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The Birth House
Spanning the 20th century Ami McKay takes a primitive and superstitious rural community in Nova Scotia and creates a rich tableau of characters to tell the story of childbirth from its most secretive early practices to modern maternity as we know it. Epic and enchanting, 'The Birth House' is a gripping saga about a midwife's struggles in the wilds of Nova Scotia. As a child in the small village of Scot's Bay, Dora Rare -- the first female in five generations of Rares -- is befriended by Miss Babineau, an elderly midwife with a kitchen filled with folk remedies and a talent for telling tales. Dora becomes her apprentice at the outset of World War I, and together they help women through difficult births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling marriages. But their traditions and methods are threatened when a Doctor comes to town with promises of painless childbirth, and sets about undermining Dora's credibility. Death and deception, accusations and exile follow, as Dora and her friends fight to protect each other and the women's wisdom of their community. Hauntingly written and alive with historical detail, 'The Birth House' is an unforgettable, page-turning debut.
410 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2006
1185 people are currently reading
35480 people want to read
About the author
Ami McKay
8 books2,025 followersAMI McKAY is the author of three bestselling novels–The Birth House, The Virgin Cure, and The Witches of New York—as well as the novella, Half Spent Was the Night. Her memoir, Daughter of Family G was named a CBC Best Book of 2019. McKay is also a playwright, composer, and essayist. Born and raised in the Midwest, she now lives in Nova Scotia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,126 reviews
May 19, 2014
Mark this down as another book that I quite enjoyed, but didn't quite love. Something kept me a bit separated from the story, kept me from falling head over heels for the characters (although the "women from away" stole my heart quite a bit.) It felt at times like I could see the story engine grinding too much behind the scenes, could see the way things were going to go.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
September 2, 2008
I should have known better than to read this. One thing I am not is pro-home birth. I'm not anti- home birth, but the more I read about the "exquisite, spiritual, satisfying" birthing of their babies, the more turned off I am by the usually-not-said-but-rather-implied understanding that any other kind of birth is not.
I know it's not true. Birthing a child is exciting and scary and hard and wonderful and one of the most memorable things any woman will do in her lifetime. But, the variety in which we can, and choose, to do it is wide and, thankfully, available. Writing that glorifies one means over another annoys me.
With that being said, it was impossible for this book not to annoy me. With a protagonist that is an ever understanding, compassionate, holds-to-her guns midwife and the villain a heartless, thoughtless, passionless.....MAN, the story was too black and white to be good. Yes, it had other merits including its vivid Nova Scotia backdrop, the emerging gain of independent, feminine thought during and after WWI and a somewhat interesting love story, but the bias was clear even when the writing was not (which, with all of the journal entries and articles occurred frequently).
I think women who line up on the home-birth side of the debate will love this book. It champions their clear superiority. Unfortunately, it doesn't really champion the beauty of all birth, or the most important thing of all...the availability of options.
I know it's not true. Birthing a child is exciting and scary and hard and wonderful and one of the most memorable things any woman will do in her lifetime. But, the variety in which we can, and choose, to do it is wide and, thankfully, available. Writing that glorifies one means over another annoys me.
With that being said, it was impossible for this book not to annoy me. With a protagonist that is an ever understanding, compassionate, holds-to-her guns midwife and the villain a heartless, thoughtless, passionless.....MAN, the story was too black and white to be good. Yes, it had other merits including its vivid Nova Scotia backdrop, the emerging gain of independent, feminine thought during and after WWI and a somewhat interesting love story, but the bias was clear even when the writing was not (which, with all of the journal entries and articles occurred frequently).
I think women who line up on the home-birth side of the debate will love this book. It champions their clear superiority. Unfortunately, it doesn't really champion the beauty of all birth, or the most important thing of all...the availability of options.
July 7, 2008
"What can I do with all this neat feminist lore that women have just GOT to hear, like mercenary doctors wresting childbirth away from women and vibrators being the first electric appliance and Boston suffragettes who were also, get this, lesbians and herbal remedies that people are embracing again? I know, I'll write a novel and set it in the quaint town I just moved to and that I love love love."
Awwww, it was mean of me to pretend Ami McKay actually said that out loud ever, because as far as I know she didn't. And I'm just being mean because if I ever do stop being a useless widget and write a novel, it will have these same flaws (this is psychology, people, I'm doing psychology here). That is, it will be awkwardly draped around historical facts that I think are so super cool that everyone should know them (even though much of the book's audience probably already does, because we readers tend to be annoyingly self-selecting and inbred), prone to overplotting and the romanticization of the rural, and burdened with a main character that is my fantasy olde tyme version of myself. You just can't wait to buy it, I'm telling you.
Um, a shorter version of this review is that this book is so full of stuff white people like (see the blog before you comment furiously, please) that it is, itself, a stuff white people like. Cloth diapers, anyone? Ironic knitting circle, hmmmm?
Awwww, it was mean of me to pretend Ami McKay actually said that out loud ever, because as far as I know she didn't. And I'm just being mean because if I ever do stop being a useless widget and write a novel, it will have these same flaws (this is psychology, people, I'm doing psychology here). That is, it will be awkwardly draped around historical facts that I think are so super cool that everyone should know them (even though much of the book's audience probably already does, because we readers tend to be annoyingly self-selecting and inbred), prone to overplotting and the romanticization of the rural, and burdened with a main character that is my fantasy olde tyme version of myself. You just can't wait to buy it, I'm telling you.
