The Midwife's Apprentice

By: Karen Cushman

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

Lyrical yet unsentimental, The Midwife's Apprentice won the coveted 1996 Newbery Medal. Filled with striking characters, it paints unforgettable pictures of village life in the Middle Ages, the midwife's craft, and a very remarkable girl's growing independence and pride.

Brat has no name, no home, and no shelter against the 14th-century English winter except the foul warmth of a dung heap. So when Jane the Midwife wakes her with a kick and takes the half-starved creature to her cottage, a curious relationship begins. Jane teaches Brat to gather herbs and make the poultices used to ease the pain of childbirth for the village women.

The skinny young girl quickly learns to obey the sharp-tongued midwife, and secretly watches Jane practice her art whenever she can. But Jane is also teaching Brat unspoken lessons that will take longer - maybe a lifetime - to master.

©1995 Karen Cushman (P)1996 Recorded Books

short but enjoyable

Any additional comments?

Short but it was just what I wanted on this hot day. Period piece.

Wish there was more!

Story ended too soon. We wanted to know what happened with all the rest of the characters! Jenny Sterlin, of course, is wonderful to listen to.

Alyce inspired and inspiring

Any additional comments?

Take the time for this little treasure. Alyce will inspire you and any girl or woman in your life. I wish there were a sequel! And I love this narrator's beautiful voice.

Wise in the end

If you are looking for adventure, romance or great historical detail, you will probably not find them here. There is not even that much dialogue. BUT--those are not the only attributes of a good story, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this in the end. What this story does very well is give an intimate view of the gritty side of life from the perspective of an underprivileged girl (well, homeless vagrant, really) who gets plucked from her warm dungpile and is thrust into the role of apprentice to a very stern, cold and critical midwife. I found myself pitying the situation of the apprentice, even while the character herself is grateful for this unexpected boon in her life--regular meals and a clean place to sleep. The crushing comments of the midwife seem purposely cruel, and the apprentice's self-esteem is just about non-existent. The events of the book seem almost depressing--until the very end, and then the wisdom of the midwife and her methods slaps you in the face, leaving you with a greater appreciation for the characters, and for the historical perspective through which this story is told.
If you liked stories like "The Girl With the Pearl Earring," you will probably enjoy this book.

Background noise was distracting

Whenever there was a pause (and sometimes even when the narrator was speaking!) I could hear other voices as if this was recorded in a call center.

Midwives in Medieval England

My one major issue with the story is there's no mention of witchcraft. Midwife's in Medieval England were a "necessary evil" and regularly killed for being witches, so how you can have a book about the topic and NOT even mention it is beyond me. Otherwise, fairly decent historical fiction #YALiterature #historical #feminist #tagsgiving and #sweepstakes

Resilience

Beautiful tale of resilience & fortitude & coming of age. Bonus is learning about day-to-day life in Middle Ages

Wrong Audience

Classic example of a Newbury winner that the average young reader would quickly put down; in other words, one and done - one chapter and look for something more interesting; unless such a reader had read and survived Cushman's "Alchemy and Meggie" first. Cushman's world building has created a world in which I would not like to live; makes C Dickens' worlds more a joyful walk in the park. College nursing students or abused orphans would be the target audience I would think.

A good morality tale for young people

A short but good book with a good moral. Written for young people, but if you want your kid to read it, be sure he/she is fairly mature and knows a bit about "the birds and the bees." A fairly young child would not understand what is going on. That is not to say there is anything in it that would not be appropriate. I think it is very appropriate. Still, I would want to read this book with my child because it has the potential to open up a lot of questions for discussion.

Clever

The kids and I were delighted to learn about medieval history this way. The characters were realistic and endearing in their own ways.