The Book of the Unnamed Midwife: The Road to Nowhere, Book 1

In this post apocalyptic world almost all of the men are bad and almost all of the women are good . I am so tired of this gender war nonsense . It is tedious. How about ,we are all people and work out who is good or bad depending on our behaviour .

I read over a hundred books a year and write maybe one review a year, probably less. This book is very, very good. The characters are fully developed and real, and I really like the main character a lot. Finally, finally a strong female character who is not looking for a man to save her on every other page.I am an RN and the medical aspects are spot on and real. Not once did I think to myself, "Yeah, there is no way that went down like that." This author is smart and so is her character. I love how she alters her title to PA or field medic or OB-GYN when she wants to pass as male. It's actually quite sad that this IS so very realistic of people's beliefs and personal gender bias.I actually listened to most of this book during my commute and I have to say that the Audible version is excellent. It is narrated by Angela Dawe and she does an amazing job. Her voices are very good and she does this book justice.There are many comparisons to Margaret Atwood in the reviews and that is a fair statement. I read this immediately after I finished "Oryx and Crake" and a couple of years after "The Handmaid's Tale". There are similarities and they are awesome, but this is my favorite.I originally bought the Kindle version with the narration but then I bought the actual book for my shelf because it is so good. I never do that. I also pre-ordered the sequel and am anxiously awaiting its release.

Meg Ellison's debut novel, The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, won the prestigious Philip K. Dick Award and was included among the Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, 2016, and Amazon Best Books of the Year, 2016. It's another sign that science fiction has come of age, no longer confined to a readers' ghetto. The novel is a powerful feminist story set principally in the US in the near future. An unstoppable "plague" has killed off nearly all the human race but has proven far more lethal for women and children than for men.In the aftermath of the pandemic, a registered nurse-midwife at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) has awakened after a weeks-long bout with the illness, only to find that her lover, a physician named Jack, has disappeared and everyone else in the hospital is dead. We never learn the midwife's name: as she staggers through the desolate world, encountering other living human beings only occasionally, she introduces herself under a series of assumed names. "The book" of the title is her diary, a searing account of her feelings and experiences in a world gone mad. A diligent diarist, she incorporates stories from others she meets along the way. Several generations later, the midwife's book represents for at least one community the only full account of the collapse that followed the plague. In a twist reminiscent of Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, the book is treated with reverence by the survivors, who are gradually building a new, matriarchal civilization.The midwife slowly makes her way, partly on foot, partly by car or bicycle, and later by snowmobile, from San Francisco through Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. She frequently encounters violent, sex-crazed men who victimize every woman or girl within their reach, typically enslaving them. Much more rarely, she comes across a woman or a helpful man. She survives by plundering abandoned homes, avoiding the rotting corpses of the dead—and by using the guns and rifles she manages to accumulate from time to time. (Her father had taught her to shoot.) As the months go by, remaining food, fuel, weapons, and ammunition become ever more scarce. From time to time, she joins one or two others and settles down temporarily, but those connections don't last. Later, she comes across a new phenomenon: a "hive" in which a single woman rules over a household of several or even dozens of men, doling out sexual favors at whim. Most of the small towns she visits are abandoned. The midwife chooses to avoid the cities, where greater danger lies. Eventually, after harrowing experiences that force her to kill without compunction, the midwife arrives in a peaceful and thriving community, where she takes up her practice as a nurse and midwife once again. Since the plague struck, no babies have survived birth. In fact, many of their mothers die as well. The midwife has lost hope—but prematurely so.The Book of the Unnamed Midwife is a rewarding read, but it's flawed. I found myself wondering who was telling the story. The tale unfolds in a series of excerpts from the midwife's book, interspersed with a third-person narrative. For much of the book, the narrative focuses only on the midwife. Then the narrative's scope widens, first to other people and other parts of the US and later to the entire planet. Perhaps it's irrational of me to expect that a contemporary novel would follow all the dictates of logic. Maybe I'm just too old.

