellent. The narrator, Nicola Barber, is a perfect match for the memoir and vividly recounts the hardships and poverty that Worth encountered during that time.”
—Library Journal
Synopsis
The follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Call the Midwife, now a PBS hit series.
Synopsis
The sequel to Jennifer Worths New York Times bestselling memoir is a rich portrait of a bygone era of comradeship and midwifery populated by unforgettable characters.
About the Author
JENNIFER WORTH (1935-2011) trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England. She then moved to London to train as a midwife. She later became a staff nurse at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, and then ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Euston. Music had always been her passion and in 1973 Jennifer left nursing in order to study music intensively. She gained the Licentiate of the London College of Music in 1974 and was awarded a fellowship ten years later.
NICOLA BARBER has appeared on stage in New York and across the country, including with Scarlett Johnansson in The Nanny Diaries. She holds a degree in theatre arts from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has taken classes at the London Academy of Dramatic Art. She has been training and performing voiceovers since 2001, and can be heard in video games, animation, commercials, and corporate videos, as well as on award-winning audiobooks.