Customer Reviews:
 A Truly Definitive Account of the Meaning of Poverty August 5, 2008
Joan H. Hammond
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was born in the East End in the 1950's, and still live there. However, Jennifer's account has brought to life the tales my parents and grandparents told me about how much a struggle life was for so many people, barely a bus ride from where I was living. Jennifer's portrayal of Mr. Collet's demise in an 'old folk's home', in the 60's, which was little better than the workhouses of 30 years previously starkly reminds us that man's inhumanity to man can come in many different forms, no matter how affluent / civilised / reformed our societies pretend to be. This book should be read by anyone who works in public office, if only to remind them that the attitudes and conditions of the recent past have not gone away; they're still out there and will come back if we allow them to.
Jennifer's comparison of modern East London tower blocks and housing estates taking the place of the old tenements tells us that rather than improving conditions, society has simply torn down the old and replaced them with tacky copies. Jennifer Worth should have gone into politics, for judging from her excellent books, this is one person who would have made a real difference. Next time I travel through Poplar, Limehouse and Stepney, I will now do so with a new interest.
 midwifery in the raw February 6, 2007
Ms. A. McGregor (UK)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is a excellent book in many ways. It tells of a young woman's training in midwifery, undertaken under the supervision of an order of nuns whose mission was nursing and midwifery, in the poverty of east end London in the 1950's. If you are a training midwife (as I am) some of the discriptions are truly horrifying - watching a young woman die of eclampsia, stillbirths and diseases that you will never see in Britain today. It also shows how midwifery used to be practised in this country, in a time when midwives were independent and worked alone, when most women gave birth at home (sucessfully). As a social document it is also incredibly valuable - a discription of the devastation that workhouses left in their wake is a valuable reminder of how we used to treat poor people in this country, and how we must not allow shallow prejudices about teenage mothers and single parents (so easily scapegoated!) let us treat them as lesser, non-citizens. Also a useful reminder of how "the good old days" are a myth - things are better now in many ways, and there were teenage mums, drugs, prostitution and people trafficking then, too. I heartily recommend this to any one interested in midwifery, social history, and women's studies.
I will never complain about my life being hard ever again! December 30, 2005
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
If you enjoyed Call the Midwife, you will definately enjoy this book, although the content is not midwifery related. There are three parts to the book, each containing stories of people who the author had known through her work. Her descriptions of the hardship and poverty of early 1900's London, along with personal tragedy and sacrifice will make you weep, and feel thankful to be living in the 21st Century. - Frank and Peggy, brother and sister, separated from their parents by death and then from each other by the workhouse... courage, hope, joy, and a real tear-jerker ending. - Joe Collett - this story is a testament to the truly caring and generous spirit of the author - she goes above and beyond the call of duty in my opinion to befriend an old man - and hears a tale of army life and family courage spanning three wars, with more than a touch of tragedy along the way. Beautifully written, I could not put it down.
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