Um, a shorter version of this review is that this book is so full of stuff white people like (see the blog before you comment furiously, please) that it is, itself, a stuff white people like. Cloth diapers, anyone? Ironic knitting circle, hmmmm?
February 14, 2022
I really loved this book. It was so well-written and a very fast read.
I was a little more than skeptical given the subject matter since I really hated The Red Tent.
Luckily, this book wasn't overly preachy or whiny at all. Yes, the author did set up the physician to be a complete villain to better illustrate her good = the old ways, bad = the modern ways. Seriously, given the geographic location of the village it wasn't practical to have the maternity center as the only option. But that's really my only beef with the book.
The author is a great storyteller. This main character felt like she'd be right at home hanging out with Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables. She said she wanted this book to feel like Dora Rare's literary scrapbook and I think she's achieved that. I really enjoyed how she brought in the real life events of the day - World War I, the Halifax explosion, the great molasses flood of Boston as historical touch points for the actions of the characters and the setting. The supporting cast was interesting. Did anyone else picture Mrs. Olsen as Aunt Fran while reading this book?
The ending seemed pretty rushed. I would have liked another chapter or two of the "post Mother's Day rally" and then the wrap up/look back at life chapters.
And as always, reading these books set in the past makes me so happy to live in these times. With electricity, cars, Advil, outlet malls and supermarkets. There's just nothing appealing or romantic about living from the land and all that work!
I was a little more than skeptical given the subject matter since I really hated The Red Tent.
Luckily, this book wasn't overly preachy or whiny at all. Yes, the author did set up the physician to be a complete villain to better illustrate her good = the old ways, bad = the modern ways. Seriously, given the geographic location of the village it wasn't practical to have the maternity center as the only option. But that's really my only beef with the book.
The author is a great storyteller. This main character felt like she'd be right at home hanging out with Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables. She said she wanted this book to feel like Dora Rare's literary scrapbook and I think she's achieved that. I really enjoyed how she brought in the real life events of the day - World War I, the Halifax explosion, the great molasses flood of Boston as historical touch points for the actions of the characters and the setting. The supporting cast was interesting. Did anyone else picture Mrs. Olsen as Aunt Fran while reading this book?
The ending seemed pretty rushed. I would have liked another chapter or two of the "post Mother's Day rally" and then the wrap up/look back at life chapters.
And as always, reading these books set in the past makes me so happy to live in these times. With electricity, cars, Advil, outlet malls and supermarkets. There's just nothing appealing or romantic about living from the land and all that work!
June 11, 2019
I read this book before joining Goodreads and it is definitely one of my favorite Canadian reads. Last week, it was announced that the CBC ( Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has inked a deal to turn it into a television series. Always a great reason to put the book on my reread list.
November 16, 2017
This book is a bit of a departure from my usual reading, but after reading a blurb on Goodreads about it, I was intrigued. Luckily, my local small-town library had this book available, so I checked it out. I'm glad I did. It is an enjoyable story.
Dora Rare is special. She's the first girl born in the Rare family in five generations, and she has the gift of healing. A local midwife, Miss Babineau, begins to teach the young girl what she knows so that Dora can continue the tradition of folk medicine and midwifery in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia. When a medical doctor comes to the area with plans to open a birthing center, he clashes with Miss Babineau and Dora. He wants to begin using anesthesia and modern birthing methods, ending at-home births for the rural women of the area. While families were able to pay Miss Babineau with food and other goods, the new birthing center will require families in the area to pay a fee and travel to the center for births. Soon the doctor is accusing the women of botched deliveries and even dispensing dangerous herbal concoctions that allegedly resulted in the death of one local woman.
I loved the character of Miss Babineau. The wise and caring folk healer was portrayed perfectly. For decades Miss Babineau helped the women of Scots Bay with births, illness, deaths and all sorts of medical complaints. The people of Scots Bay saw her as a healer, and at times a witch....loving and somehow fearing her at the same time. Such a colorful, vibrant character! Her distrust and fear of modern medical medications, procedures and requirements is understandable. The old ways will pass away to make way for the new..... But modern doesn't always mean better......just different. Dora had such love and respect for Miss Babineau, as did the other residents of the area.
I disliked the doctor. While more modern and safer methods of delivery were being developed to help women, Gilbert Thomas seems more intent on making money, rooting out folk medicine and herbal healing and offering treatments that seem more barbaric and predatory than medicinal. At one point, he offers vibrator treatments for his patients to supposedly prepare their bodies for pregnancy. Sicko. Ugh. Horrible man. But then again, his actions aren't surprising as women were often treated for "hysteria'' in ways that seem cavemanish to modern sensibilities.
All in all, a nice bit of women's fiction.
For more information on the author and her other books, check out her website: http://amimckay.com/
Dora Rare is special. She's the first girl born in the Rare family in five generations, and she has the gift of healing. A local midwife, Miss Babineau, begins to teach the young girl what she knows so that Dora can continue the tradition of folk medicine and midwifery in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia. When a medical doctor comes to the area with plans to open a birthing center, he clashes with Miss Babineau and Dora. He wants to begin using anesthesia and modern birthing methods, ending at-home births for the rural women of the area. While families were able to pay Miss Babineau with food and other goods, the new birthing center will require families in the area to pay a fee and travel to the center for births. Soon the doctor is accusing the women of botched deliveries and even dispensing dangerous herbal concoctions that allegedly resulted in the death of one local woman.
