Prompt Proofing Blog Post: Book Review: The Birth House by Ami McKay

    VANCOUVER, BC, January 27, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As promised, on the fourth Friday of each month, we will publish a book review. This month's choice is Ami McKay's debut novel, The Birth House.

Ami McKay is originally from Indiana and moved to Nova Scotia 'for the love of a good Canadian man'. Ms McKay's book brings to life the harsh realities of life in a remote area of Nova Scotia, before and during World War I. It tells the story of Dora Rare, a young midwife who conducts her craft in a strongly patriarchal society where women have little say in what happens to their bodies and where marriage, for many, means endless babies and lives of unrelenting drudgery. Dora and her mentor dare to question the prevalent attitudes of the times and to assist women with conception, birth and, if needed, birth control, using time-honoured herbal remedies and a good mix of love and common sense.

Dora clashes, not only with her philandering husband, but with the local doctor, who exemplifies the arrogance of a male-dominated medical profession and its attitude to female problems. The clash between 'modern' science and holistic midwifery is portrayed with compassion and fascinating historic detail. While the book provides the reader with a strong understanding of the social history of the times, the plot is interwoven with specific historical events, including harrowing and graphic accounts of the aftermath of the Halifax munitions explosion of 1917 and the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak in Boston.

Ms McKay's characters are compellingly drawn, engaging the reader almost from the first page, transporting them to the remote community of Scots Bay where they become part of the tight-knit community of women. She is a born storyteller with a lyrical writing style that truly evokes the strength, tenderness and insecurities of her young protagonist. The Birth House, as its name suggests, is concerned with birth but through Dora's eyes we understand that the true miracle is not birth itself but the maternal love for the tiny creature that has caused its mother pain and discomfort throughout months of pregnancy and hours of labour.

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