The Midwife's Apprentice

The Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman

The Midwife's Apprentice
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Book Summary Information

Author: Karen Cushman
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-08-16
ISBN: 006440630X
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins

Book Reviews of The Midwife's Apprentice

Book Review: The Midwife's Apprentice
Summary: 5 Stars

Deftly employing an omniscient third-person narrative, author Karen Cushman introduces us to the main character in her 1996 Newberry Award winning book, "The Midwife's Apprentice." The introduction is dramatic: we meet an adolescent girl, an orphan, searching for a night's shelter in a dung heap. A vividly detailed description of the dung heap follows, affronting our senses. As readers, we are horrified that anyone would be reduced to seek refuge for the night in such a place. Yet, on the same page, we curiously find ourselves admiring her practical observation that a dung heap in fact produces life-saving warmth. We are drawn into her world and begin to see life from her perspective.

When the girl is awakened the next morning by the rude taunting of a group of village boys, the girl encounters the equally harsh questioning of the village midwife. The girl asks the local midwife for work and food after being perfunctorily named "Beetle" by the midwife (after a dung beetle, of course). Thus begins the quietly amazing story of the girl's apprenticeship to the medieval English midwife.

In the author's notes at the end of the book, Cushman gives the reader a brief history of midwifery and a glimpse into everyday medieval life. Cushman so seamlessly weaves this historical information into the narrative, however, that she could almost dispense wih this information at the novel's end altogether. Her knowledge of herbal medicine, medieval folk traditions and history is extensive, as well as the masterful way she uses this information to tell a compelling story of how a young woman grows to discover her own self-worth in an often unforgiving world.

Alyce, as we later come to know the main character, convincingly demonstrates just how resourceful and resilient the human spirit can be. We share in her disappointments as well as her triumphs. Cushman includes a handful of memorable characters that not only help to support the awakening of Alyce's character, but also stand as solid characters in their own right.

Young adult women will undoubtedly relate to Alyce's character as they compare trying emtional situations in their own lives to the challenges faced by Alyce in the book.

Summary of The Midwife's Apprentice

'Like Cushman's 1995 Newbery Honor Book, Catherine, Called Birdy, this novel is about a strong young woman in medieval England who finds her own way home. This is a world, like Chaucer's, that's . . . dangerous, primitive and raucous. From the first page you're caught by the spirit of the homeless, nameless waif, somewhere around 12 years old. She gets the village midwife to take her in, befriends a cat, names herself Alyce, and learns something about delivering babies. When she fails, she runs away, but she picks herself up again and returns to work and independence.' --ALA Booklist (starred review). '. . .A fascinating view of a far distant time.' -- The Horn Book (starred review)


Karen Cushman likes to write with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, and her feisty female characters firmly planted in history. In The Midwife's Apprentice, which earned the 1996 Newbery Medal, this makes a winning combination for children and adult readers alike. Like her award-winning book Catherine, Called Birdy, the story takes place in medieval England. This time our protagonist is Alyce, who rises from the dung heap (literally) of homelessness and namelessness to find a station in life--apprentice to the crotchety, snaggletoothed midwife Jane Sharp. On Alyce's first solo outing as a midwife, she fails to deliver. Instead of facing her ignorance, Alyce chooses to run from failure--never a good choice. Disappointingly, Cushman does not offer any hardships or internal wrestling to warrant Alyce's final epiphanies, and one of the book's climactic insights is when Alyce discovers that lo and behold she is actually pretty! Still, Cushman redeems her writing, as always, with historical accuracy, saucy dialogue, fast-paced action, and plucky, original characters that older readers will eagerly devour. (Ages 12 and older) --Gail Hudson

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