I loved the character of Miss Babineau. The wise and caring folk healer was portrayed perfectly. For decades Miss Babineau helped the women of Scots Bay with births, illness, deaths and all sorts of medical complaints. The people of Scots Bay saw her as a healer, and at times a witch....loving and somehow fearing her at the same time. Such a colorful, vibrant character! Her distrust and fear of modern medical medications, procedures and requirements is understandable. The old ways will pass away to make way for the new..... But modern doesn't always mean better......just different. Dora had such love and respect for Miss Babineau, as did the other residents of the area.
I disliked the doctor. While more modern and safer methods of delivery were being developed to help women, Gilbert Thomas seems more intent on making money, rooting out folk medicine and herbal healing and offering treatments that seem more barbaric and predatory than medicinal. At one point, he offers vibrator treatments for his patients to supposedly prepare their bodies for pregnancy. Sicko. Ugh. Horrible man. But then again, his actions aren't surprising as women were often treated for "hysteria'' in ways that seem cavemanish to modern sensibilities.
All in all, a nice bit of women's fiction.
For more information on the author and her other books, check out her website: http://amimckay.com/
November 12, 2019
I found the premise interesting, but the execution flawed. Dora's ostracism from the rest of the town felt like the author telling the audience that she was just too special for the others to understand, and that taken with the slut-shaming of Grace Hutner made it difficult for me to sympathize. Dora was also a very passive character, and while in some circumstances it made sense, she seemed to drift through the novel on other characters' steam. I also felt that McKay tried to cram too much into the final third of the book- drownings! murder! lesbians! (who only got three sentences dedicated to them!) suffragism! And then there was the dichotomy between modern and traditional medicine- after Mis Babineau's disappearance, Dr. Thomas was shown up more as a fraud, but the narrative scorn of things like sterile medical environments and painkillers made me roll my eyes. I've read McKay's other book, "The Virgin Cure," and found it much more satisfying; this one just suffers too much from first-author problems.
September 25, 2007
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was so good I found myself wanting to read slowly so I could really pay attention to her descriptions and use of language. The book is set in the early 1900s in Canada during WWI. The main character, Dora is an apprentice midwife during a time when an obstetrical center has just opened nearby and the big push is for the end of home births and midwives. The women of the town fight for their right to be involved in the birthing process. The book also has a section of old midwive's cures which were really interesting.
September 25, 2007
The Birth House by Ami McKay / William Morrow / 13-978-0-016 / 400pps / $24.95
When Ami McKay and her husband bought an old farm house in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, she had no idea the history she would peel away from the walls or dig up in her yard. Removing layers of wall paper revealed plastered newspapers, tilling her soil unearthed bottle shards, and becoming pregnant led her to a midwife who related what she knew of the World War 1 village midwife that had once inhabited her very home. Through much speculation, Ami evokes a lavish rendition of the life of Dora Rare, the only daughter born into 5 generations of sons. From the beginning, Dora was destined for a "special" life, as she came from the womb with a caul that was believed to give her "sight" and whomever retained it, good luck. Based on what facts she could find, Ami gives us the lives of two incredible and tenacious ladies who fight to maintain their ancient herbal birthing and home remedy methods from the march of modern medicine. References to the women's suffragist movement tie in nicely with the abundant audacity of both Dora and her mentor, the "Cajun Witch", Marie Babineau. Bits of history are dosed out via actual news clips, ads and letters of the era. Dora is sent to apprentice under Marie and to ease the financial burden of her struggling parents. When a Doctor arrives with high-falluting claims and finger-pointing disdain for the "old ways", Dora and Marie are faced with the increasing superstitious shunning of the very same women they had treated and midwifed for. Forced into an arranged marriage that quickly turns abusive, Dora continues to fight for her beliefs as well as those who still believe in her. When Marie dies, she leaves Dora struggling to decipher her journals for the right dosage, the correct incantation, and the needed strength to carry on the tradition Marie bestowed upon her. Here is where the story starts swirling and you're sucked into the vortex of Dora's dervishily delightful spunk. Blamed for the death of one of her patients, she takes exile in big city life amongst feminists, commune-livers and the reunion with her brother. Until truth be told, she works her wonders amongst the prostitutes and new found friends before heading back home where her adopted daughter, family and devoted friends have awaited her. Though a better segue from later chapters would have improved a somewhat disjointed ending, I found the book as informative as entertaining and applaud Dora for making it against all odds so triumphantly.
When Ami McKay and her husband bought an old farm house in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, she had no idea the history she would peel away from the walls or dig up in her yard. Removing layers of wall paper revealed plastered newspapers, tilling her soil unearthed bottle shards, and becoming pregnant led her to a midwife who related what she knew of the World War 1 village midwife that had once inhabited her very home. Through much speculation, Ami evokes a lavish rendition of the life of Dora Rare, the only daughter born into 5 generations of sons. From the beginning, Dora was destined for a "special" life, as she came from the womb with a caul that was believed to give her "sight" and whomever retained it, good luck. Based on what facts she could find, Ami gives us the lives of two incredible and tenacious ladies who fight to maintain their ancient herbal birthing and home remedy methods from the march of modern medicine. References to the women's suffragist movement tie in nicely with the abundant audacity of both Dora and her mentor, the "Cajun Witch", Marie Babineau. Bits of history are dosed out via actual news clips, ads and letters of the era. Dora is sent to apprentice under Marie and to ease the financial burden of her struggling parents. When a Doctor arrives with high-falluting claims and finger-pointing disdain for the "old ways", Dora and Marie are faced with the increasing superstitious shunning of the very same women they had treated and midwifed for. Forced into an arranged marriage that quickly turns abusive, Dora continues to fight for her beliefs as well as those who still believe in her. When Marie dies, she leaves Dora struggling to decipher her journals for the right dosage, the correct incantation, and the needed strength to carry on the tradition Marie bestowed upon her. Here is where the story starts swirling and you're sucked into the vortex of Dora's dervishily delightful spunk. Blamed for the death of one of her patients, she takes exile in big city life amongst feminists, commune-livers and the reunion with her brother. Until truth be told, she works her wonders amongst the prostitutes and new found friends before heading back home where her adopted daughter, family and devoted friends have awaited her. Though a better segue from later chapters would have improved a somewhat disjointed ending, I found the book as informative as entertaining and applaud Dora for making it against all odds so triumphantly.
