The Birth House

I wanted to take a moment out of the day, to share with you a really good book, The Birth House by Ami McKay. When I am searching for a book to read I usually plug in the words; bees, beekeeping, honey, herbs, herbal, midwife, and similar ones and then read the librarian review and decide whether to pursue it.  This book was the fruit of one such recent search and I found it just an excellent read!

The story is set in Nova Scotia, and is a result of the writer of this novel discovering that the house she was living in was originally a birth house! The lead character Dora, comes to the art of midwifery through her apprenticeship with a local midwife/herbalist. The book is a sometimes gritty, often hilarious, touching, moving story of a time in history when women still were in charge of the health and welfare of their own families and themselves. The story develops as a new doctor and medical facility moves to the community and comes in odds with Dora and her midwifery. I could go on and on about how much I loved this book but two of the little grandchildren just arrived so must keep this brief! The Midwife’s Garden poem and excerpts from Dora’s stillroom book at the back of the novel are true gems!!

Big hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages and happy reading! xx