Customer Reviews

The Birth House: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received this book for Christmas, 2006, and like most books I receive, I had never heard of this novel. Not without some trepidation, I began to read the first few pages of this lovely novel, becoming more and more spellbound with the story being woven by Ami McKay and her tales of Scots Bay and, later Spider Hill. It is a rarity to feel so entranced by one woman's struggle to find her own in the world before, during and after World War I, and I have never longed for the well being of a character as much as I did Dora Rare. When picturing her, I couldn't help but see her as child, still unsure about the world, or even whether to question the life she leads, but in contrast, a woman with so much intimate knowledge about health, that I couldn't help but relate to her. She is a wholesome character, who made me want the best for her, and her own struggles and strengths, tugged greatly at my heart strings, and in the end I felt inspired at her courage. This novel truly is a piece of art, and I encourage any woman, or man for that matter, to read this book and hopefully they will take as much from this remarkable character and author as I have.

Congratulations, Ami, on a fabulous first novel.

A young girl, Dora Rare, moves in with an elderly small town midwife or 'traiteur' who claims that Dora will take over her birthing business. Marie Babineau trains the young girl in the ways that only tradition can teach.

The story takes place over a number of years, seeing the main character married, operating a birthing house and raising someone else's child. Dora is caught between the old ways and new, modern birthing practices. The story evolves slowly, deeply and emotionally.

As a fellow Canadian author, it is uplifting to see Canadian fiction so well accepted. I too write about Canadian locales, but haven't yet made it to the east coast in my books yet. Having lived in New Brunswick and traveled to Nova Scotia, I think McKay has painted a quaint and realistic picture of how life was (and maybe still is to some extent), with characters that live and breathe. Canadian fiction is alive and well, thanks to authors like Ami McKay!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve into the emotions and lives of small town Nova Scotia. But warning...bring Kleenex!

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Author of Divine Intervention

This is a book for and about mothers. I found the story magical, and although I am of a scientific bent, I love to find myself on the side of the mystical and mysterious. The prologue is positively musical in its choice of language, and I was hooked immediately. Like another of the reviewers, I was unable to put the book down.
The characters in The Birth House are real people, people we care about throughout the story. These are the women we wish we had as neighbours, women we wish we were.
If I have one criticism, it would be seeing our heroine, Dora, in so many historical events. I was OK with seeing her help out at the Halifax explosion, but my credibility was stretched a bit when the small town midwife also helped in Boston during the Influenza epidemic in 1918.
All in all, an excellent read. I would recommend it to all mothers and mothers-to-be. (Wonderful to see yet another amazing Canadian woman author!)

This was Ami McKay's debut novel, and for a first effort it was okay. The topic was interesting and one can tell that she truly loves her adopted home of Nova Scotia.

The novel revolves around Dora Rare, who has been chosen as the next mid-wife of Scots Bay at the tender age of 17, and her coming of age in that capacity. She does so at a time when the time-honored mid-wife is coming face to face with that of the budding OBGYN in a clash of science and wills. Add to this mix the idea that women are becoming more vocal politically, and the potential for a fine recipe for a novel is born.

However, this one disappoints. The writing is an easy style. Ms. McKay certainly can keep her words flowing easily. Yet, her characters are so entirely one dimensional! The doctor is the embodiment of evil - he has not one singularly nice quality about him. I've never met anyone like that. Also, the women who do not approve of Dora or "Miss B" are of the ilk of hypocritical old bats - nothing nice there, either. Naturally, those who "take" to Dora are kind, nice, intelligent, tolerant, emitting all the good qualities everyone would love, and having absolutely none of the bad. Just who ARE these people?!?!!?

One thing that annoys me with some historical novel writers (such as this one) is when they write a 21st century character into another time period. It is just over the top and doesn't work.

There is potential for this author, but I hope she doesn't allow herself to sink into the morass of dimestore romances!

