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highly recommended |
A View from Nova Scotia 
As a native Maritime Canadian and local history buff, I was intrigued by the subject of Ami McKay's debut novel. It was an engaging read but it left me feeling strangely disappointed. In Canada, the book has been praised for its storytelling and nostalgic depiction of strong Maritime female characters living in changing times.
Where the book fails for me is in the area of historical realism. My recent genealogical journeys into the hardscrabble lives of my female ancestors who lived in the Maritimes at about the same time, suggest to me that Dora Rare's life was not typical. As a widowed woman with a child to support (and who does not seem to charge for her midwife services), her final refusal of a second marriage did not ring true for the times. The author imbues the book with a certain twenty-first century female modernity, distorting Dora's world for me.
When it is revealed that a local minister will take in all ten children of a murdered mother, I compare it with what happened in my own family in small town New Brunswick. My widowed great-grandmother was forced to literally "farm out" five of her six children to five separate rural homes, a less ideal but more likely occurrence than McKay's suggestion.
I also noticed that the author gives inaccurate information on the history of the Acadians. The Acadians who were deported from the Grand-Pre area in 1755 did not go directly to Louisianna as she seems to suggest with the family history of the Acadian midwife.
Still, I do admire the author's obvious appreciation of her adopted local landscape and its storied past.
I did not want it to end... 
As I told the author when I emailed her at the books site, I fell into this book and did not want to find my way out.
The minute I finished this amazing story, I wanted to just begin it again.
It is a story of a place, a time, a family, a girl and her coming of age in a time of change for women.
There are hints of faith, mysticism and controversy embedded in the story of a strong girl becoming an amazing woman.
Buy this book, you will not regret it.
I wish it had been longer
"The Birth House" is beautifully written. McKay's novel suffers from none of the pitfalls of the historical novel: historical fact livens the book and sets the scene instead of deadening the reader, and characters are seamlessly integrated into actual events. I wish this book had been longer, and will be looking for more from this author.
reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5
birth house, birth, house
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based on 25 reviews