August 15, 2010
I thought this was an interesting light read and I had fun with it.
Now to make myself hated just a little, I have to disagree with the reviewers who complained about the "confusing" combination of narration, letters, and diary entries. I thought that the arrangement was easy enough for a junior high graduate to follow. The letters and diary entries were dated, after all, and with the exception of the first . My apologies to those who disagree, but maybe you should try a book with smaller words in a larger font. There was nothing confusing about this novel.
Now to make myself hated just a little, I have to disagree with the reviewers who complained about the "confusing" combination of narration, letters, and diary entries. I thought that the arrangement was easy enough for a junior high graduate to follow. The letters and diary entries were dated, after all, and with the exception of the first . My apologies to those who disagree, but maybe you should try a book with smaller words in a larger font. There was nothing confusing about this novel.
March 25, 2023
The birth house was an interesting story of a young womans path of learning the ways of becoming a midwife in the wilds of novs scotia. I really enjoyed this! great read. Ami McKay has a great way with words and really sets a scene!
Each character we are introduced to has their own life problems and storys. All as good as eachother. Until the day comes when care of women in a hospital environment is made avaliable and triu le starts.
This is a very enjoyable read to gain insight into how old traditions were. Also how peoples reactions were then and with a changing of the times and the pressures it meant . I flew through this book. Much enjoyed
Each character we are introduced to has their own life problems and storys. All as good as eachother. Until the day comes when care of women in a hospital environment is made avaliable and triu le starts.
This is a very enjoyable read to gain insight into how old traditions were. Also how peoples reactions were then and with a changing of the times and the pressures it meant . I flew through this book. Much enjoyed
January 23, 2008
A real treat to read, and an unexpected treat at that. Found it at B & N on the Discover New Authors shelf and took a chance. Glad I did. This is the story of a midwife in Nova Scotia who finds herself in the middle of being part of the old way of doing things vs. the new way when a medical doctor establishes a women's hospital in a nearby town. But more that that, this is also a story of the connection between women in a male-driven society. The author paints the landscape so effectively you almost feel that you are in this small fishing village and can feel the chill of the sea in each chapter. What a great read ... I had a hard time putting it down.
February 22, 2011
This book definitely has some charms - chiefly the idea of the eponymous birth house itself, which really existed.
However, the writing is heavy handed, and the characters caricatural. The heroine is perfectly modern in attitude and character (feminist! pacifist! rebel against the medical establishment! non-homophobe! respectful of people who engage in sex-work! etc.) despite living in a small town in the early twentieth century. This would be interesting if the book explored how she came by those attitudes, but it is too busy dwelling on how much better she is than everyone around her to explore those questions. We all know that the ob-gyn medical establishment was bad during the early 20th-century, that twilight sleep was a failure, and that the medicalization of childbirth led to the denial and often loss of local knowledges, etc. But I assume that many of the people who promoted these changes were sincerely well-meaning, if mistaken. A slower-paced book, that tried to bite off less big of a topic, and that dwelt in more detail on attitudes and experiences could have given insights into how it was that those now debunked ideas made sense to people at the time, and into how it was that only some people resisted them.
Another source of frustration: every book that Dora mentions is one that is still popular and that the audience likely already knows. I assume that a lot of the literature that was popular at this time has since gone out of fashion, and it would be interesting to get insights into that side of her world. For instance, what readings about war was it that informed her pacifism? How does someone who has never left her village even conceive of world war one? She was already connected to a bigger cultural and political world (as evidenced by her knitting of a white ribbon into the mitts she sends to the front - she knew about popular forms of political resistance and engaged in them from where she was), but readers are never shown how she was connected to this world.
Readers are also repeatedly hit on the head with symbolism (as in the painful side-plot involving a white deer).
Overall I get the impression that the author must have worked with some sort of scrap-book, keeping note of genuinely interesting things about the 1910s, and ultimately stuffed a story in the interstices between those facts. From what I have heard of McKay in interviews (enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and curious) the book might have been more enjoyable as a piece of non-fiction, or as a books for young teenagers.
However, the writing is heavy handed, and the characters caricatural. The heroine is perfectly modern in attitude and character (feminist! pacifist! rebel against the medical establishment! non-homophobe! respectful of people who engage in sex-work! etc.) despite living in a small town in the early twentieth century. This would be interesting if the book explored how she came by those attitudes, but it is too busy dwelling on how much better she is than everyone around her to explore those questions. We all know that the ob-gyn medical establishment was bad during the early 20th-century, that twilight sleep was a failure, and that the medicalization of childbirth led to the denial and often loss of local knowledges, etc. But I assume that many of the people who promoted these changes were sincerely well-meaning, if mistaken. A slower-paced book, that tried to bite off less big of a topic, and that dwelt in more detail on attitudes and experiences could have given insights into how it was that those now debunked ideas made sense to people at the time, and into how it was that only some people resisted them.
