Hauntingly written and alive with historical detail, 'The Birth House' is an unforgettable, page-turning debut. Death and deception, accusations and exile follow, as Dora and her friends fight to protect each other and the women's wisdom of their community. But their traditions and methods are threatened when a doctor comes to town with promises of painless childbirth and sets about undermining Dora's credibility. INTRODUCTION Ami McKay’s novel The Birth House presents both maritime lore and superstition, in relation to the female, through McKay’s explorations of motherhood, childbirth, and midwifery practices. Dora becomes her apprentice at the outset of World War I, and together they help women through difficult births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling marriages. Originally from Indiana, she now lives with her husband and two sons in Nova Scotia. As a child in the small village of Scot's Bay, Dora Rare – the first female in five generations of Rares – is befriended by Miss Babineau, an elderly midwife with a kitchen filled with folk remedies and a talent for telling tales. Ami McKay is the author of the numberone Canadian bestseller The Birth House, winner of three Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards, and a nominee for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and The Virgin Cure. Epic and enchanting, 'The Birth House' is a gripping saga about a midwife's struggles in the wilds of Nova Scotia. Item Weight 12. Canadian radiojournalist McKay was unable to ferret out the life story of late midwife Rebecca Steele, who operated a Nova Scotia birthing center out of. In a tale spanning the 20th century, Ami McKay takes a primitive and superstitious rural community in Nova Scotia and creates a rich tableau of characters to tell the story of childbirth from its most secretive early practices to modern maternity as we know it. Birth House : a Novel Author Ami Mckay Format Perfect Language English Topic Contemporary Women, Family Life, Small Town & Rural, Historical Publication Year 2007 Genre Fiction Number of Pages 416 Pages Dimensions Item Length 8in.

The Birth House by Ami McKay