Janalyn, Thanks to the link at Kitchen Table I was finally able to get on here! It has been over a year since I could get on, even with the suggestions posted here from time to time. Yeah for me.

Glad to have you back!
I also found out from the KT thread that this book is the first in a trilogy and is also known as Call the Midwife and Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times. That might help in your searching for the book. :)

PS And their Edit button actually works at KT, unlike ours.

Thank you for posting the discussion information at the KT.

The three books of the trilogy are Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times, Shadows of the Workhouse, and Farewell to the East End. I have just requested all three of them from the library and am the only person on the list, so I hope to have read them all by February 1 and join the discussion.

Thanks for the push, Janalyn. I missed some of the first part of the TV show and have wished I had seen all the programs.

Carolyn, I was just going to do a discussion of the first one. You dont need to read all three, only if you want to. That is a lot of reading in one month :)

I ordered all three of the books and should have them by Jan. 14. I expect that I will want to read them all, but I'm glad that only the first one will be discussed, Janalyn, so that I won't have to rush to read them all before the discussion starts. Of course with my memory it's probably better that I read the first one only shortly beforehand. :-(

I haven't seen the TV series and probably won't get the chance to. I hope that won't be an impediment.

Janalyn, I actually have a copy of this (bought from a 'remainder pile') and found much of it much harsher than the TV series. I haven't read the other two.

Janalyn, I will definitely join in the discussion. Great idea!

I might save some of you a little trouble by telling you about my experience searching for a copy of the book. My local library did not have a book titled Call the Midwife but DID have The Midwife. I used an online form to request Call the Midwife through interlibrary loan. Twice my library cancelled my request and place The Midwife on hold for me instead. When I finally called to speak to a real person, I learned that these are in fact the same book - published under two different names.

Yes, I thought you only meant to discuss the first book, but my reading is more like three books a week than a month. I'm retired, after all!

I read the first book a year or two ago, and have not seen the television program. I no longer have the book available to me but will see if I can recall enough of it to take part in the discussion.

Rosefolly

Did any of you see the PBS presentation of the Christmas episode last night? It centered around an unexploded bomb and dealt with an outbreak of polio as well. Very good!

Yes :) I just picked the book up from the library an hour ago and I fully expect it to be harsher than the TV series. Most of the stories on TV end in a heartwarming manner...I doubt that the book will completely echo that, but that is fine.

I have a copy on order and hope to join the discussion. I've been curious about the TV series, too.

Hmmm.

Dare I say "Girl Book"?! It does not appeal to me at all.

My wife loves the TV series, though. We thought we had a copy of the book, too - but it seems to have gone missing.

But if I find a cheap copy in a charity shop, I'll join in the discussion...

Martin, your comment makes me smile. You are spot on about "girl book." I'd almost say "mom book." My book group's discussion kept veering into the recounting of personal birth experiences. The discussion leader had a bit of a job trying to return our focus to the book.

Psshaw Martin - you have been surrounded by women all your life, and probably understand them more than they understand themselves. I still can't believe that your little girl is now 15...oh the fun teen years. You probably have an application form for young men wanted to date her. My younger brother did this for his daughters prospective dates...I looked at it and couldnt figure out why one of the questions was, "What is your favourite hockey team?"

Sixteen, actually - she just had her birthday.

Fortunately, we don't do the "sweet sixteen" limousine and party thing over here. Her sixteenth celebration was her and three friends watching back-to-back Disney movies all night :) They didn't disturb us, so that was fine by me!

I hadn't actually considered an application form for prospective dates - I quite like the idea, but I don't think that Lisa would countenance it for one minute...!

I'll definitely be there for the discussion, promise!

Call the Midwife is absolutely not a 'man-book' and the men in my life blanched at the TV programme and found other things to do on a Sunday evening.
Re the dating game a well-know elderly UK TV personality told his daughter he needed to meet any prospective boy-friends before he would allow her to go out with them. After meeting the first one . . . green hair and piercings . . . he told her please to NOT introduce him to any of them.

Well Vee....my brother and husband, both professional engineers who hated English in high school, are really enjoying Call the Midwife, the tv series, anyway. I am quite sure they won't read the books, however, unless the midwife convent turns out to be a secret spy society that shortened WW2 or produced female James Bonds.
We were all born in 1957-59 though so find the time period fascinating and both guys were present during pre-natal classes, births and have been and continue to be very involved dads.
My younger brother who made the dating application? His daughter is still with the guy who passed it (he must have answered the hockey question correctly ) and its been five years now. LOL

I'm in. I have already finished the first two books. Looking forward to it.

A bookstore in the San Francisco airport had all three last spring. I loved the TV series so bought the first book, enjoyed it and will read the others. I thought the first book was very true to the series, unusually so, tho without the romantic theme.

As for being chick lit, bah humbug. What is more LIFE than giving birth? A man not interested in this aspect of human life needs to expand his horizons.

Men are interested, believe me. But I can't help remembering the old joke. Consider bacon and eggs: the hen is involved, but the pig is committed....

So true, Martin!

As I mentioned a while back, I read the book a couple of years ago. I put my name on reserve for the DVD at the library and it has just come in, so I am going to watch to refresh my memory.

Just in time for the discussion.

Rosefolly

Just wanted to add an apropos quote I read today: "Watching your daughter being collected by her date feels like handing over a million dollar Stradivarius to a gorilla".