Another source of frustration: every book that Dora mentions is one that is still popular and that the audience likely already knows. I assume that a lot of the literature that was popular at this time has since gone out of fashion, and it would be interesting to get insights into that side of her world. For instance, what readings about war was it that informed her pacifism? How does someone who has never left her village even conceive of world war one? She was already connected to a bigger cultural and political world (as evidenced by her knitting of a white ribbon into the mitts she sends to the front - she knew about popular forms of political resistance and engaged in them from where she was), but readers are never shown how she was connected to this world.
Readers are also repeatedly hit on the head with symbolism (as in the painful side-plot involving a white deer).
Overall I get the impression that the author must have worked with some sort of scrap-book, keeping note of genuinely interesting things about the 1910s, and ultimately stuffed a story in the interstices between those facts. From what I have heard of McKay in interviews (enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and curious) the book might have been more enjoyable as a piece of non-fiction, or as a books for young teenagers.
November 4, 2014
I liked the setting of the book and the interspersed newspaper advertisements of the time but wasn't so keen on the storytelling. To me it felt as though the author had thrown everything she knew about the era into the book without much feeling for whether it actually needed it. So we find the First World War, the Halifax Explosion, Spanish Flu and the Boston molasses disaster all featuring, but curiously briefly and without full engagement with any of them.
Dora seemed anachronistic: a woman of late twentieth century attitudes who was never entirely believable in this early twentieth century context. And yet she meekly agrees to marry a man who is clearly a complete bastard. Unconvincing...
Dora seemed anachronistic: a woman of late twentieth century attitudes who was never entirely believable in this early twentieth century context. And yet she meekly agrees to marry a man who is clearly a complete bastard. Unconvincing...
May 19, 2024
The Birth House by Ami McKay is a mesmerizing journey through the life of midwife Dora Rare, set against the backdrop of a small Nova Scotia village. McKay's storytelling weaves together themes of tradition, femininity, and resilience in a way that leaves a lasting impact on the reader. truly enchanting and thought-provoking read for those who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of magic.
January 8, 2008
What I found interesting about this book it pits science against religion, and I ended up rooting for religion-mainly because it's presented as a refreshing mix of open-mindedness with a splash of mysticism and intuition, instead of the more over used portrayal of religion equaling ignorance. It starts an interesting debate in favor of midwives over doctors, mostly because the doctor in this novel is really just in it for the money, so he can easily be turned into a villain (therefore science into a a villain as well). Yet, it also reminded me that there are homegrown remedies that have been around since the beginning of time, that might be better for us, yet we're presently in a society that makes us choose manufactured medicine every time.
This book is very feminist in that the main theme is that women have a right to choose-from birth control, to abortion, to how they want to have their babies. There was one really creepy birth in a hospital in which the mother was completely knocked out with chlorophorm (did I mention this was set in 1917?), and the doctor just extracted her baby for her. Since she didn't experience any of the birth, the midwife thought that this made it less real for the mother, and broke a vital connection with the child that needed to be established, which is just one of the many points this book brings up that I just never considered before.
Some of plot development is really predictable, but otherwise, a pretty good read.
This book is very feminist in that the main theme is that women have a right to choose-from birth control, to abortion, to how they want to have their babies. There was one really creepy birth in a hospital in which the mother was completely knocked out with chlorophorm (did I mention this was set in 1917?), and the doctor just extracted her baby for her. Since she didn't experience any of the birth, the midwife thought that this made it less real for the mother, and broke a vital connection with the child that needed to be established, which is just one of the many points this book brings up that I just never considered before.
Some of plot development is really predictable, but otherwise, a pretty good read.
January 20, 2011
Wow. What did I think indeed!
Thoroughly enjoyed.
McKay weaves a beautiful, haunting story of life on the Bay of Fundy right around the time of WWI. Her ability to carefully craft character development and plot made for an irresistible read that had me feeling a full range of emotion and constantly turning the page for the next bit of story.
Written from the perspective of pre-suffrage women in a small east-coast community, the range of characters were fascinating to observe and even through the gossip, back-stabbing and otherwise the depth of community and support for one another never seemed to wane. And while this was the perspective cast, I loved that McKay never pitted man against woman. There were times when she helps paint the picture of the 'woman's place' at that time and in that era, but it rarely felt unfair to either perspective and so I didn't feel I was ever caught up in a feminist diatribe.
For those looking to expand their CDN fiction I highly recommend The Birth House.
Thoroughly enjoyed.
McKay weaves a beautiful, haunting story of life on the Bay of Fundy right around the time of WWI. Her ability to carefully craft character development and plot made for an irresistible read that had me feeling a full range of emotion and constantly turning the page for the next bit of story.
Written from the perspective of pre-suffrage women in a small east-coast community, the range of characters were fascinating to observe and even through the gossip, back-stabbing and otherwise the depth of community and support for one another never seemed to wane. And while this was the perspective cast, I loved that McKay never pitted man against woman. There were times when she helps paint the picture of the 'woman's place' at that time and in that era, but it rarely felt unfair to either perspective and so I didn't feel I was ever caught up in a feminist diatribe.
For those looking to expand their CDN fiction I highly recommend The Birth House.
July 14, 2014
The Birth House ..by. .Ami McKay.. The author was inspired to write this story from the home she lives in. Located in Nova Scotia; which was a birth house many years before. In that period of time between 1910 - 1920 women preferred a mid wife to a male Dr. The midwife used many holistic remedies where as the Dr. used chloroform and forcepts in his deliveries. Dora the midwife had to crusade for the rights of women. At the end of the story they ran the male Dr. out of town, and Dora's home became the new birthing center with a midwife in charge. Great story.
