June Book Club - Tuesday, June 18th

We will be discussing the non-fiction book, In the Midst of Life by Jennifer Worth, author of Call the Midwife, the inspiration for the BBC TV series of the same name (our library has the DVDs).

As a nurse and ward sister in London, Mrs. Worth came across stories of warmth, humor, and humanity as those she nursed shared with her their memories and life lessons.

Her first volume of memoirs, Call the Midwife, was published in 2002. The book became a best-seller when it was reissued in 2007. Shadows of the Workhouse (2005; reissued 2008) and Farewell to the East End (2009) also became best-sellers. The trilogy sold almost a million copies in the UK alone. In this fourth volume of memoirs, In the Midst of Life, published in 2010, Worth reflects on her later experiences caring for the terminally ill.

About the author

Jennifer Louise Worth RN RM (born 25 September 1935 – died 31 May 2011) was a British memoirist. She is best known as the author of the best-selling trilogy about her work as a nurse and midwife practising in the poverty-stricken East End of London in the 1950s.

A television series, Call the Midwife, based on her books, began broadcasting on BBC One in the UK on 15 January 2012 and on PBS in the US on 30 September 2012. After leaving nursing, she re-trained as a musician.

Worth was highly critical of Mike Leigh’s 2004 film Vera Drake, for depicting the consequences of illegal abortions unrealistically. She argued that the method shown in the film, far from being fairly quick and painless, was in fact almost invariably fatal for the woman. Although deeply religious, as a result of the harm done with such illegal procedures, she approved of the legalization of abortion in the UK, saying this was a medical, not moral, issue