Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Birth House

The Birth House
The Birth House
Author: Ami McKay
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
bananapancakes avatar reviewed on + 95 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10


Taking place during the first World War, this book brings to light the hardship women had face before women's suffrage. The women of a small mountain town in Nova Scotia are used to home births by a kindly wise midwife and they would not have it any other way until challenged by a new doctor in town, who deems it unsafe and basically stupid to not want a hospital birth, where the mother is sedated, barely remembering the event at all. Dora, at first a young girl at the start of this novel is at the heart of this struggle, as she takes the lead role as midwife after a tragedy occurs. I really liked this book and although it took a bit to capture my attention, once it did I could not put it down.