December 23, 2017
2.5/5
Beyond the reinforcement of a white history, there was also the matter that I never once felt that I was living in the world the story told. The majority of characters were ciphers that existed purely for the sake of antagonism or approval to reinforce a protagonist who was born fully formed in personal development, never the critical mix that truly typifies any community. This never changed however many decades passed, which made for an extremely predictable narrative, especially if one was already familiar with the social movements of the Northern Americas and associated warfare of the time. Five brothers come and go with nary a growth in personality, and the triumphal trajectory was foreseen at so early a stage that, when the triumph came, all that was left to see it through with minimum engagement. There were some emotionally strong scenes, but when a book is near 400 pages, I expect a far more expansively cohesive piece. The nice thing, at any rate, about having pulled this from the 'conspiracy ' shelf, which I reserve for authors whom I've added multiple works of but have not yet read, is that I can get rid of the other with ease. Present times cling enough to fantasy without historical fiction exacerbating it.
I'm sure I'll finish another book before the end of this year, but as I have no plans to up the ante once again for my reading goal, it's worth briefing the conclusion here. For me, 2017 was the Year of Applying to Grad School, neatly blocked out into three sections of four months wherein I studied, tested, studied, tested, and finally applied, leaving only the future of waiting awaiting me to see whether all my time and money was a waste or not. In either case, I'll be moving on, as the money I've made alongside the application process means I can afford to go to the next stage, whether that be an English PhD or a Library Science MS. It'd be lovely to get the first, but with Trump's tax plan barreling towards affirmation, I'd likely have to shell out 40% of my income to pay taxes on my once nontaxed graduate financial aid, so my expectations of coming out poorer for my efforts have, once again, been sent into hyperdrive. It's a sad time for anyone who wants to make a living via critical thinking that's not geared towards thinking of new ways to amp up the military industrial complex, but what're you going to do. In any case, 2018, here we come.
P.S. For any plebs out there, Amantine Aurore Dupin is more popularly known as George Sand.
The world will know and understand me someday. But if that day does not arrive, it does not greatly matter. I shall have opened the way for other women.Some historical fiction is inspired to the level of meant to be, whether due to quality or the issues it raises or both. Others reek of the "let a history book open to a random page and point to the subject of one's future novel" syndrome, something that additional research and family history and touching upon topical issues can assuage but never fully erase. For all the sensationalism of veritable historical facts mixed with frank talk of sex and childbirth, this is very much a settler state novel with just enough acknowledgement of the original inhabitants to provide a bit of "mystique" w/out committing to a tale of those whose descendants weren't bred white through successive generations. Birth control and suffrage are all very well, but not when conducted in a vacuum of white women growing from a past of color (Ms. B's existence hints strongly at a Louisiana to Canada tale of black people looking for a better life post Civil War, but no due is paid to that narrative). All in all, when I read historical fiction, I expect a story beyond the pale, not something that caters to the typical mainstream's whitewashed fantasies, and this, for all its cherry picked veracity, did not deliver.
-Amantine Aurore Dupin
Beyond the reinforcement of a white history, there was also the matter that I never once felt that I was living in the world the story told. The majority of characters were ciphers that existed purely for the sake of antagonism or approval to reinforce a protagonist who was born fully formed in personal development, never the critical mix that truly typifies any community. This never changed however many decades passed, which made for an extremely predictable narrative, especially if one was already familiar with the social movements of the Northern Americas and associated warfare of the time. Five brothers come and go with nary a growth in personality, and the triumphal trajectory was foreseen at so early a stage that, when the triumph came, all that was left to see it through with minimum engagement. There were some emotionally strong scenes, but when a book is near 400 pages, I expect a far more expansively cohesive piece. The nice thing, at any rate, about having pulled this from the 'conspiracy ' shelf, which I reserve for authors whom I've added multiple works of but have not yet read, is that I can get rid of the other with ease. Present times cling enough to fantasy without historical fiction exacerbating it.
I'm sure I'll finish another book before the end of this year, but as I have no plans to up the ante once again for my reading goal, it's worth briefing the conclusion here. For me, 2017 was the Year of Applying to Grad School, neatly blocked out into three sections of four months wherein I studied, tested, studied, tested, and finally applied, leaving only the future of waiting awaiting me to see whether all my time and money was a waste or not. In either case, I'll be moving on, as the money I've made alongside the application process means I can afford to go to the next stage, whether that be an English PhD or a Library Science MS. It'd be lovely to get the first, but with Trump's tax plan barreling towards affirmation, I'd likely have to shell out 40% of my income to pay taxes on my once nontaxed graduate financial aid, so my expectations of coming out poorer for my efforts have, once again, been sent into hyperdrive. It's a sad time for anyone who wants to make a living via critical thinking that's not geared towards thinking of new ways to amp up the military industrial complex, but what're you going to do. In any case, 2018, here we come.
P.S. For any plebs out there, Amantine Aurore Dupin is more popularly known as George Sand.
May 28, 2013
A wonderful depiction of the gentle arts of midwifery under attack by an outrageously patronizing and paternalistic obstetrician trying to promote his "new modern methods" involving rendering women unconscious at the birth of there own babies and painting that gentle art as medieval witchery. The sad part is that many women buy this fluff.
Full of amazing characters and centered around Dora Hare, the only girl born in their family in five generations, who is apprenticed to Miss B, a loving, wise and humanistic healer. Strongly recommended.
