Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth

Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth

The sequel to Jennifer Worth's New York Times bestselling memoir and the basis for the PBS series Call the Midwife

When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood's most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century.

Orphaned brother and sister Peggy and Frank lived in the workhouse until Frank got free and returned to rescue his sister. Bubbly Jane's spirit was broken by the cruelty of the workhouse master until she found kindness and romance years later at Nonnatus House. Mr. Collett, a Boer War veteran, lost his family in the two world wars and died in the workhouse.

Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at people's lives in the poorest section of postwar London.

Jennifer Worth received her nursing education at Reading's Royal Berkshire Hospital. She subsequently relocated to London to pursue her dream of becoming a midwife. She eventually worked as a ward sister and sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Euston, and later as a staff nurse at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Jennifer quit her job as a nurse in 1973 to pursue her passion for music full-time, earning a Licentiate from the London College of Music in 1974 and a Fellowship ten years later. Jennifer Worth married Philip Worth in 1963 and the couple lived in Hertfordshire together.

In May 2011, she passed away, leaving behind her husband, two kids, and three grandchildren. The iconic TV series Call the Midwife is based on her memoirs.