Book 1 was more about being a midwife in the tenements and by the docks in London in the 1950s. This book focused on a few characters the nurse came across during those years and told their stories about their lives in those times - two people who grew up as children in the workhouse (working orphanage/poorhouse), one of the elderly nuns, and a Crimean war vet. Had nothing to do with her being a midwife, but they were interesting stories.