Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

About the book

Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction.

Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer’s stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s.

Reviewed by Andover Library

The majority loved the social history of the book, The medical information was a bit too much and maybe not necessary – especially the glossary. Much discussion about the changes between then and now with the NHS”

star rating ***

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Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

About the book

Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-year-old daughter of a fine Italian immigrant family in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1950. Fuelled by the post-war boom, in which talented girls with ambition are encouraged to follow their dreams, Lucia becomes an apprentice for a made-to-wear clothing designer at a chic department store on Fifth Avenue. Though she is sought after as a potential wife by the best Italian families, Lucia stays her course and works hard, determined to have a career. She juggles the roles of dutiful daughter and ambitious working girl perfectly. When a handsome stranger comes to the story and catches her eye, it is love at first sight for both of them. In order to win Lucia’s hand, he must first win over her traditional family and make the proper offer of marriage. Their love affair takes an unexpected turn as secrets are revealed, Lucia’s family honour is tested, and her own reputation becomes the centre of a sizzling scandal. Set in a time of possibility and change for women in America, in a city that celebrates its energy with style and elegance, LUCIA, LUCIA is the story of a girl who risks everything for the belief that a woman could – and should – be able to have it all.

Reviewed by Andrews Lodge

We all thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and gave an insight into an Italian family in 1950’s New York You didn’t want to put it down”

star rating ****

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Frankie and Stankie by Barbara Trapido

 

 

About the book

Dinah and her sister Lisa are growing up in 1950s South Africa, where racial laws are tightening. They are two little girls from a dissenting liberal family. Big sister Lisa is strong and sensible, while Dinah is weedy and arty. At school, the sadistic Mrs Vaughan-Jones is providing instruction in mental arithmetic and racial prejudice. And then there’s the puzzle of lunch break. ‘Would you rather have a native girl or a koelie to make your sandwiches?’ a first-year classmate asks. But Dinah doesn’t know the answer, because it’s her dad who makes her sandwiches. As the apparatus of repression rolls on, Dinah finds her own way. As we follow her journey through childhood and adolescence, we enter into one of the darker passages of twentieth-century history.

Reviewed by Tuesday Crew

“A difficult book because it is very ‘wordy’ Our members were split between those that really enjoyed it and those that didn’t. Some didn’t finish it because they didn’t like the style of writing”

star rating – none provided

 

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Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

About the book

My brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954. We took our first breaths in the thick air of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia.  Bound by birth, we were driven apart by bitter betrayal. No surgeon can heal the would that divides two brothers. Where silk and steel fail, story must succeed.  To begin at the beginning…

Reviewed by Parish Pump

Everyone in the group absolutely loved this book. It was a real adventure, very intelligently written and well researched. Although a long book, it was well worth the read and no-one wanted to miss any part of it.”

star rating ****

 

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The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

About the book

At Waterloo Station, hopeful new arrivals from the West Indies step off the boat train, ready to start afresh in 1950s London. There, homesick Moses Aloetta, who has already lived in the city for years, meets Henry ‘Sir Galahad’ Oliver and shows him the ropes. In this strange, cold and foggy city where the natives can be less than friendly at the sight of a black face, has Galahad met his Waterloo? But the irrepressible newcomer cannot be cast down. He and all the other lonely new Londoners – from shiftless Cap to Tolroy, whose family has descended on him from Jamaica – must try to create a new life for themselves. As pessimistic ‘old veteran’ Moses watches their attempts, they gradually learn to survive and come to love the heady excitements of London.

Reviewed by Basingstoke Afternoon WI

An interesting, colourful account of the time. The creolised English was difficult at first until you got into the rhythm. An original work which we were pleased to have read. Would recommend.”

star rating ***

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The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

About the book

Behind a villa in the heart of Tuscany lies a Renaissance garden of enchanting beauty. Its grottoes, pagan statues and classical inscriptions seem to have a secret life of their own – and a secret message, too, for those with eyes to read it.

Young scholar Adam Strickland is just such a person. Arriving in 1958, he finds the Docci family, their house and the unique garden as seductive as each other. But post-War Italy is still a strange, even dangerous place, and the Doccis have some dark skeletons hidden away which Adam finds himself compelled to investigate.

Before this mysterious and beautiful summer ends, Adam will uncover two stories of love, revenge and murder, separated by 400 years… but is another tragedy about to be added to the villa’s cursed past?

 

Reviewed by Enjoying Books

“An interesting Story – set in Italy with some twists and turns with classical references. A holiday read possibly – a different crime novel which interested most of the group”

star rating ***

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A Tramp in Africa by David Lessels

About the book

Follow the trails of the Scottish explorer, David Lessels, fulfilling a dream to travel the length of Africa, confronting serious challenges to his freedom as he walked and hitch-hiked through history, in the early 1950s. Recalled with vivid clarity, this inspirational traveller’s tale is studded with gems and facts – some of which may be the only written accounts of the early development of unique African cultures. This is a colorful and rich taste of Africa in the raw – share the author’s thrilling experiences of an extraordinary adventure.

 

Reviewed by Hill Head Readers

“A travelogue which was far too long. It was quite well written but our group were defeated!”

star rating * ½

 

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On the Road by Jack Kerouac

About the book

Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young innocent, joins his hero Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat, on a breathless, exuberant ride back and forth across the United States. Their hedonistic search for release or fulfilment through drink, sex, drugs and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the limits of the American dream. A brilliant blend of fiction and autobiography, Jack Kerouac’s exhilarating novel swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion. One of the most influential and important novels of the 20th century, On the Road is the book that launched the Beat Generation and remains the bible of that literary movement.

 

Reviewed by Museum

None of finished this book without a great deal of ‘skipping’ Probably we were too old for it and the book is now too old for the present time. Things like the wonderlust and a search for the meaning of life were new and exciting to the young of the Fifties. I personally feel I should have read it then – when I was young too! There are passages of vivid description – but much of it now seems self absorbed and old hat”

star rating **

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The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

About the book

‘After all what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?’

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the English countryside and into his past…

A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro’s beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love.

Reviewed by Bridewell Beauties

An extraordinary book written in impeccable ‘butler’s speak’ which was a little lengthy and tedious but the stories of personal encounters and pre-war politics are skilfully written into the retrospective narrative. Is there a glimmer of hope at the end?

star rating ****** ½

 

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The lost art of keeping secrets by Eva Rice

About the book

Set in the early 1950s, in the aftermath of the Second World War and before the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll, ‘The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets’ is the engrossing story of Penelope and her eccentric family.

Reviewed by Havers Reading Group

Well received, interesting characters, some surprises so no boredom. The era brought back memories. A good discussion followed about large houses, death duties, elderly maids etc.

Star rating: ****

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