On an important right of women

I read about The Birth House by Ami McKay in an email I get from our book distributor. They were promoting it as a potential reading group selection and I thought it looked interesting. So, even though I was pretty sure it wouldn't be something our reading group would be interested in, I had the library order a copy. I'm glad I did. I know we will have plenty of customers who will really enjoy the book. Plus, I really enjoyed it and that seems like a good enough reason to purchase a book!



The Birth House is an excellent story set in Nova Scotia during World War I. It tells the story of Dora Rare, a young midwife who is struggling to avoid prosecution for practicing medicine without a license. The women in the rural community in which she lives have always given birth at home but are now being convinced that it is too dangerous and "uncivilized" to continue doing so. They are being pressured into unsafe medical births by the local doctor and by their husbands, who see going to a doctor as a sign of prosperity. Dora's house becomes a birth house, a place where women secretly come to have their babies and Dora becomes an outspoken advocate in favor of a woman's right to choose where she will give birth.

The book is just lovely. The characters are fantastic, the descriptions of the community of women are inspiring and the fight that Dora had to go through to maintain her profession is just so interesting. Having read some history about the topic, I know that much of what is described in the novel is accurate and I really love it when historical books are accurate! It's a good story...I definitely recommend it.