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Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s
 
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Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s (Paperback)

by Jennifer Worth (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.49 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s + Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London + Farewell To The East End
Price For All Three: £17.42

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Product details

  • Paperback: 376 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix (6 Mar 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0753823837
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753823835
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 429 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > History > Cultural History > London
    #3 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Social & Urban History

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Product Description

Sunday Express 7th July 2002 - Fiona McDonald Smith
Jennifer Worth can rival James Herriot with her descriptions of childbirth in the Poplar tenements. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving" (YORKSHIRE EVENING POST )

"Worth's portrait is subtle, skilfully describing a sense of community that no longer exists" (FT MAGAZINE )

"an amazing if at times gut-wrenching read... a detailed trip into history which may raise a few tears and many eyebrows" (WARWICKSHIRE TELEGRAPH )

"Misery memoir meets EastEnders with a bang!" (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s
89% buy the item featured on this page:
Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s 4.7 out of 5 stars (64)
£4.49
Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London
5% buy
Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London 4.1 out of 5 stars (13)
£4.44
Farewell To The East End
4% buy
Farewell To The East End 4.4 out of 5 stars (9)
£8.49
Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London
1% buy
Shadows Of The Workhouse: The Drama Of Life In Postwar London 4.5 out of 5 stars (10)
£7.99
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Customer Reviews

64 Reviews
5 star:
 (54)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (64 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Familiar Territory, 2 Nov 2003
By Mrs. Angela READ "Maturegrad" (Devizes, Wiltshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Call the Midwife (Paperback)
Like Jennifer Worth, I was a midwife in the Fifties. Her narrative awoke many memories for me, many I'd forgotten, some I'd tried to forget. An only child, protected from the 'nastiness' of real life, midwifery training at first shocked me and then drew me into a career full of love and life: I miss it still. My 'District' was suburban London and later on a West End hospital, but poverty was there,too, alongside a richness of spirit. I used to be embarrassed by my emotional response at every birth I attended:'Call the Midwife' made me shed tears again as my memories chimed with her experiences. The 'Kangaroo Care' of Conchita's baby specially drew me as I had a spell caring for premature babies and always felt that incubator care was too impersonal; thankfully this has changed now to allow mothers much more hands-on involvement with their tiny babies.
Incidentally, I trained medical students: are they really no longer trained in this way?
May I add my plea to Jennifer Worth to complete her trilogy; the only improvement on her first book would be two more of the same.
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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Call the Midwife - a salutory experience, 27 Feb 2003
This review is from: Call the Midwife (Paperback)
'Call the Midwife' is a most extraordinary book and should be required reading of all students of midwifery, nursing, sociology and modern history. It tells of the experiences of a young trainee midwife in the East End of London in the 1950's and is a graphic portrayal of the quite appalling conditions that the East Enders endured. Some of the stories told by the author are so distressing that I have lost sleep over them and I find myself longing to know what ultimately became of Mary, the young Irish girl imprisoned for stealing a baby (her own baby having been removed from her when the nuns caring for her were unable to place her in a job that would allow her to keep her child). What happened to Mary's daughter? By my reckoning she should be a woman in her 50's now - was she ever told that she was adopted, that she had been removed from her adoring mother without Mary's consent? I have had nightmares too about the two little boys sheltering behind a chair to escape the violence of their mother's partner; what became of them, did they go on to inflict the same brutality on their own children? As a graduate of Modern History (and student midwife), I thought I knew a good deal about recent British history. How very wrong I was. This book gave me much pause for thought: the heroism of the nursing order of nuns that Jennifer Worth worked with; the courage of Jennifer Worth and her colleagues in delivering babies in the most appalling conditions; the survival instinct of the East End women - it was a complete eye-opener. Oh, that those who pursue financial gains through our litigious culture could read this book - huge families living without the basics of sanitation or even roofs (tarpaulins providing their shelter), Conchita and her 25 pregnancies. I await Jennifer Worth's promised follow-up with great anticipation - my only observation being that she needs to let us know what became of her 'heroes' and 'heroines' - did Conchita live to a ripe old age, did Mary ever escape the clutches of prostitution once released from prison? Come on Jennfer, please tell us. And congratulations on an incredible book - this student midwife looks in awe upon your skills, your courage, your ability to deliver a baby in the most desperate circumstances. And I salute the women of the 1950s East End.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A pick up/put down kinda book - only it NEVER gets put down!, 10 Oct 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: Call the Midwife (Paperback)
This book has similarities to Baby Catcher, in that it is another biography, however it is set in London in the 1950's and highlights some of the realities of a darker side of midwifery. It brings the history and origins of British midwifery to life and describes conditions and early pionears of midwifery in some of the most poverty stricken areas of London. Ive not finished reading it yet but its one of those I just cant put down!! Id definately recommend it to anyone who has a vague interest in midwifery as its facinationg the think how far we have come in just 60 years (my mum was born in the 40's, which now Ive read this is a scarey thought!).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic historical insight
I am studying a degree in Humanities which has comprised the history of medicine where we learned about 'Handywomen' or Midwives. Read more
Published 1 day ago by J. Thiel

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrendous
This book was chosen as a Book Club read and although I finished it, it almost finished me.
I was born late 40's so was a young child in the district where Ms Worth was a... Read more
Published 3 days ago by C. Elizabeth Read

5.0 out of 5 stars Great medicine for my 91yr old mum.
I am so glad I bought this audio book for my Mums birthday, she has enjoyed it so much, she cannot read for any length of time and is very frail living in sheltered accomodation... Read more
Published 4 days ago by J.M.H.

5.0 out of 5 stars Call the Midwife
I found this a fascinating book, completely true to those times. I have first-hand knowledge of the area around Cable Street and can vouch for the veracity of the conditions. Read more
Published 1 month ago by H. MCNIDDER-SINCLAIR

5.0 out of 5 stars Call The Midwife
Probably one of the best cd's Ive listened to in a while. Brilliant choice using Stephanie Cole as the reader and the content, as always with Jennifer Worth, is fascinating,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rip Fox

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Call the Midwife' true story
I love this book - the author writes a fascinating account of her time as a midwife in the east end of London and it is hard to put it down! Gripping reading!
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. P. M. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing but shocking read
I'm a 22 year old first year trainee midwife. I am a confessed book worm. I was searching for study books in my local library and stumbled across this book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by D. Hall

5.0 out of 5 stars call the midwife
This book is a wonderful social history of midwifery in East London in the 1950s, many of the experiences described in the book had strong resonances with my own childhood growing... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dr. John Carter

2.0 out of 5 stars Call the Midwife
This book details recent social history which is still within some people's memory. I found this all very interesting but unfortunately the writer's style is stilted and wooden... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Y. Haynes

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Trilogy!
I have read all 3 of the books in this Trilogy, Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse and Farewell to the Eastend and they are all amazing! Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Evans

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