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A review by zoeyoey
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
4.0
A book about the journey of a young girl who finds herself through new people and experiences, Karen Cushman’s The Midwife’s Apprentice is one of those books that you don’t want to finish, yet you can’t put it down. The genre of the book is historical fiction, but there are moments of humor throughout the book. It might also be considered a young adult novel or teen novel, because the intended audience seems to be within this age range.
Taking place in medieval England, the book follows the story of Alyce, who is first introduced as “Beetle.” Alyce is a young beggar girl. She has no family, begs for food (but usually doesn’t receive any), and sleeps where she can find shelter or soft ground. Alyce is spotted sleeping in a pile of dung (for warmth) by Jane Sharp, the village that Alyce is currently roaming-’s midwife. Alyce begs for a job in return for some food and a place to sleep. Jane reluctantly obliges, and assigns Alyce to be her apprentice. As Jane the Midwife’s apprentice, Alyce assists Jane in preparing medicines and remedies for all types of labor issues and scenarios, runs the errands that Jane cannot because she’s birthing a child or has to complete other tasks, and goes to each cottage that Jane does. It is shown throughout the book that Jane and Alyce don’t have much of a relationship. However, we later find out that Jane secretly admires Alyce a little, deep down. While working with Jane, Alyce meets an orange tabby outside of their cottage, who she names Purr. Purr follows Alyce wherever she goes, even when she later runs away from the village. Some other minor characters are Edward, a boy that Alyce nurtures for a day after seeing the homeless boy sleeping in the cold before sending him to the manor to get a job; Will Russet, one of the boys in the village that eventually takes a liking to Alyce after she saves him from drowning in a lake; Jennet, one of the inn owners that takes Alyce as the inn girl after she runs away from the village; and Magister Reese, a man who stays at the inn for seasons and teaches Alyce to read and write some while he’s there.
One of the first significant events to happen in the book is Alyce’s birthing a villager’s baby when Jane the Midwife goes away after deciding that the baby refuses to and will not come out of its mother. Alyce had helped Will Russet to birth calves from his cow not too long before this, so Alyce takes some of those methods and combines them with what she knows from the midwife in order to attempt to birth the baby after Joan, the mother, cries and pleads, then calms and decides to accept death. She is successful, and Joan names the child “Alyce Little.” This is very important because Alyce is first only addressed by the villagers as “Dung Beetle” and other names of the sort. When people do begin to start calling her Alyce, it shows that she is gaining respect from people around the village.
Another significant event is Alyce running away from the village after failing to deliver a baby later on in the book. She is embarrassed and feels like a failure, and sees giving up and running away as the only reasonable outcome of the situation. She and Purr run to an inn, where Jennet brings them in as the inn girl and the mice hunter. This gives Alyce a new job with a new place to sleep and eat. While working as the inn girl, Alyce becomes familiar with Magister Reese, but she is too shy to talk to him. Realizing this, Magister Reese indirectly talks to Alyce through Purr, teaching Purr about the shapes of letters, and words. Eventually, Alyce picks up being able to spell and even read some words. Alyce also realizes that what she wants most in life is “a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.” One day, Jane the Midwife visits the inn where Alyce works, and hears Jane say that Alyce had potential, but gave up instead of continuing to try. This sticks with Alyce, and it shows when she later on delivers the baby of a merchant family who enters the inn, seeking help for the mother, who they thought had a stomach worm. When the family first arrived and it was realized that the mother was pregnant, Alyce hid in the shadows, too afraid to speak up about giving birth out of fear of failing once again.
Alyce eventually returns to the village with a newfound feeling of perseverance to be the midwife’s apprentice once again. She’s prepared to continue trying to be the midwife’s apprentice, even if she has some failures throughout, and maybe even be a midwife herself, someday.
I thought the book was very good. Though the beginning chapters seemed very fast paced, the book eventually slowed down and stuck to the moment. I also say it was a good book because I was able to get lost in it. I could see every chapter playing in my mind, and was able to imagine that I was Alyce or seeing the current chapter I’d been reading from a similar point of view. I’d say the targeted audience for this book is young adults, because the book is a little shorter than most novels and doesn’t show many, if any, signs of more mature humor or scenarios. The humor consists of quotes like, “She has in truth grown stout of late, but that be herring pie and almond puddings. Having a child? Impossible!” (p. 105). This was the response of the husband of the merchant family to Jennet when she suggested to the family that the wife is probably about to go into labor. All in all, the book gets a positive review from me, and I would recommend it to a friend or a classmate, whether or not they seem interested in the historical fiction genre.
