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Kelsey Ford: From the Stacks: J. M. Ledgard's Submergence (0 comment)
Our blog feature, "From the Stacks," features our booksellers’ favorite older books: those fortuitous used finds, underrated masterpieces, and lesser known treasures. Basically: the books that we’re the most passionate about handselling. This week, we’re featuring Kelsey F.’s pick, Submergence by J. M. Ledgard...
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Birth House

by Ami Mckay
Birth House

  • Comment on this title
  • Synopses & Reviews
  • Reading Group Guide

ISBN13: 9780061135873
ISBN10: 0061135879
Condition: Standard


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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

An arresting portrait of the struggles that women faced for control of their own bodies, The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare—the first daughter in five generations of Rares.

As apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, Dora learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and unfulfilling sex lives. During the turbulent World War I era, uncertainty and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. In a clash between tradition and science, Dora finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put into her care.

Review

[It] will educate and thoroughly charm you with its honesty and brilliant prose. The State (Columbia, SC)

Synopsis

In this breathtaking debut novel, Ami McKay has created an unforgettable portrait of the struggles that women have faced to control their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.

The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare--the first daughter in five generations of Rares. As apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, Dora learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and even unfulfilling sex lives. During the turbulent World War I era, uncertainty and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. Dora soon finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put into her care.

A tale of tradition and science, matriarchy and paternalism, past and future, The Birth House is "a dazzling first novel." (Library Journal), and a story more timely than ever.

Synopsis

Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, this story of a Nova Scotia midwife is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.

Synopsis

An arresting portrait of the struggles that women faced for control of their own bodies, The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare—the first daughter in five generations of Rares.

As apprentice to the outspoken Acadian midwife Miss Babineau, Dora learns to assist the women of an isolated Nova Scotian village through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and unfulfilling sex lives. During the turbulent World War I era, uncertainty and upheaval accompany the arrival of a brash new medical doctor and his promises of progress and fast, painless childbirth. In a clash between tradition and science, Dora finds herself fighting to protect the rights of women as well as the wisdom that has been put into her care.


About the Author

Ami McKay is the author of the number-one Canadian bestseller The Birth House, winner of three Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards, and a nominee for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Originally from Indiana, she now lives with her husband and two sons in Nova Scotia.

Reading Group Guide

Questions for Discussion

1. How does reading shape Dora's view of the world? How does her love of books play into her relationship with her father? With Miss B.? With Archer?

2. After attending her first birth, Dora observes that, "How a mother comes to love her child, her caring at all for this thing that's made her heavy, lopsided and slow, this thing that made her wish she were dead . . . that's the miracle." What do you think she meant? Do you feel this is true?

3. Folklore, home remedies, women's traditions, herbalism, and a belief in the divine feminine are all part of Miss B.'s way of life. She is determined to pass these things along to Dora. Does Dora try hard enough to preserve them? Should she let them go?

4. When Archer asks Dora to marry him, he tells her that, "love takes care of herself." She chooses to say 'yes'. What does Dora's decision say about her situation and station in life? Should she have chosen to follow in Miss B.'s footsteps instead?

5. Dr. Thomas treats Dora for Neurasthenia (described as "Weeping, melancholy, anxiety, irritability, depression, outrageousness, insomnia, mental and physical weariness, idle talking, sudden fevers, morbid fears, frequent titillation, forgetfulness, palpitations of the heart, headaches, writing cramps, mental confusion, constant worry and fear of impending insanity"). What do you think of this diagnosis compared with Dora's behavior? Do you think his treatment was administered with the desire to heal Dora? Would a similar diagnosis and treatment be administered today?

6. Through a visit to Dr. Thomas's office, Dora discovers that women's sexual pleasure (specifically orgasm) is considered to be a medical function (or dysfunction). Ads of the time, such as the one for the White Cross Vibrator, reinforced this notion. How does Dora come to terms with these ideas? What kinds of taboos surround women's sexuality today?

