The Complete Call the Midwife Stories: True Stories of the East End in the 1950s

Jenny Worth is such a good story teller. She really makes you feel like you were there. I had ordered the trilogy after I had watch the series on BBC. I was surprised how easy it was to get wrapped up in the books, even when I knew what was going to happen. I truly enjoy her writing. She makes the characters come to life. You truly feel like you are in post-world war II London. She does a wonderful job sharing her tales as a midwife on the East End of London in the 1950s She writes with such detail and clarity you do not want to put it down. I was sad when I was through the trilogy.

Most enjoyable books to read. I loved them all. The history is so interesting and the stories are just great. I find the books absolutely fascinating. They are keepers to read and read again. The tv show is wonderful and the books are just as great.

I must admit, first I saw Call the Midwife on BBC Entertainment. Unfortunately BBC Entertainment ceased to broadcast to Hungary more than 2 years ago, which I find disagreeable. Then I was given the book by an English friend, Susan, whom I met in Crete.I read it in paperback first.(One novel) Ihave become more and more eager to get more...Since I have had my Kindle my son helps me to order great variety of reading material, among others I asked Jennifer Worth books. She talks about people in such a style I feel near to me. I have always been interested in the history of the XX. century, its culture and social circumstances, I love the language. Great Britain, or rather the United Kingdom, or the British Isles and any other English speaking country, their literature interests me.The 1950s is such an era which seems to be extremely interesting for me.Last but not least I can always study new words, phrases, etc. They are all rereadable masterpieces, it'll be easy on Kindle. I love it.The book gave me so much emotional and human treasure with its heroes and stories and events, they might become my friednds .I enjoyed reading about the life of these poor or not so well-off people's life..Cockney is just icing on the cake, Some documentary, some fiction, I would call the genre 'docufics'.I guess it's feminine reading. Do anyone agree with me?

Great buy

Once you start reading you cannot stop. Very well written.

I "usually try" and read the book before watching the movie/series because it seems the books story line may be a bit different with additions or omissions. In this circumstance, I started watching the Call the Midwife series and could not stop!Let me just say that the TV series has done an amazing job of sticking to and growing characters and a storyline. The book series is not made less due to the television "based on" series.I began to wonder about the book version when Jenny's character made an exit to "work with the dying" .These are truly memoirs! Jennifer Worth makes you feel as if you are right there with her. I was drawn in to the ups and downs of her days throughout her life over what seemed a short period of time. She shares her heart, her joys, sorrows as she walks through life in the midst of illnesses, disease, and death. And was a part of time when people were learning about the effects of medicine on unborn children, vaccinations and community nursing.She stands firm in her nursing advocating for her patients, and declares her faith in her days.My only regret is that she passed away before I could sit and have tea with her.

The first part of this book is what the PBS series is based on, but then the author goes into a very long and tedious description of prostitution and how it ruined the Docklands neighborhood where she and her fellow midwives worked. As anyone who reads the book will see, the TV program is largely fictional, while the book is autobiographical. The author chose the name "Nonnatus" for the order of nuns (she never says whether they are Anglican or Roman Catholic, but both sects maintain charitable orders of nuns in Britain) after St. Raymund Nonnatus, who was "nonnatus"-- that is, not born naturally. Caesarean section was known to the ancients-- Julius Caesar was another one who was born by the method that bears his name to this day. As Shakespeare put it, "he was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd." Generally the mother did not live through the dreadful operation, but the baby had a good chance of surviving if there was a wetnurse available to feed him/her. Usually the reason for this kind of medical intervention in ancient and medieval times was maternal eclampsia, for which in those days there was no cure-- so it was a question of saving the baby or watching the mother and unborn infant die. The description by the author of home delivery as it existed in the 1950s is clinical, so this book is probably best read by people over 13 years of age. Probably men wouldn't want to read it anyway. In this country, after decades of stiff opposition from the AMA, midwifery is making progress and is becoming more popular. In Britain, by contrast, home birth was always the rule, but clinical midwifery had a tough uphill battle for decades, again being opposed by the very male doctors who in their ignorance had been responsible for carrying puerperal fever to laboring women, thus signing the death warrants of these new mothers. All in all, this book is excellent reading for any young woman interested in medicine-- men should read it too, but that is unlikely to happen. Sociologists would find the long examination of prostitution in the docklands interesting-- or at least they should, if they're not mesmerized by the P.C. cult. Even though prostitution began to ruin the neighborhood, it was the Pill that really eliminated the need for midwives on call day or night. From over 100 births per month, as soon as the Pill was available, the number dropped to five births or fewer per month. There are corollaries in this book about why the prostitution occurred as it did that should be noted by social planners, but if you are politically correct, you won't want to read it. However, truth is truth.

Love these books! I have watch some of the earliest seasons and was soon fascinated by the stories and characters. Having the visual picture of the characters on the show helped me better relate to them while reading the books. I love these and highly recommend them to anyone.

Tudo em ordem conforme solicitado, satisfeito com o pedido!

This was a gift for my better half and she really enjoyed the stories. She would pass on little anecdotes as she read which tells me of her level of enjoyment. A good pairing with the TV series of the same name.

The true story was brilliant and very interesting.

A mi esposa y a mi hija les encantaron los libros.

I bought this book because I have loved the TV series based on the book. I enjoyed the stories and anecdotes about life in the convent, the nuns, the nurses and the situations they encountered. Interesting too, were the descriptions of the extreme poverty and life for thousands next to London's port and docks. A vanished world (I hope).Some of the stories I could really relate to, as my birth year is not so far from some of periods described in the book.I have to say it is probably mainly a book for women as it deals with - as the title says -midwifery and therefore babies and births and medical complications as well as women's home lives in the '50s and '60s.Either you have watched 'Call the Midwife' on TV and you will enjoy the book as a background or you will buy the book and then try and watch the TV series.I find it heart-warming; it's so nice to watch something where people don't get shot, nothing explodes and people just go about their daily lives and deal with their problems with the help of the midwives and nuns.