I was lucky to be introduced to Meg Elison's work (specifically The Book of the Unnamed Midwife) last month. It was quirky, imaginative, and, in my opinion, novel (haha! Get it?). The book tells the post-apocalyptic tale of an unnamed, bisexual woman--a nurse--who wakes up alone in a hospital, after having survived a plague that killed most of the women in the world. The plague also had another nasty effect--it killed the babies as they were being born. Worse yet, it didn't go away, and woman who survived the initial infection mostly died if they got pregnant (along with the child). Yes, it's a grim idea. But the world in this series gets worse. Not only do we have this world-ending virus to deal with, but evidently 99 percent of the men who survived are dirtbags and rapists. Even the group of devout, fundamentalist Christians (LDS) eventually turned to child rape. That part of the tale was a little heavy-handed, and to be honest led to some eye-rolling moments for me. So, you might get the idea that I didn't like and don't recommend The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, but that isn't true. I did like the book (with the exception of the things spelled out above), and I do recommend it. It's dark. I like dark. It's also well written, interesting, and I couldn't wait to get back to it when I was taking a break from reading.Almost right away, the protagonist figures out that if she wants to survive traveling across the country alone, she'd better pretend to be a man. She binds her breasts, speaks in a lower register, puts grit on her face to mimic a 5 o'clock shadow, etc. She mostly pulls it off, and she travels across the country trying to buy female slaves from wretched examples of manhood. She distributes contraceptives as a life-saving measure. She is broken by what she sees and does.The author treats her as a man when she is pretending to be a man, which can be confusing in the beginning, and you might find yourself wondering: "He? Who is he?" but it becomes clear in short order that the "he" is the Unnamed. I get what the author is trying to do there, but it brings to mind something an editor once told me: "It's okay for the character to be confused, but it's never okay for the reader to be  confused."

Official disclaimer: I'm well-versed in feminist writing and have no major objections to its principles, or to its contentions. With this in mind, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.Ms. Elison's novel starts with a conventional premise: a plague wipes out the human race apart from a hardy few who prove to be naturally immune. Her story splits between an epistolary format - a collection of journal entries, in this case - and a standard first-person account. If only an inconsistent narrative voice were the worst of the novel's faults.Our main character is a nurse who travels the North American wasteland and dispenses medical advice. This could have been engaging, but the author indulges her prejudice. Every man in the book is either a member of a rape-gang, or a naive religionist. Every woman is either the victim of a rape-gang, an independent loner, or ... a naive religionist. You can't develop characters if there aren't any to develop.I lost faith when it came to the story of Duke. He appears on the back of a motorcycle and dresses like a Hells Angel. Despite this, he's a compassionate soul who wants to look after the women as they cross the post-apocalyptic mess. Our nurse resists, but her female companion relents, finding Duke to be devilishly handsome. What happens? Duke and the companion go alone ... and fall foul of a rape-gang, the woman dying in solitary confinement many months later - according to a brief summary.This could have been an unfortunate turn, were it not for the conversation prior to their departure. Our main character maintains that, even though Duke is physically superior and armed, the female companion would be safer in her company, despite the nurse's lack of combat experience. Duke and his lady-love suffer not so much from hubris as from the author's desire to teach a pseudo-feminist lesson with the aid of 'deus ex machina'.What is the moral of this story? Sisters must do it for themselves. Women who travel with men - even decent men who would never dream of violating them - will become victims of predation. Thus, women must band together, protect themselves from male monsters, and raise the next generation of boys in the arts of nursing and midwifery - hence the novel's title. (Our main character's journal becomes the Holy Book of a secular, feminist religion, which is no doubt discussed in the sequels that I'll never bother to read.)In summary, Ms. Elison fancies herself as a feminist writer, but is guilty of female chauvinism, which is just as toxic and as odious as its male equivalent. Please avoid this book.