I read this book over a weekend and simply could not put it down. It is an excellent story of turn of the century life of women in remote east coast communities and the issues they face surrounding sex, childbirth and the role they play in each other's lives. I would give this book ten stars if possible. Being pregnant while reading this book made it especially appealing. I simply cannot wait for the author's next book.

I came across this book in the "7 day read" section of the library and thought it looked interesting. I started it and couldn't put it down.

I think at times she through gendered politics to the wind, but that said, it was a damn good read. I've recommended this book to others.

I think it's more fiction than _A Midwive's Tale_ and younger readers might enjoy it more.

Ami McKay has created a compelling narrative about midwifery and cronehood in rural Nova Scotia - using the term "crone" to describe a knowledgeable older woman. However, I felt uncomfortable throughout the book because I kept getting the feeling she was inserting anomalies - I didn't feel she had researched midwifery herbs much (in fact mentioning a few that would most likely not have been available in rural Nova Scotia at that time). Her description of the birthing centre and the "twilight sleep" phenomenon, which was already losing favor at the time of the novel, but might, admittedly, still be in use, triggered my suspicions of a novel not well-researched.
What I found really distracting was the mono-dimensionality of her characters, however. In a book receiving this degree of praise, I would have expected more completely drawn characters. Instead we are treated to undefined people, like the author's main character, her mysterious missing mother, who continually opts out of any defining event, the stereotypical Fran. The men, with the exception of the handyman "Hart" (the name makes me groan), are brutal, drunk, vicious, and hateful. I've been to rural Nova Scotia, and no, it really isn't so! When the vicar is found having sex with Fran, one can only say, with a sigh, of course.
To be fair, I think the author bit off more than she could chew, trying to cover too many diverse storylines and foci. There's a bit about homosexuality in Halifax that really didn't need to be there - in fact the whole fleeing to Boston thing read false, and my feeling was the author had run out of ideas and needed to change venues to add pages. Perhaps a better editor would have removed this section as it adds nothing to the story. The Halifax explosion is included, also, but skimmed over and incomplete, with just talk of the horrors, yes. Again, more research might have helped - or more in depth analysis of how Dora reacted to the situation, what she was able to do.
Finally, as a nurse, who worked with midwives, it would have been fascinating to hear more about the practice at that time, to hear about Dora's education or more about Mrs. B.'s learnings. This, too, was passed over.
On the positive side, the story flowed well and kept me interested til the end - but it was like a marshmallow cookie - ultimately unfulfilling.

A minor quibble: For a novel set in and about the time of the 1st World War (1914ish), what's with the reference (p. 276 of hardback edition) to transistor radios? The transistor wasn't even invented until about 1947, well after the end of the 2nd World War.

I enjoyed this story about a small town midwife in Nova Scotia.

In telling Dora's story as she goes from young girl to apprentice midwife to experienced midwife, the book really chronicles the changes at the time for all women - birth moving from home/midwife to hospital/OB at the same time women were fighting for the right to vote (the book takes place primarily in 1917-1919, just prior to women getting the vote in 1920...the part of the book that addresses womens' suffrage takes place in Boston, where the rest is in Nova Scotia), were first claiming the right to practice any type of birth control, and in some cases also deciding whom to marry (or whether to marry at all).

While the book touches on these other historical events, it remains primarily focused on Dora's life. I would love to have had more of the characters fleshed out a bit...they seemed rather one dimensional (the doctor, for example, was unequivocally evil...not a redeeming quality shared about him).

It's not a short book, but it was an easy weekend read for me. I recommend it for that. If you're interested in this type of story, I recommend The Red Tent before this one...the era is different (biblical times), but the sentiment is the same...but with far richer character development.

As I told the author when I emailed her at the books site, I fell into this book and did not want to find my way out.

The minute I finished this amazing story, I wanted to just begin it again.
It is a story of a place, a time, a family, a girl and her coming of age in a time of change for women.

There are hints of faith, mysticism and controversy embedded in the story of a strong girl becoming an amazing woman.

Buy this book, you will not regret it.