KnowledgeGeek's Reviews > Shadows of the Workhouse

After devouring, within 2 days, and very much enjoying the first book in this trilogy entitled Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times, which is presented in a more traditional memoir format, I'm sorry have to admit that I’m ever so slightly irritated with the second book.
Whereas the first book was more expressive of Mrs. Worth’s own personal experiences as both a nurse and midwife and spoke of several of her patients, the second book in the series is more of a social commentary, accompanied by second hand stories as well as the author’s own experiences. While I can & did appreciate the social commentary, what I found just a tiny bit irritating was that Mrs. Worth chose to include speculative dialogue in her second book; for she could not have possibly known the thoughts of several of the characters nor been privy to certain conversations such as the ones she writes of having taken place between such persons as Sir Ian and his wife or the workhouse Master & Mistress. However, in continuing to thoroughly enjoy the read, I soon forgave her this.

Mixed genres & speculations aside, I must say, this was an interesting & compelling, if sometimes terribly brutal read. However, as life itself is a mixture of loveliness & brutality, her accounts (a good 98% true overall, I’d say) make her literary works all the more profound. Mrs. Worth succeeds quite well in explaining the reasons behind the emergence of the dreaded workhouses and how, although established through good intentions, they failed abysmally. Most successfully conveyed, with heart-wrenching detail (even if some is speculative) is the way the author brings to life for the reader, how a life of constantly inflicted degradation within the walls of these sorely misguided institutions resulted in the devastating physical, emotional & spiritual crippling of many of societies poorest of the poor.

Mrs. Worth was quite obviously a kind, thoughtful, intelligent & erudite woman with a true gift for writing. Her brilliance shines through in her beautifully poignant (she had me in tears many times), hard hitting (she truly causes a person to engage their brain) & cleverly witty (I woke my husband more than once at night with a burst of laughter) descriptive style. I highly admire her knowledge & obvious appreciation of the many variations, and constant evolution of, the English language. I thoroughly enjoyed reading of her experiences and seeing how she blossomed beautifully from the vain naivety of youth, into a kinder, more thoughtful, and ultimately insightful adult. The world has lost a great asset with the passing of Mrs. Worth.