I had bought this one from Amazon UK back in December 2017 so it had been sat waiting on my kindle for me to get around to reading it for a while. I think it was one of those books I had bought and then forgot about! I had just finished reading a couple of books that had pregnancy as a major subject within them and I fancied reading something similar and whilst aimlessly searching by kindle for reading inspiration I came across The Unnamed Midwife and decided it was about time I read that!The genres I have seen listed for this book are Sci-Fi and Literary Fiction, which I do agree with, though upon finishing reading the book I would also add Dystopian, Post-apocalyptic and maybe even a little futuristic.At the beginning of the book we seem to be set in some sort of “future time” the prologue introduces us to Mother Ina who is wearing a false wooden nine months gestation pregnant belly even though she is clearly too old to really be pregnant. This detail sort of confused me a little and to a point I still don’t really know why Mother Ina was wearing a wooden pregnancy belly. Mother Ina is instructing the boys who are the latest chosen scribes to copy The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife. Mother Ina explains that it is not just one book but a collection of nineteen journals. She explains that the boys have already been taught the book of Canon which holds the story of dying and that it is a hard thing to read, it may make them feel sick, or upset. They have also learnt the book of Honus, which contains information about the hives. Mother Ina continues instructing them, that they will finish up with The Book of the Dreamless Ones then their training will be complete. Mother Ina drills into them that these books are very special and important. They are also very fragile and sensitive to light. It is the utmost importance that the information in them is kept and is to be handed down over the generations to come.Then the actual book itself begins, the world in a state of widespread illness and panic. The main character of the book is the “Unnamed Midwife” whose real name we never really learn This strong female chooses a different name for every different person or group of people she meets. At the beginning of the book she is referred to “she” but the first time she uses a name it is “Karen” so I will refer to her as Karen now as it is easier to explain the book having a name for the character. It is her diary entries that form an important part of this book. Karen is a nurse and can’t remember the last time she had been at home, or even rested. Karen had been so busy with the constant influx of patients. Karen notices that the fever and illness seems, to be affecting women more. More and more of them are dying. Women that are pregnant are giving having stillbirths and then also dying themselves. Karen has hardly seen her partner Jack either. Jack is working non stop in the hospital labs to try and identify the infection and come up with a vaccine to prevent others succumbing to it or even to find a cure of some sort. The last time she saw Jack he had revealed to her that he still had a long way to go though he did think that this infection was autoimmune illness.It’s not long until she herself falls ill and literally just finds a place to lie down and die. When she does reawaken, she doesn’t know how much time has passed or why she now seems to be fever free. She searches the hospital looking for Jack and in doing so finds lots of dead bodies, again she notices the greater percentage consists of women. She ventures outside of the hospital and is shocked by what she discovers. There are no buses, no cars moving, streetlights and no people. She makes her way to her apartment hoping Jack could be there as she hadn’t found his body in the hospital when she had searched. She is so tired she literally falls onto her bed and sleeps. Suddenly she is aware of the mattress moving as another body lies next to her. In her sleepy state at first, she thinks it is Jack and then realises it is some other man who is intent on raping her. She fights for her life and survives.The first people she meets is a gay couple who give their names as Joe and Chicken, she gives her name as Karen. Karen is invited to eat a meal with them and spend the night. Later when Chicken goes out in search of water, he comes across other people and has to flee and ends up injuring himself quite badly. Karen treats Chicken’s leg and probably saves his life. They stick together for a while, going into office buildings to look for water, they survive a gas explosion and are almost caught by a gang of men. It’s then that Chicken bluntly tells Karen she is no longer welcome to travel with them as she will be putting them in more danger.“Karen” soon decides she needs to hide the fact that she is a woman, as she meets different groups or lone survivors, she is all the more wary of trusting anyone with the fact she is a woman. So, she always gives a male name and says she was a field medic in Afghanistan and just leaves the fact that she is female out of her story. It is not until much later in the book that she reveals she is a qualified midwife. Her skills are certainly needed as some settlers are actively becoming pregnant thinking, they will be okay now the plague/fever seems to have died out. It is also towards the latter part of the book that, the then named Dusty comes across a settlement of what she calls Mormons though they prefer to be referred to as LDS. They believe they are doing Gods work in Huntsville, and they are going to repopulate the world. There are 59 settlers in total, 52 men of varying ages, 3 women consisting of an old woman (too old to have more children), a middle-aged woman and a young newly married woman. There are also 4 children comprising of 2 girls and 2 boys all under the age of 10. Dusty agrees to spending some time with the group as they try to convince her to stay with them. Dusty feels there is something odd and not right about the group and decides she would rather be on her own, though she does agree they can call on her for medical emergencies if needed.The main character is female, what is turning out to be in scarce supply, making it hazardous to be a woman, especially a woman of child bearing age. She is hurt when Joe and Chicken turn their backs on her and I think she would have probably happily stayed with them. The fact they more or less abandon her gives her a harsh reality check, she has no one to rely on but herself. She cuts off her long hair, kits herself out in a vest to bind her chest and wears men’s clothing to disguise that she is female. She learns not to trust anyone. As she meets different people, she gives them all a different name. I wonder if it is meant to be that she no longer remembers her name as she was so ill. Or is it as she no longer identifies with the person she once was, and the world she now lives in that she gives different names. Or perhaps she simply doesn’t trust anyone to tell them the one thing she can keep to herself and that’s her real name. I really liked the “unnamed midwife” as a character, she is a tough woman determined not only to make it on her own but to help any women she comes across on her journey. She provides them with birth control, and any medical help she can give them without revealing herself as a mother.I loved the part of the book where “the unnamed midwife” ends up in a settlement literally called “Nowhere” and hears news of her partner Jack. It certainly makes both her and the reader go through a lot of “What if’s”. Things could have been so different if they had remained together, but then the realist part of her brain and the readers brain kicks in and thinks that the ending she has at the end of the book may never have happened. Had she been travelling with Jack maybe they both would be dead, or Jack dead and her a slave to the meant that would have killed him to get her.I would say this book is an 18+ read with the content and subject matter of rape, and sexuality. I would say that the section concerning the LDS and how they were choosing to live in Huntsville may be uncomfortable reading for some too. I enjoyed the sections that were in diary form initially by the Unnamed Midwife using the various names she came up with, then the section that “Dusty” copied into her journal from the diary Honus had kept during his time on her mission from the LDS. Then there are the diary entries of the people who have come together to live in “Nowhere” too. There is, also the sections where the narrator is telling the story which kept my interest going when some of the diary entries were a bit too slowly paced or a little too drawn out. This is the first book in a series and though at times the book felt a little slow in pace, I still want to read more of this series. I am definitely glad that I finally got around to reading this book. It reminded me a tiny bit of Sophie Littlefield’s, Aftertime Series, Post-Apocalyptic for adult readers. I would say that it’s a decent start to a potentially great series.