7. Miss B. says to Dr. Thomas: "Science don't know kindness. It don't know kindness from cabbage." Dr. Thomas replies: "Science is neither kind nor unkind, Miss Babineau. Science is exact." How do these statements show the differences between Miss B. and Dr. Thomas? In moving the birthing experience from homes and birth houses to hospitals, what have women lost? What have they gained?

8. After Dora discovers Aunt Fran's affair with Reverend Norton she writes: "He's been seeing her. He's noticed her so much that now she's his." Why do you think she decided to keep it a secret? Should she have told someone? What would you have done?

9. Dora says this about her mother: "Everything I've learned from Mother, every bit of her truth has been said while her hands were moving." What does this say about her relationship with her mother? Is this kind of communication still an important part of women's lives?

10. The sisters of the Occasional Knitters Society support Dora throughout the book (keeping the secret of Wrennie's birth, taking care of Wrennie when Dora goes to Boston, meeting together for conversations and sisterhood.) What makes their friendship so strong? Are friendships like that possible today?

11. The author uses ephemera from Dora's life (invitations, news articles, sections from The Willow Book, folk tales, advertisements, etc.) throughout the novel. How did this affect your reading experience? Do you have a favorite from them?

12. There are many mentions of birthing folklore and techniques, from groaning cake to mother's tea, from Miss B. turning Ginny's breech baby to quilling. What wives' tales about pregnancy and birth do you know? Are there any that you'd swear by?

13. Dora is conflicted when Mrs. Ketch comes to her house for help. Given Dora's past with Mrs. Ketch, Why do you think she chose to assist her in helping her 'lose' her baby?

14. Maxine is very different from anyone Dora has ever met. Boston is very different from Scots Bay. What do Maxine and Boston bring to Dora's life? Have you ever made a change in location or met someone who immediately changed your life?

15. In both the prologue and the epilogue, we see how life has changed in Scots Bay. Other towns in other places have changed over time, some gone forever. Have we gained anything with these changes? What have we lost?

16. After Dora and Hart become lovers, he talks of marriage and she refuses. Why do you think she is so determined not to marry him?


4.2 4

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!
Average customer rating 4.2 (4 comments)

`
Jena , August 12, 2012 (view all comments by Jena)
It's been over two years since I read this book, and I still think of it often. I've also recommended it to many people. Very interesting especially if you're pregnant and(/or) have been reading books like Your Best Birth or Ina May Gaskin's Birth Matters.

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cmckella , January 05, 2011
evocative of a particular time and place and way of life. informative and enjoyable.

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Julie Miller , January 02, 2009 (view all comments by Julie Miller)
An easy read--maybe a little too easy. Although the subject matter is compelling, the characters are a bit too 'black & white.' We don't know what they're really thinking. For such a complex subject as science intruding on tradition McKay paints the man of science as mostly evil, while the midwives are painted as mostly good or superior to the medical profession. I enjoyed the portrait of Miss B., the older midwife who passes down her teachings to Dora, as well as the Nova Scotia setting, but the characterizations could have been more complex.

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bhacha , January 02, 2008
This is one of those rare books that propels you forward, wanting to know what happens to the characters and how the story ends; yet, when you get there, you're sorry you've finished the book. Wonderfully written. compelling.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780061135873
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
10/09/2007
Publisher:
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
Series info:
P.S.
Pages:
416
Height:
1.00IN
Width:
5.30IN
Thickness:
1.00
Series:
P.S.
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2007
UPC Code:
2800061135875
Author:
Ami McKay
Author:
I Am
Author:
McKay
Author:
Ami McKay
Subject:
Midwives - Nova Scotia
Subject:
Midwives
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Social life and customs

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$6.50
List Price:$15.99
Used Trade Paperback
Ships in 1 to 3 days
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1Burnside

More copies of this ISBN

  • New, Trade Paperback, $15.99

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  • Used, Hardcover, $5.50
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