Women From Away

Week thirty-six - June 18, 2014

The Birth House - Amy McKay

Angela: I rate the book 4.5 out of 5. I read it in six hours, a great book to come in on! I liked the landscape and scenery because I grew up in small towns in on the East Coast. They are quaint but gossipy, it was quite amusing. She did a really good job researching and including Maritime history including the explosion and migration. Mrs. B was great, balancing the eccentric nature and wise nature of her. 

Danielle: I rate the book 4 out of 5. I liked reading it, nice to read. It was a good, easy read. I really liked Dora, I thought she was a strong character. I liked the medical side of it, looking at how things have changed. 

Robyn: I rate the book 4 out of 5. I have always been fascinated with Midwifery. I loved the debate between natural medicine and modern medicine and so it was interesting to see the "birth" of it. Knowing where the history took things, how it all progressed and the public perception as well as the medical perception has changed. Some of it seemed odd and I had a personal connection. 

Karen: I feel like by the end of it I am going to say 4 out of 5. I did read about 20% of the book and really liked it so I am disappointed that I didn't finish it. Finishing it is in my case management plan. 

Lacey: I rate the book 4.5 out of 5. I love Mrs. B, I wish I was her. Having been a doula and having attended births, I resonate with the ideas about changing cultural attitudes over time. I even have my own little necklace for every birth I have been to. 

Amy: I rate the book 4 out of 5. I appreciated the multitude of topics in the book however many of them were heard to read. I found the casual approach to family violence difficult however the coziness of the community was enjoyable. I liked the intimacy of the small community, knowing that people were talking to each other. It laid the groundwork for the discussion about medical interventions as opposed to grassroots medicine. I would like to have a Mrs. B in my life. 

Nicole: I rate the book 4.5 out of 5. I was hooked less than 60 pages in due to the language of the novel.  I am a dedicated lover of Canadian literature and this just helps I guess. The language and the landscape of the book helped me fall in love with it.  The strength and development of the women in the book helped move the story along and  the 'flock' of women who moved from town issue to issue was interesting to read about.  I was surprised with the marriage to Archer and thought that he would have been better.

Lauren: I rate it 3.5 out of 5. I liked the writing style, some beautiful sentences. I liked Babineau taught her in italics. Kept a good flow in the birthing scenes I thought. The first scene in the book grabbed your attention right off the bat with that horrible family. Interesting herbal healing vs scientific medicine theme and the writer clearly was on the side of natural remedies. I wouldn't agree with that but I liked that she had definite good vs evil ideas throughout. I liked the setting and how she merged historical events into the characters stories. A lot of it I found very random and thrown together and it didn't seem to follow any basic outline. Everything just kinda happened and you didn't know why or whether that particular story line had ended. Ex. The vibrator thing, the windmill thing, her aunt having an affair and getting pregnant, lot of different characters stories that were never completed.

Average group rating: 4.1 out of 5