The Birth House

WOW! I love this book! I say that in the present tense because I plan on reading it again and again. I really really love it!

The story is set in a small town - Scots Bay, Nova Scotia - in the midst of World War I. Dora, the main character of the novel, is a seventeen year-old girl on the brink of womanhood and a pre-destined midwife. The next character (if it were a movie she would be the supporting actress) is Marie Babineau, the long-time midwife of the town and a firey cajun woman, from the Louisiana bayou. She made the trek to Nova Scotia by foot after a visit from her (dead) great-grandfather who gave her the gift and knowledge of the traiteurs (healers). She uses all the traditional herbal remedies along with the mystical/religious remedies and takes Dora under her wing because she sees her as the next traiteur for the town.

Being set in the early 20th century, this is also the time of the beginnings of modern medicine. So this small seaside town is torn between the two: midwives or obstetritions, herbs and prayers or chlorophorm and forecepts.

I don't want to say anymore, I just want all of you to read it! It's definitely going to knock one of my books off the my top 10 list. I really could not put it down. It's written in the first person, in Dora's voice, which makes it a really fun read and draws you in from the first page. Plus, there are newspaper articles, ads and journal entries that make it even more fun. I shouldn't give you the wrong idea, though; I almost never cry in books, and this one drew the tears, and made me feel like I had a chicken bone stuck in my throat (remember 'My Girl'?). There are about a hundred child birth scenes, so it won't give anything away to put in an exerpt form one of them, to give you an idea of this book:

Miss B. called out to her, "God knows you're tired, dear, as do all the angels in heaven, so on this next push they're gonna help you get that baby out." Miss B.'s voice was firm. "You ain't got no choice... now here we go. Mother Mary, help this mama, help this baby, Mother Mary, Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of the Moon and the Star of the Sea, Ave Maria Stellas... un, deux, trois..." Mabel closed her eyes and let out a long, anguished wail. Bertine and Sadie cried out loud beside her, moaning right along with her, all three women letting out heavy groans. As the baby slipped out, all milky-looking and wet, I pulled the cord free from its neck. Miss B. scooped the baby up, opening its tiny mouth with her fingers. She held her mouth to the infant's, her cheeks puffing with gentle breaths, then made the sign of the cross over and over as the baby gave its first cry.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! At best, it makes me want to be a mid-wife and at worst it makes me want to be a better person...and read more by Ami McKay. I hope all my sisters get a chance to read it. Oh, and there's even a website for this book: http://www.thebirthhouse.com/.