This is the third of a trilogy of memoirs about life in London's East End in the 50's. The parts I liked the most were the anecdotes that directly related to the author, Jennifer Worth, and her time working as a midwife. The first book was the best in this respect.

This third book started and ended with the more personal anecdotes, but kind of meandered around with other people's stories in the middle. When she told a story that she had gotten second or third hand, she told it with intimate details as if she had been there. While it says something for her descriptive powers and imagination, these chapters felt out of place in a collection of memoirs.

One of my favorite things about this installment was that she let us know how everyone's lives turned out-Chummy and David, Cynthia, Trixie, and the beloved nuns at the convent. It was nice to read about where their lives went and how many of them stayed in touch with each other.

The chapter called The Captain's Daughter was a little too open-minded with its approach to the situation Chummy walked into. She was clearly the star of the piece, and it was when she started her relationship with David, so the story needed to be in there. But I felt offended by how the daughter was repeatedly described as "cheerful" and the men were characterized at being so concerned for her. I can't imagine someone whose father made her a prostitute for every man on his ship, including himself, when she was 14 and had just lost her mother as being cheerful about it. Delusional maybe, after years of it, but not happy. And as for the men who used her like a toy-I would bet their concern went as far as the concern they might have for a pet dog. I don't know what anyone could have done for the captain's daughter, especially since they left before Chummy could get back to check on the baby, but I would have liked the tone of this chapter to have more anger and sadness on the woman's behalf.

All three books are worth reading-Jennifer Worth was a great storyteller. I don't know if she had a photographic memory or simply kept a detailed diary, but she really brought the time and the people to life in these books. ( )

Last book in the trilogy that the show "Call the Midwife" is based upon. Enjoyed this as much as the others. Sorry to see the books come to an end. Highly recommend to anyone who wants to read more on the history and people of the East End of London in the 1950's. ( )

Final volume of memoir/oral history of midwives working in slum areas in the East End of London in the 1950s and earlier. Stories of incredible courage and endurance and also of ignorant cruelty. ( )

Again very readable and not just a memoir, but a bit of sociology. It did run out of steam at the end. It was good to read about how the real counterparts of the characters on the TV show ran their course. I am angry at the show writers about what they did to Cynthia's true story. I'm very glad that Jennifer Worth is honest and caring about Cynthia having depression. I am angry that the show writers had to fabricate a sexual assault as an etiology for the TV character's mental health issues. Mental illness isn't like that, and they shouldn't have done that: It was an injustice to the true Cynthia and her treatment in Worth's memoir. ( )

Too disturbing for me were the chapters detailing rape and abortion and infanticide. I was looking forward to more uplifting scenes of birth and pregnancy. I know there is a lot of horrible stuff that has happened to women but at least balance it out with the good. I felt this volume of stories was very depressing and graphic with gratuitous descriptions of violence against women and children. ( )