The Midwife's Apprentice is on Christina's summer reading list and she brought it home from the library last week. She passed it on to me after she read it and I found it very interesting. I read the reviews on Amazon and several reviewers found the book to be inappropriate for youth. That it is considered children's lit. is misleading in that I don't think my early elementary children who are capable of reading The Midwife's Apprentice would get nearly as much from the story as say Christina did. I would suggest this book for ages 10+ (depending on your child's maturity), but when in doubt, I would suggest reading the book before your child does.
Obviously, childbirth is part of the story, but there was nothing graphic in this element. The book takes place in medieval times and so life is naturally primitive and childbearing is portrayed in a primitive way with the midwife yelling at the mother-to-be, slapping one out of her hysteria, etc. The midwife is all business, not always moral (she's an adulterer), and crass. Her tactics are crude and unsophisticated illustrating how in medieval times "midwifery was a combination of common sense, herbal knowledge, and superstition." (pg. 119, Author's Note)
The apprentice, a young girl, goes from being homeless and finding warmth in a dung heap bed to getting a sense of self confidence through life experience. As a reader looking in on her life, it is apparent that she is quite clever and bright (even outwitting the more respected villagers) long before she believes this truth for herself.
The author tells the story in a descriptive way with many lessons appropriate and important for youth on up. For example, I enjoyed the lesson of the significance of a name. The apprentice went from being called "Brat" to demanding she be addressed by her self-given name, Alyce. Later she offered a royal name to a homeless friend. This got me thinking...What does my name mean to me? I have pretty thick skin, but naturally in my youth being called by my name felt better than being called something less than kind. I'm going to use the lesson of Brat vs. Alyce with my children in an effort to bring kinder conversations in our home.
Christina pointed out the lesson of persistence..."If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," or as Alyce comes to voice, "I know how to try and risk and fail and try again and not give up." (pg. 117) It was better that Alyce forge ahead learning from mistakes and failure rather than quit when things didn't go as hoped. We can always learn from each experience.
At just 122 pages, this is a short book, easily read in a portion of a day. I would suggest this book for a mother/daughter or womens' book group. Go HERE & HERE for ideas for The Midwife's Apprentice discussion questions.
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