Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse Paperback – January 22, 2013

I had seen the shows on television, but this was much more. Not only were there the stories in this memoir, but also many historical essays which enlightened my knowledge of the past.

I thought there might be more factual information about workhouses but what there was was pretty horrific. Don't be poor!!! The author tried to be fair by showing the upside as well as downside and emphasized that we can't judge what was considered to be normal in days gone past by today's standards. Her stories of some of the nuns and other people she got to know were wonderful character studies. Sister Monica Joan was a pip! So well and sensitively written. Great stuff!!!

I've loved the PBS series - each episode brings its own message, and you never feel cheated after watching. But after the first chapter of this book two, I thought I might find it disappointing - it differed wildly from the first. But I ended up loving it all the more.The first half of the book tells the stories of Peggy, Frank and Jane - all workhouse children who ultimately reside in the dock area of Nonnatus House. Peggy and Frank are siblings who live together on Dog Isle; Jane was with them in the workhouse, but found herself a residence inside Nonnatus House, where she felt a failure at everything. We learn about their lives in the the mid-20th century workhouse and how they each carved out a way to survive and, in different ways (often thanks to the wisdom of Sister Julienne), find a form of happiness.The second half of the book regards a patient, a Boer War veteran, that narrator Jenny initially struggles to understand, but ultimately grows to love. I remembered some of the episode from the series, but the story was so poignant, and so lovingly told, it just pulled at my heart.I read Dickens, but that was a distant, a literary, time in my mind. I didn't realize that the shadows of the workhouse would last so long and loom so large, with England relying on the workhouse buildings to support veterans, widows and orphans as recently as post WWII. Every country has had its challenges in dealing with the indigent, and the US definitely is far from a model here. But how desperately sad to have so many who offered their lives for their country, or who supported their families, or the the future of the country, lost in the march of progress.Author Worth includes an epilogue to underscore the veracity of the stories, and books for further reading. Overwhelmingly touching.

This is the second in the series of Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. In this book Jennifer describes the people she met while working in the neighborhood of Poplar, a dockside community filled with tenements. She talks about the history of the area and with most emphasis on the people who had been products of the workhouses prevalent during Victorian Times and the Industrial Revolution. Since her time at Nonnatus House was during the 1950's many elderly people that she cared for remembered those times and the stories are most vivid and could make up a Dicken's novel. It's amazing how she is able to tell these stories in great detail and obviously spent a lot of time with the people she talks about in the book especially since she was having to be on call a great deal and was often sleep deprived. Yet she cared enough to listen to the very heart rendering accounts of life in these stark, bare bones, environments where children were taken from their mothers, brothers and sisters were separated, and the "masters" of these institutions were mostly cruel and inflicting corporal punishment on them. The main two stories in the book are of a brother and sister, and then lastly a very elderly gentleman who had been in the Scottish Guards and served in Africa during the Boer War. There are also some old photos in this hard covered edition that show children and adults in various workhouses around 1900.The other part of the book talks about the very senior Sister Monica Joan and her trials(literally!) and tribulations. She also has a very interesting background and her adventure and misadventures make for some lightness in the book!

Whether you’ve seen the series or not, you will love the books

I purchased this book because I am a fan of the show on PBS. Most episodes focus primarily on the birth of one or more infants. Typically, there is a subplot. I expected roughly the same proportion of emphasis in the book. That is not the case. As can be determined by the title I selected, there is considerably more social work focus than midwife focus (I'm not sure of even one incident of midwifery in the book). The book is divided into three section and television episodes have dealt with these sections. However, the first section provides a back story which, since it occurred 50 years before the time period of the television show, had never been explored. In the series, the viewer sees the end; the book discusses the causes.To be blunt, the stories are depressing, albeit with one very humorous section dealing with "rhyming slang". Those looking for feel good stories will not find them. Although the television episodes mix some tragedy with the uplifting of a birth, the latter aspect is not present in the book. That does not mean that the book isn't well written and very informative (I read it at the time of the Russian annexation of Crimea and there are several mentions of Crimea throughout the book giving it a real time feel). Life in the first half of the 20th Century was difficult for the poor in England. This book shows the effects on people. That is not a reason to avoid the book but I believe that readers who enjoy the television episodes need to be aware of the differences between the book and the show. Some of the more likable characters in the series are rarely if at all mentioned in the book.

It was a wonderful read . If you have watched the series, it gives you more of the back story. A lot of the book is about Joe the guy that lost his legs in the end. Very good☺️

This book made me feel very emotional,even made me cry knowing it was based on real life events, made feel very happy that I didn't have that sort of life but extremely sad for those that did,

Love the series

Es el segundo tomo de la saga de "Llama a la matrona"(Call the midwife). Narra la dura historia de los britÁnicos que fueron recluidos por el estado en centros de acogida a finales del XIX y principios del XX.El nivel de inglés necesario para comprenderlo bien es a partir de un B2.Es en edición bolsillo y bastante largo.

Makes one appreciate what we have in today’s world. Jennifer Worth is such an eloquent writer. I can recommend this wonderful book.

In a worthy followup to her first collection of stories of her experience as a young nurse-midwife working closely with an Anglican order of nursing sisters in late 1950s East London, Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse expertly blends Jennifer Worth's personal witness of real-life patients and colleagues with incisive commentary on the workhouses and wars that had left deep scars on individuals, families, and entire neighbourhoods. The miracle is that even when dealing with the bleakest situations, the virtues of faith, Hope and especially love shine through. If you are a fan of the TV series, you will be blown away by the finely-etched back stories of Jane, the painfully shy nurses aide; of the inseparable brother and sister, Frank and Peggy; and the grandfatherly soldier Joe Collett. To be savoured ...