/ Lead title / Includes PS Section Spanning the 20th century Ami McKay takes a primitive and superstitious rural community in Nova Scotia and creates a rich tableau of characters to tell the story of childbirth from its most secretive early practices to modern maternity as we know it. / 'The Birth House' is a brilliant historical fiction debut from the publishers of Geraldine Brooks. / Award winning journalist, Ami McKay provides an insightful and well researched account of how maternity and midwifery has progressed and developed. / McKay brings to life not merely Dora Rare, but the struggles of an entire community of women.
Ami McKay started her writing career as a freelance writer for CBC Radio. Her work has aired on numerous public radio programmes throughout Canada, the United States and around the world. Her documentary, Daughter of Family G, won an Excellence in Journalism Medallion at the 2003 Atlantic Journalism Awards. Born in rural Indiana, she now lives with her husband and two sons in an old birth house on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.
'Ami McKay cleverly points out the good and the bad in both old and new attitudes, while contemporary newspaper reports and advertisements illustrate the pace of change.' Guardian 'Ami McKay's debut novel vividly captures the apparently quaint world inhabited by the people of Scot's Bay, Canada. McKay creates a magical world, and her exquisite descriptions draw the reader further and further from reality.' Time Out 'This is a truly captivating read, set in early 19th-century Novia Scotia. The story weaves lyrical detail of the natural beauty in which these pioneer families live with the pricklier reality of the First World War era, when centuries-old folk wisdom collides with science. The underlying theme of the shared strength that women give each other in hard circumstances lends this tale a solid bedrock.' SHE '"The Birth House" has a spirited momentum and it is difficult not to be swept along by it. Her writing is often beautiful, with colourful turns of phrase that mirror the earthiness of her setting, and her protagonist'. Sunday Business Post 'By turns lyrical and gripping, brimming with historical detail and with a touching love story at the core, "The Birth House" brings to life a time, place and traditions long forgotten.' Irish Post
'Ami McKay cleverly points out the good and the bad in both old and new attitudes, while contemporary newspaper reports and advertisements illustrate the pace of change.' Guardian 'Ami McKay's debut novel vividly captures the apparently quaint world inhabited by the people of Scot's Bay, Canada. McKay creates a magical world, and her exquisite descriptions draw the reader further and further from reality.' Time Out 'This is a truly captivating read, set in early 19th-century Novia Scotia. The story weaves lyrical detail of the natural beauty in which these pioneer families live with the pricklier reality of the First World War era, when centuries-old folk wisdom collides with science. The underlying theme of the shared strength that women give each other in hard circumstances lends this tale a solid bedrock.' SHE '"The Birth House" has a spirited momentum and it is difficult not to be swept along by it. Her writing is often beautiful, with colourful turns of phrase that mirror the earthiness of her setting, and her protagonist'. Sunday Business Post 'By turns lyrical and gripping, brimming with historical detail and with a touching love story at the core, "The Birth House" brings to life a time, place and traditions long forgotten.' Irish Post
In this dazzling first novel, McKay takes her readers to an isolated rural community in Nova Scotia, where the men fish and log, and the women do everything in between. At 17, Dara Rare is taken under the wing of the aged midwife, Acadian Marie Babineau. Dara loves Marie fiercely and learns her wisdom and craft accordingly. Although Marie and Dara are occasionally viewed as witches, the local women rely on them until the arrival of Dr. Gilbert Thomas. He does his best to turn the local women away from traditional midwifery to his modern maternity hospital. The plotting leaves a lot to be desired, but McKay is such a wonderful storyteller with a strong sense of place and time that all is forgiven. The Indiana-born author now lives in Nova Scotia; this novel, a book club natural, has been a best seller in Canada since its publication early this spring and deserves the same status here. Highly recommended for all public libraries. Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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