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the birth house
by ami mckay
The Birth House will draw you in to a time and place now long forgotten. Set in a small, isolated fishing village in Nova Scotia in the early 1900's, The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter in five generations of Rares. Dora is drawn early in life to become an apprentice to the town's respected and cherished mid-wife, Miss Babineau. It is Dora's destiny to take over for Miss Babineau when the old woman dies, but not before Miss Babineau has taught her all that she knows about the process of birthing, including traditions passed on from the natives who came before her. We learn of everything important that happens in the town through the tales of the mothers who pass through Dora's birthing house: the fancies of young couples, the broken dreams, the marriages and sex lives of women, even Dora's own ill-fated romance. And amidst all this is the arrival of a new doctor in town – an obstetrician set on educating the town on the advantages of hospital births and their clinical, sterile, "new age" environments. Dora's position is challenged and she is up to the challenge. This book, by first-time author Ami McKay, is a read to savour. Beautifully written, unique in voice, and passionate.
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