This was not what I expected at all. Somehow, I bought this without knowing anything about it and have been putting it off expecting something like Call the Midwife. Let's get something very straight, right up front. This is nothing like that. Wrong genre, wrong period, wrong style. Instead, this is a fantastically written post-apocalyptic tale that is grim and unsentimental. In a world post virus that wiped out 98% of all men and 99% plus of all women, this is a world where women are possessions to be sold and traded, raped and kept. It's a hauntingly written novel and extremely powerful.The Unnamed Midwife is one of the few female survivors of the plague that killed millions and made childbirth more than dangerous, but fatal in this new world. With no new children being born, and mothers often dying of complications during or immediately after birth, the world has become a bleak place indeed. You follow her story as she makes her way alone through this newly deadly world, surviving as best as she can and helping those where it is possible to help them. There is a huge focus on the sexual dynamics of this new world, and the Unnamed Midwife uses this to her benefit by dressing and acting as a male in order to preserve her safety, her sanity and perhaps her life.The tale is told through a mixture of third person narrative and a first person journal, with both periodically skipping between characters. I found it to be an interesting narrative device although the journal writing was difficult to read due to the font. The story of one woman's survival is harrowing and the world is populated with a selection of fascinating groups and individuals. From individuals on the road, to religious fundamentalist groups, roving gangs of rapists and murderers, the desperate and the undeserving.This is a rich tapestry of humans in a desolate and hopeless world, excellently written and wonderfully executed. I found some of the journals of our lead character somewhat tiresome, but enjoyed how this opened up into a wealth of other individuals and stories.

Audio Version - I listen to a very diverse range of genre's and am never closed off to trying something new. I must say I'm a bit lost for words on how to even review this book as I found it confusing. I don't think I got what the title and description promised unless I completely missed the mark. It came across to me as journal entries written by the main character who was the "unnamed midwife" following a pandemic, or plague as it is often referred to, which wiped out most of the world's population but mainly affected women and children Along the way other characters contributed to the journals. This set of journals became very important in the future. However, it is unclear as to when the pandemic occurred and then how far into the future they were classified as extremely important and were being transcribed. I did finish the whole book but was left thinking what have I just listened to. I don't even know what genre I would categorise it in. It is the first book of a trilogy but for the first time in forever, I will not be following this book up. It was just too confusing for me and as hard as I tried I just couldn't get to grips with what it was trying to convey. I could not whole heartedly recommend it but also don't let any reviews discourage you and make your own mind up.

The story would have been alright but why all the foul language? I read for pleasure not for brutal street language. Ok it was American so I am not going to understand all the references or even the geography of the journey. It would, therefore, have been helpful to dispense with the impenetrable acronyms that only Americans understand, and to say where places are or at least the direction of travel; North, South, in the Northwest, near to the east/west coast would really have helped. This discourages me from reading the sequels.The worst part of this book is the pseudo handwriting script at intervals throught the book. So difficult to read on a Kindle no matter how much the font size is enlarged. A simple use of italics would have sufficed.