Call the Midwife

Title: Call the Midwife
Author: Jennifer Worth
Published: by Phoenix, 2002
Audience: 15+
Rating: 3.5 stars
About: Call the Midwife vibrantly describes the experiences of young midwife, Jenny, as she works in the London docklands in the 1950s. 

 This book has become recently popular due to the broadcast of the BBC adaptation of the same name but I started reading this book in August last year and only finished it about a month ago. But this doesn't mean in any way that it wasn't decent - once I'd started reading it again recently I'd forgotten why I'd stopped in the first place.

The writing is so fluid and the insight into the past so vivid and descriptive it feels as though you, the reader, have gone back in time. Each character is beautifully created, even though some only appear for one chapter or less, and it is impossible not to become attached to those who reoccur. There is less romance in the novel compared with the screen adaptation which could be an issue for those hopeless romantics (like myself) who can find stories rather dull if there isn't at least some 'will-they-won't-they' factor involved. On the whole though, I didn't really notice (maybe until watching the television series) as there was plenty of little love stories amongst Jenny's patients. The slight frustration came with the lack of information divulged on Jenny's love life in particular, and the lack of answers we were given to the many questions which were posed. This is understandable, however, as these are true events and true people so a degree of privacy should be upheld... it's just irritating for nosy people like me.

The only few slight problems I had with the novel as a whole was that, due to the many different short stories encompassed within the main narrative, it was quite difficult to get hooked, which was probably why I drifted to begin with. The range of lives Call the Midwife describes is what makes it so truthful however, and so this is only a minor issue if you have a short attention span and need a more high-speed narrative like the Hunger Games in order to get interested. My last comment is about the ending, or lack of finality. Personally, I didn't realise that the story had actually ended, I thought that the glossary and information about the Cockney dialect was leading onto another chapter, and when it didn't I was a bit confused. There was a distinct lack of closure surrounding the end, and it was more like the author was intending to carry on, but never got the time.

All in all, I give Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth 3.5 stars! While I enjoyed it and found it immensely interesting I was not hooked, and the ending left me feeling slightly disappointed.

Next review: something a bit different, Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Currently reading: Paradise Lost by John Milton (eek!)