2008-09-07 An excellent follow up to Call the Midwife... can't wait for the third book

I read this book in 24 hours- I just could not put it down. I had high expectations, having "enjoyed" Call the Midwife. I say "enjoyed" because I also found it horrifying and I cried over the stories of Mary and Mrs Jenkins.

This book doesn't disappoint, and the stories of Jane, Peggy and Frank are just as compelling. It's written in the same style as Call the Midwife so you can really get your teeth into a character's story in each chapter.

The stories are not as bleak as CTM's- Jane finds love in later life which finally helps to restore the sparkle she lost when she was badly beaten and humiliated in the workhouse. Peggy and Frank have each other, and Joseph Collett doesn't see his own situation as bleak, and is appreciative of the filthy tenement rooms that he's been given. His story is fascinating and I think the friendship between him and Jennifer is beautifully portrayed, especially the incident in the final pages of the book.

The only gripe I have is that I thought a lot of pages were wasted on the trial of Sister Monica Joan, which I didn't find as fascinating as the author I'm afraid. But it's a small gripe, and all adds to the characters of the nuns of Nonnatus House.

Jennifer Worth is very fair in her description of workhouses. They served a purpose, even though they were ill thought out and socially destructive to those who were ripped apart from their family members. Descriptions of life in the workhouse are well written and the most grisly details are in general spared us although clearly implied- the sexual abuse that was alluded to in Frank's story for example.

I want more! I can't wait for the third book. Jennifer Worth must have thousands of stories in her head of the people she met- I want to hear them all.