Full of amazing characters and centered around Dora Hare, the only girl born in their family in five generations, who is apprenticed to Miss B, a loving, wise and humanistic healer. Strongly recommended.
April 8, 2021
Dora is the only daughter to be born into the Rare family of Nova Scotia’s Scots Bay in five generations. At age 17, she becomes an apprentice to Marie Babineau, a Cajun midwife and healer who relies on ancient wisdom and appeals to the Virgin Mary to keep women safe and grant them what they want, whether that’s a baby or a miscarriage. As the 1910s advance and the men of the village start leaving for the war, the old ways represented by Miss B. and Dora come to be seen as a threat. Dr. Thomas wants women to take out motherhood insurance and commit to delivering their babies at the new Canning Maternity Home with the help of chloroform and forceps. “Why should you ladies continue to suffer, most notably the trials of childbirth, when there are safe, modern alternatives available to you?” he asks.
Encouraged into marriage at an early age, Dora has to put her vocation on hold to be a wife to Archer Bigelow, a drunkard with big plans for how he’s going to transform the area with windmills that generate electricity. Dora’s narration is interspersed with journal entries, letters, faux newspaper articles, what look like genuine period advertisements, and a glossary of herbal remedies – creating what McKay, in her Author’s Note, calls a “literary scrapbook.” I love epistolary formats, and there are so many interesting themes and appealing secondary characters here. Early obstetrics is not the only aspect of medicine included; there is also an exploration of “hysteria” and its treatment, and the Spanish flu makes a late appearance. Dora, away in Boston at the time, urges her friends from the Occasional Knitters’ Society to block the road to the Bay, make gauze masks, and wash their hands with hot water and soap.
There are a few places where the narrative is almost overwhelmed by all the (admittedly, fascinating) facts McKay, a debut author, turned up in her research, and where the science versus superstition dichotomy seems too simplistic, but for the most part this was just the sort of absorbing, atmospheric historical fiction that I like best. McKay took inspiration from her own home, an old birthing house in the Bay of Fundy.
Encouraged into marriage at an early age, Dora has to put her vocation on hold to be a wife to Archer Bigelow, a drunkard with big plans for how he’s going to transform the area with windmills that generate electricity. Dora’s narration is interspersed with journal entries, letters, faux newspaper articles, what look like genuine period advertisements, and a glossary of herbal remedies – creating what McKay, in her Author’s Note, calls a “literary scrapbook.” I love epistolary formats, and there are so many interesting themes and appealing secondary characters here. Early obstetrics is not the only aspect of medicine included; there is also an exploration of “hysteria” and its treatment, and the Spanish flu makes a late appearance. Dora, away in Boston at the time, urges her friends from the Occasional Knitters’ Society to block the road to the Bay, make gauze masks, and wash their hands with hot water and soap.
There are a few places where the narrative is almost overwhelmed by all the (admittedly, fascinating) facts McKay, a debut author, turned up in her research, and where the science versus superstition dichotomy seems too simplistic, but for the most part this was just the sort of absorbing, atmospheric historical fiction that I like best. McKay took inspiration from her own home, an old birthing house in the Bay of Fundy.
February 25, 2021
3.5 stars.
While the story was good, it wasn't great. I felt it branched too far into other aspects of Dora's life and didn't focus quite as much on the actual Birth House.
I did appreciated the theme of "modern scientific" (hospital) birth vs. natural midwifery as this is still a very heated debate in child bearing today.
I just felt this book was a bit shallow and could've been so much more. Still a worthy read.
While the story was good, it wasn't great. I felt it branched too far into other aspects of Dora's life and didn't focus quite as much on the actual Birth House.
I did appreciated the theme of "modern scientific" (hospital) birth vs. natural midwifery as this is still a very heated debate in child bearing today.
I just felt this book was a bit shallow and could've been so much more. Still a worthy read.
July 23, 2017
I enjoyed this book. Mostly about a young woman, Dora, who is the only girl in a long line of all males in her dad's family. She is deemed "special" for a few reasons upon her birth.
It takes place in a small village in Nova Scotia around the time of WWI & the life of the people in the town was quite interesting. Dora is friends with the town's medicine town/midwife. Through this relationship Dora also starts to "catch babies".
I found some parts of the book a little far fetched but it is fiction so I let it go.
It takes place in a small village in Nova Scotia around the time of WWI & the life of the people in the town was quite interesting. Dora is friends with the town's medicine town/midwife. Through this relationship Dora also starts to "catch babies".
I found some parts of the book a little far fetched but it is fiction so I let it go.
April 29, 2014
This is a solid 3-stars, and I would recommend this to certain people.
This is not a masterpiece and it does not have an amazing storyline (See below), but it is a nice read for a rainy day, and it has enough going for it that I enjoyed it (and finished it within 24hours of starting). I won't say that I couldn't put it down, just that I was happy to keep reading.
The storyline is basic and typical of this style of book. Take a beautiful and intelligent woman in a backward-township. Give her some kind parents, a wonderful (but also misunderstood) mentor, give her some friends that like to push the boundaries of society (just a little). Have her stay pure, have her marry an asshole, have all the women in town stuck married to assholes, add a nice man (one of the few men who treat women well) as a serious love interest.... and well you have the plot for an entire genre of books/movies.
I am not a big fan of this plot style, it is obvious and boring.