Taking place in medieval England, the book follows the story of Alyce, who is first introduced as “Beetle.” Alyce is a young beggar girl. She has no family, begs for food (but usually doesn’t receive any), and sleeps where she can find shelter or soft ground. Alyce is spotted sleeping in a pile of dung (for warmth) by Jane Sharp, the village that Alyce is currently roaming-’s midwife. Alyce begs for a job in return for some food and a place to sleep. Jane reluctantly obliges, and assigns Alyce to be her apprentice. As Jane the Midwife’s apprentice, Alyce assists Jane in preparing medicines and remedies for all types of labor issues and scenarios, runs the errands that Jane cannot because she’s birthing a child or has to complete other tasks, and goes to each cottage that Jane does. It is shown throughout the book that Jane and Alyce don’t have much of a relationship. However, we later find out that Jane secretly admires Alyce a little, deep down. While working with Jane, Alyce meets an orange tabby outside of their cottage, who she names Purr. Purr follows Alyce wherever she goes, even when she later runs away from the village. Some other minor characters are Edward, a boy that Alyce nurtures for a day after seeing the homeless boy sleeping in the cold before sending him to the manor to get a job; Will Russet, one of the boys in the village that eventually takes a liking to Alyce after she saves him from drowning in a lake; Jennet, one of the inn owners that takes Alyce as the inn girl after she runs away from the village; and Magister Reese, a man who stays at the inn for seasons and teaches Alyce to read and write some while he’s there.
One of the first significant events to happen in the book is Alyce’s birthing a villager’s baby when Jane the Midwife goes away after deciding that the baby refuses to and will not come out of its mother. Alyce had helped Will Russet to birth calves from his cow not too long before this, so Alyce takes some of those methods and combines them with what she knows from the midwife in order to attempt to birth the baby after Joan, the mother, cries and pleads, then calms and decides to accept death. She is successful, and Joan names the child “Alyce Little.” This is very important because Alyce is first only addressed by the villagers as “Dung Beetle” and other names of the sort. When people do begin to start calling her Alyce, it shows that she is gaining respect from people around the village.
Another significant event is Alyce running away from the village after failing to deliver a baby later on in the book. She is embarrassed and feels like a failure, and sees giving up and running away as the only reasonable outcome of the situation. She and Purr run to an inn, where Jennet brings them in as the inn girl and the mice hunter. This gives Alyce a new job with a new place to sleep and eat. While working as the inn girl, Alyce becomes familiar with Magister Reese, but she is too shy to talk to him. Realizing this, Magister Reese indirectly talks to Alyce through Purr, teaching Purr about the shapes of letters, and words. Eventually, Alyce picks up being able to spell and even read some words. Alyce also realizes that what she wants most in life is “a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.” One day, Jane the Midwife visits the inn where Alyce works, and hears Jane say that Alyce had potential, but gave up instead of continuing to try. This sticks with Alyce, and it shows when she later on delivers the baby of a merchant family who enters the inn, seeking help for the mother, who they thought had a stomach worm. When the family first arrived and it was realized that the mother was pregnant, Alyce hid in the shadows, too afraid to speak up about giving birth out of fear of failing once again.
Alyce eventually returns to the village with a newfound feeling of perseverance to be the midwife’s apprentice once again. She’s prepared to continue trying to be the midwife’s apprentice, even if she has some failures throughout, and maybe even be a midwife herself, someday.
I thought the book was very good. Though the beginning chapters seemed very fast paced, the book eventually slowed down and stuck to the moment. I also say it was a good book because I was able to get lost in it. I could see every chapter playing in my mind, and was able to imagine that I was Alyce or seeing the current chapter I’d been reading from a similar point of view. I’d say the targeted audience for this book is young adults, because the book is a little shorter than most novels and doesn’t show many, if any, signs of more mature humor or scenarios. The humor consists of quotes like, “She has in truth grown stout of late, but that be herring pie and almond puddings. Having a child? Impossible!” (p. 105). This was the response of the husband of the merchant family to Jennet when she suggested to the family that the wife is probably about to go into labor. All in all, the book gets a positive review from me, and I would recommend it to a friend or a classmate, whether or not they seem interested in the historical fiction genre.