HISTORICAL FICTION - The Midewife's Apprentice

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cushman, Karen. 1991. The Midwife’s Apprentice. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. ISBN 9781549091698

PLOT SUMMARY

Cushman sets this novel to take place in the medieval Europe era, where a homeless orphan girl is the main character. As a young girl with no home, she did not even know her own name. However, she went by “Brat” as that is what most kids and other people called her. She is constantly taunted by the boys in the village where she sleeps in a barn near a heap of dung to keep warm. She eventually finds a cruel, harsh midwife named Jane Sharp, who renames her “Beetle” from her sleeping near the dung. She allows this child to hang around for the dirty work but refuses to teach her any ways of being a midwife due to fear of having competition from the child. However, the child learns from a distance. While she is not able to learn much, it is just enough as she grows up. She ends up running into someone who mistakes her for someone he knew as Alyce. The name stuck and she began to call herself Alyce. There came a day when Jane was set to deliver a baby, however, the midwife had abandoned a mother whom she was certain would not deliver a live baby. Alyce stepped up to care for the mother and a healthy baby was born. Jane was livid and scolded Alyce, causing Alyce to run away where she ended up becoming an “inn girl” working at the inn outside of the village. There she learns how to read and write. A couple showed up at the inn needing immediate help due to a wife in labor. Alyce stepped up and helped them welcome a baby boy. Alyce realized that she indeed wanted to become a midwife and went back to speak with Jane. Jane wordlessly gave in and allowed Alyce to become an active midwife apprentice.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author does an excellent job keeping the setting to the medieval Europe era and does a fantastic job at using choice words to portray the imagery aspect of what it was like to be alive during that time frame. The use of particular language fits the time period as well as it relates to this time period, although some portions of the dialogue were hard to understand because I am not accustomed to this on a daily basis. 

Cushman includes in her writing references to historical events and people such as Magister Reese and even how the midwife ran her duties. Cushman also does wonders in showing the true growth of the main character coming into womanhood from being a poor, starving child. 

The author includes a brief author’s note that discusses what a midwife is and how it has changed throughout the years. This would be helpful for those readers whom this book is geared towards as this is not a common topic among children. 

 

However, this book is noted to be a “children’s book” and I do not personally feel that is an accurate label. There are a lot of issues that young children would not be able to comprehend including pregnancy, death of children, sex, child abuse, verbal abuse, and topics that are too mature for children. This book I feel belongs more in a young adult category and would be better suited for children thirteen and older. 

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

BOOKLIST: “Cushman writes with a sharp simplicity and a pulsing beat. From the first page you're caught by the spirit of the homeless, nameless waif, somewhere around 12 years old, "unwashed, unnourished, unloved, and unlovely," trying to keep warm in a dung heap. The characters are drawn with zest and affection but no false reverence. The midwife is tough and greedy ("she did her job with energy and some skill, but without care, compassion, or joy"), her method somewhere between superstition, herbal lore, common sense, and bumbling; yet she's the one who finally helps Alyce to be brave. Kids will like this short, fast-paced narrative about a hero who discovers that she's not ugly or stupid or alone.”

KIRKUS: “How Brat comes to terms with her failure and returns to Jane's home as a true apprentice is a gripping story about a time, place, and society that 20th-century readers can hardly fathom. Fortunately, Cushman (Catherine, Called Birdy, 1994) does the fathoming for them, rendering in Brat a character as fully fleshed and real as Katherine Paterson's best, in language that is simple, poetic, and funny. From the rebirth in the dung heap to Brat's renaming herself Alyce after a heady visit to a medieval fair, this is not for fans of historical drama only. It's a rouser for all times.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Having focused on a well-born young heroine in her Newbery Honor debut novel, Catherine, Called Birdy, Cushman returns to a similar medieval English setting, this time to imagine how the other half lived. The strengths of this new, relatively brief novel match those of its predecessor: Cushman has an almost unrivaled ability to build atmosphere, and her evocation of a medieval village, if not scholarly in its authenticity, is supremely colorful and pungent.” 

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “With simplicity, wit, and humor, Cushman presents another tale of medieval England. Here readers follow the satisfying, literal, and figurative journey of a homeless, nameless child called Brat, who might be 12 or 13--no one really knows. Characters are sketched briefly but with telling, witty detail, and the very scents and sounds of the land and people's occupations fill each page as Alyce comes of age and heart. Earthy humor, the foibles of humans both high and low, and a fascinating mix of superstition and genuinely helpful herbal remedies attached to childbirth make this a truly delightful introduction to a world seldom seen in children's literature.”

 

Awards: 

• ALA Notable Children's Books, 1996

• Newbery Medal, 1996

CONNECTIONS

• This would be an interesting read for students in high school that is looking to further their education in the medical field. This provides a good quick insight as to how far being a midwife has come.

• Other books by the author, Karen Cushman:

• Cushman, K. ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWAN. ISBN: 9780547577128

• Cushman, K. THE LOUD SILENCE OF FRANCINE GREEN. ISBN:978061854558

• Cushman, K. THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE. ISBN: 9780547722153