The book used midwifery, birth, and obstetrics as the plot device to move the story forward. I enjoyed that side of things (having had two homebirths myself, and being horrified at the way OBs still try to control birth). I think the 'bad guy' of this story was painted with a very heavy brush and it would be hard to read if I didn't agree with it. I mean, if I had had a OB-controlled birth I might feel angry at the author for daring to suggest it wasn't the best... ie personal emotions at odds with the author's heavy handed portrayal of the Dr in this story.
BUT, this is a cheap paperback, it is not Tolstoy... I am not expecting characters with depth.
I enjoyed the story as a light read about a topic that interests me... but even as I write this review I know it is really hovering around the 2.5stars mark.
This is not a masterpiece and it does not have an amazing storyline (See below), but it is a nice read for a rainy day, and it has enough going for it that I enjoyed it (and finished it within 24hours of starting). I won't say that I couldn't put it down, just that I was happy to keep reading.
The storyline is basic and typical of this style of book. Take a beautiful and intelligent woman in a backward-township. Give her some kind parents, a wonderful (but also misunderstood) mentor, give her some friends that like to push the boundaries of society (just a little). Have her stay pure, have her marry an asshole, have all the women in town stuck married to assholes, add a nice man (one of the few men who treat women well) as a serious love interest.... and well you have the plot for an entire genre of books/movies.
I am not a big fan of this plot style, it is obvious and boring.
The book used midwifery, birth, and obstetrics as the plot device to move the story forward. I enjoyed that side of things (having had two homebirths myself, and being horrified at the way OBs still try to control birth). I think the 'bad guy' of this story was painted with a very heavy brush and it would be hard to read if I didn't agree with it. I mean, if I had had a OB-controlled birth I might feel angry at the author for daring to suggest it wasn't the best... ie personal emotions at odds with the author's heavy handed portrayal of the Dr in this story.
BUT, this is a cheap paperback, it is not Tolstoy... I am not expecting characters with depth.
I enjoyed the story as a light read about a topic that interests me... but even as I write this review I know it is really hovering around the 2.5stars mark.
July 16, 2011
Since I bought this the first month it came out, I have read it multiple times, and I am likely to read it again.
Ami McKay paints a picture of a time when midwives were the most called upon form of doctor, not just for childbirth, but for all of the other everyday medical practices that we now go to a doctor for, but also for relationships, taboos, domestic violence and smaller, but no less interesting things such as food choices, and religious beliefs. She leads us through the life of the first girl born to a family of mainly men in a very long time, and takes us from her being a young girl to her being a married woman and beyond.
Before you discount the book, and what is in it, you must remember that Ami McKay is writing from a different perspective, a different time era. She masterfully created characters that you can remember well after the last time you opened the book, from the neurotic aunt, to the loving mother, to the doctor who nobody likes (after a spell). She has used authentic props, authentic settings, and a wide variety of emotions throughout the novel, which are tangible from the first page to the very end, where, if you're keeping an open mind and not considering it a women's lib book, you wish it wasn't ending. You root for more than just the main character, you can revel in folklore and the idea that once upon a time, life was actually like this, and in retrospect, no matter how hard it seemed then, it would be fairly idyllic now - Ami McKay paints a lush period piece filled with description, design and emotion while keeping all of her characters witty, intelligent and believable.
I would recommend this to absolutely anybody I know.
Ami McKay paints a picture of a time when midwives were the most called upon form of doctor, not just for childbirth, but for all of the other everyday medical practices that we now go to a doctor for, but also for relationships, taboos, domestic violence and smaller, but no less interesting things such as food choices, and religious beliefs. She leads us through the life of the first girl born to a family of mainly men in a very long time, and takes us from her being a young girl to her being a married woman and beyond.
Before you discount the book, and what is in it, you must remember that Ami McKay is writing from a different perspective, a different time era. She masterfully created characters that you can remember well after the last time you opened the book, from the neurotic aunt, to the loving mother, to the doctor who nobody likes (after a spell). She has used authentic props, authentic settings, and a wide variety of emotions throughout the novel, which are tangible from the first page to the very end, where, if you're keeping an open mind and not considering it a women's lib book, you wish it wasn't ending. You root for more than just the main character, you can revel in folklore and the idea that once upon a time, life was actually like this, and in retrospect, no matter how hard it seemed then, it would be fairly idyllic now - Ami McKay paints a lush period piece filled with description, design and emotion while keeping all of her characters witty, intelligent and believable.
I would recommend this to absolutely anybody I know.
February 3, 2019
Once again, a visit to how incredibly awful and proscribed women's lives used to be, with the obvious reminder that it's not all peachy these days, either. Sweeping, powerful themes (maternal love, isolation, community, sorority, power, spirituality....). Amazing that this is a debut novel. It's quite the opus. I didn't realize when I TBR'd it that it was even about Nova Scotia, now my home.
April 22, 2022
I bumped this up to 3 stars from 2 because I'm still thinking about this book. was it the most beautifully written? ...no. was the plot super compelling, was the conflict very high stakes? no. were the characters multi-faceted and deep? ... also no. but there was some sort of charm, some sort of magic about this book- while I can't put my finger on it, it's there.
November 5, 2022
I REALLY enjoyed this story! From the historic Nova Scotia setting, to the exploration of evolving women’s rights, to the wise traditions of the mid-wife, the writing style and format, the characters you love and hate, all of it just worked for me. I’ll be remembering this one for a long time to come, one that will stick with me.
August 28, 2018
Wonderful book! Amazes me to think about what struggles women faced when it came to childbirth and maintaining control over their bodies in the early 1900’s.
March 18, 2025
Canadian east coast witchy midwife historical fiction, what more could you ask for? Makes me wanna whip up some salves and yell at men.
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