tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4121962.post8834010369163274350..comments2024-02-13T08:46:20.840-05:00Comments on impudent strumpet: Potentially reluctant fathers in Call the Midwifeimpudent strumpethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599784976599854538noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4121962.post-39072484003379576582012-12-09T10:43:20.547-05:002012-12-09T10:43:20.547-05:00I had no idea there was midwifery fiction! As you ...I had no idea there was midwifery fiction! As you describe it, it's an excellent subject. If I were to read only one midwife-themed novel, can you recommend one?<br /><br />The only midwife book I ever read was "<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Midwifes-Tale-Martha-Ballard-1785-1812/dp/0679733760" rel="nofollow">A Midwife's Tale</a>", which is an explication of a diary. It was very interesting, but very dry, and I didn't finish it. laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4121962.post-80956953610173163342012-12-07T20:17:04.394-05:002012-12-07T20:17:04.394-05:00I enjoy historical midwifery as a subject for fict...I enjoy historical midwifery as a subject for fiction. You get female protagonists living independently and being competent professionals in eras in which this is rare, you get medical drama that's never going to stray into the areas that make me squeamish, you get an unglamourized slice of life of the historical era in question from a female POV when they visit the various patients, you get to see how medicine was practised in that historical era, lots of interesting stuff. <br /><br />Plus, in midwifery fiction set in older eras (the Margaret of Ashbury books, that recent novel by some Maritime writer whose name escapes me) the midwives were often thought of as witchy and social outcasts and they trained each other by apprenticeship, so you see a shy outcast girl taken under the wing of a wise old woman and become competent in a skill that is vital to the community and respected enough to live on her own terms, although not as part of the mainstream.<br /><br />Call the Midwife doesn't have this last arc because the midwives were trained in nursing school and work for the National Health, but it's still an interesting point of view from which to approach historical fiction.impudent strumpethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05599784976599854538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4121962.post-19552274992698486422012-12-07T09:46:05.354-05:002012-12-07T09:46:05.354-05:00I've only ever heard/read about this show on y...I've only ever heard/read about this show on your blog, so my information is very limited. But based on your posts, I wonder what the attraction is. Sounds so baby-happy. Is it a good drama, or something else?laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.com