The Birth House is a bittersweet story of Dora Rare, a resident of a small Nova Scotian town, Scots Bay. As she becomes closer to Mrs. B, Scots Bay’s midwife, during the first few years of World War I, Dora is introduced to the wondrous yet sometimes horrifying world of birth, infertility and miscarriages. When Dr. Thomas, a young physician, arrives at Scots Bay with the promise of pain-free and even memory-free births, the worlds of modern technology and traditional healing collide. Dora, arming herself with personal strength and loyal friends, fights against Dr. Thomas and his misguided vision of childbirth.
There’s an unfortunate paradox with great books; they’re so fantastic that you want to extend it as long as possible, yet they’re so consuming that you burn through them at lightning speed! Sadly, this was the case with The Birth House. I was so enthralled, I whizzed through it in two days. When I finished, I was still so caught up in McKay’s marvelously captivating world that I couldn’t bring myself to start another book- I was trapped in The Birth House. Perhaps it was McKay’s lyrical writing, or Dora, the gentle, strong hero. Either way, The Birth House captured my mind and my heart.
I skimmed some reviews of The Birth House, and was surprised to see that some readers were offended by the “preachiness” of the story; many thought that it was simply a story about the good, traditional midwife against the evil, greedy doctor. But I disagree- it’s so much more. It’s about women taking control of their bodies, fighting for their right to choose how they give birth (or even if they give birth in the first place). It’s about taking their lives out of the hands of males and back into their own.
Not only does The Birth House cover sensitive issues such as domestic abuse, abortions, infertility, and sex lives (or lack thereof), it also includes fascinating historical events, including the Halifax Explosion, World War I (from the Canadian perspective), and the Boston suffragette movement.
In a time where women are still fighting for control of their bodies, The Birth House is frighteningly relevant. Full of sorrow and sweetness, wisdom and wit, I would definitely recommend reading it.
More McKay!
If you finished The Birth House with an itching to reading more from this wonderful Canadian author, then check out her most recent book: The Virgin Cure. Set in 1871 in the tenements of lower Manhattan, the novel follows the story of Moth, a young girl who’s sold as a servant and exposed to the world of crime and prostitution. Considering how much I loved The Birth House, this book is definitely on my “must read” list!
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