A Tale of Sex, Birth, Love and Pain

The Birth House

Author:
Ami McKay
Published:
Knopf Canada (2006)
Number of Pages:
400
Review:
What started out as a fun Autumn read turned into an enlightening, nostalgic walk back in time. Here in the 21st century duties such as giving and aiding in birth is no longer a very feminine thing. Men are now aiding in the birth of babies and some men are even trying to have babies. The time frame that this novel takes place in is a time of innocence and strong female/male barriers. One that if crossed, the party involved would have to endure serious consequences, all of which are covered in this wonderful gem of a novel.
Set in the early 1900’s Nova Scotia in a time when women were not considered persons and feminism was an ideology away Dora Rare dares to become an independent female. An elderly midwife, Marie, takes Dora under her wing and trains her in her field of work only to leave Dora to deal with a loveless and burdensome marriage, a child left in her care after being abandoned by her parents and a university educated doctor that claims he can deliver babies “pain free.” Through birth, love, sex, and pain we see the development of a young naive child grow into a passionate feminist woman, a woman who first discovers what an orgasm is in the medical chair, a woman who joins in with the suffragette movement and a woman who had she have been living in the 21st century would probably choose the same path of life that she had lived.
Ami McKay’s The Birth House is a phenomenal piece of literature. Each sentence explodes with detail, emotion and history. Reading this book was like stepping into a journal, the narration is passionate and told by a young feminist who captures her audience with her charms, naivety, and wit. Humorous, and delightful, this colourful account of life and the collection of scrapbook type newspaper clippings to provide proof of her accounts of life leave the reader in awe of the main character: Dora.
This novel was clearly written by a strong feminist voice and it is evident in every sentence of the novel that women have a purpose in this world other than to serve men. “If women lose the right to say where and how they birth their children, they will have lost something that’s as dear to life as breathing.” McKay's Dora was a strong woman trying to live in a man’s world, a world which condemned her practise of birthing as a midwife as barbaric and immoral. Her birthing ways were passed on from generation to generation, from female to female, and was used to birth thousands of babies yet when compared to the new (man invented) way of birthing which is basically the basis of modern gynaecology, it was seen as unfashionable, dangerous and unsafe.
What I love about McKay’s novel is her approach to showing that what is old isn’t always bad; her character although facing ridicule and shame from the new doctors who claim their way of birthing is better than a midwife surpasses all of her obstacles and eventually shows the world that sometimes a man's way of running the world isn’t always the best way.
I also love the prose. It flows so beautifully from one sentence into another that it’s like watching ripples form in the ocean. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I’ve read in a very long time. So beautiful I found myself rereading certain phases and sentences. “Everything I’ve learned from Mother, every bit of her truth, has been said while her hands were moving.” This simple sentence holds so much beauty, thought and emotions that reading it could evoke the reader to cry tears of sadness or tears of joy for either emotion is very much present in this quotation. The sheer wonder of this novel lies within quotations like these. McKay’s writing is pure poetry at it’s best.
With unforgettable characters, illusive descriptive writing and historical value, McKay's Birth House is a priceless read. She has written a Canadian masterpiece that is likely to enlighten and entertain readers for years to come. I hope you decide to read this fascinating story.
Happy Reading!!!