Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Letters to the Midwife

Rate this book
When the CALL THE MIDWIFE books became bestsellers, Jennifer Worth was inundated with correspondence. People felt moved to write to her because the books had touched them, and because they wanted to share memories of the world her books described, the East End of London in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

LETTERS TO THE MIDWIFE is a collection of the correspondence she received offering a fascinating glimpse into a long-lost world.

Along with readers' responses and personal histories, it is filled with heartwarming gems such as letters and drawings sent by one of the nuns featured in Call the Midwife and a curious list of the things Jennifer would need to become a missionary. There are stories from other midwives, lorry drivers, even a seamstress, all with tales to tell.

Containing previously unpublished material describing her time spent in Paris, and some journal entries, this is also a portrait of Jennifer herself, complete with a moving introduction by her family about the Jennifer Worth they knew and loved.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 13, 2014

About the author

Jennifer Worth

15 books903 followers
Worth, born Jennifer Lee while her parents were on holiday in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was raised in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. After leaving school at the age of 14, she learned shorthand and typing and became the secretary to the head of Dr Challoner's Grammar School. She then trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and moved to London to receive training to become a midwife.

Lee was hired as a staff nurse at the London Hospital in Whitechapel in the early 1950s. With the Sisters of St John the Divine, an Anglican community of nuns, she worked to aid the poor. She was then a ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Bloomsbury, and later at the Marie Curie Hospital in Hampstead.

She married the artist Philip Worth in 1963, and they had two daughters.

Worth retired from nursing in 1973 to pursue her musical interests. In 1974, she received a licentiate of the London College of Music, where she taught piano and singing. She obtained a fellowship in 1984. She performed as a soloist and with choirs throughout Britain and Europe.

She later began writing, and her first volume of memoirs, 'Call the Midwife', was published in 2002. The book became a bestseller when it was reissued in 2007. 'Shadows of the Workhouse' (2005; reissued 2008) and 'Farewell to the East End' (2009) also became bestsellers. The trilogy sold almost a million copies in the UK alone. In a fourth volume of memoirs 'In the Midst of Life', published in 2010, Worth reflects on her later experiences caring for the terminally ill.

Worth was highly critical of Mike Leigh's 2004 film Vera Drake, for depicting the consequences of illegal abortions unrealistically. She argued that the method shown in the movie, far from being fairly quick and painless, was in fact almost invariably fatal to the mother.

Worth died on 31 May 2011, having been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus earlier in the year.

A television series, Call the Midwife, based on her books, began broadcasting on BBC One on 15 January 2012.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
246 (31%)
4 stars
246 (31%)
3 stars
193 (24%)
2 stars
76 (9%)
1 star
16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
January 2, 2016
I'm reading two Jennifer Worth books right now. The other one is In the Midst of Life which is very depressing as it's all about death. This one, published after her pwn death, has a long (read: goes on and on) introduction by "the Worth family". Hagiography more like. The only thing that is mysterious about Jennifer Worth, if this portrayal of her is correct, is that she wasn't made a Dame, given a tiara and a halo and we all knelt down to smell the soles of her feet which were probably scented with roses. .

Jennifer was the best of all possible nurses, best friends, Christians, mothers, grandmothers, authors and the absolute soul of discretion and support of her husband. All these virtues easoned with immense enthusiasm and a little charming eccentricity. Not human then. Maybe she did indeed niff of rose petals.

The writing reads quite strangely. It reads like Worth's family wrote a very long and amateurish biography and a ghost writer turned into something more professional and padded it out but tried to keep it into the sort naive paean of praise her daughters had written.

It's getting on my nerves.

But.. I think once past this phenomenally tedious first part, it may be interesting.
Profile Image for Anna.
272 reviews95 followers
February 12, 2021
This is a nice companion to the "Call the Midwife" series and a perfect addition to the library of any Jennifer Worth fan. In it, Worth's family compiles years of touching correspondence Worth received in early 2000s, when her books were first published. The book also contains Worth's previously unpublished writing about being a nanny in Paris in the post-war 1950s. She gives interesting insight into that time in her life, and what Paris itself was like at the time -- probably unrecognizable compared to the 21st century.

Especially recommended for nurses, midwives and anyone interested in London, particularly the East End before it also changed in the name of progress in the mid-20th Century.
Profile Image for ^.
907 reviews62 followers
October 28, 2015
The atypical contents of this book make it tricky to categorise. Copyrights are owned by many contributors; of which the late Mrs Worth is the linch pin, the best known. Those who have read and enjoyed the late Mrs Jennifer Worth’s ‘Call the Midwife’ books will enjoy this book; others may find it less satisfying.

It is a book that celebrates Life, of relationships old and new, and change. Here is a bringing and coming together of strangers’ letters and memories of shared experiences, and of a heartfelt thankfulness for that. It also contains a respectably lengthy extract of a certain young woman’s time spent in Paris, working as a nanny. It’s a broader-based book that is as emotionally moving as one would expect from the the late Mrs Worth’s other proven and filmed best sellers. I greatly enjoyed it.

Trust received, trust repaid. Thanks given, thanks received. Sublimally this book set me off on a train of thought questioning and contemplating how we mostly lead very different lives, and have our own networks of friends & acquaintances, yet in our present day we perhaps fall into thinking ourselves greater than we are. Do we accurately recognise and celebrate the direction and extent of our capabilities and skills, or do we waste precious time and life through trying to be that which we are not?
Profile Image for Susan Grossey.
Author 44 books26 followers
May 18, 2014
Like so many readers, I have come to these books through the television series - but I think this one is a book too far. It seems disjointed and rather flung together - not a patch on the careful structure of earlier books. Perhaps it is a catch-all, to make sure that nothing goes to waste, but I wouldn't recommend this as a good sample of Jenny's otherwise beautiful writing.
Profile Image for Janet Popish.
123 reviews
July 25, 2020
I have read and loved the first three books by this author. They are a memoir, beginning with her time as a young nurse midwife in London after WWII. There is a fourth that I have not yet read.

She has a way of capturing characters from her past that truly brings them to life on the page. Unfortunately, this book is made up mostly of letters that people wrote to her telling her about their personal connections to people and places that are in the previous books. Apparently the author never threw away correspondence, so her family had lots of letters to choose from to include in this book. I found this incredibly boring. There is a small section in the middle of the book that tells of her time in Paris, and that was mildly interesting. The section on her crisis of faith feels just too personal to have been included in the book.

I highly recommend the first three books (and perhaps the fourth; I don't know yet). But if you choose to skip this one, you won't be missing much... unless you love reading other people's mail.
650 reviews17 followers
March 3, 2014
Description:

I have enjoyed all of Jennifer Worth’s books and this is the fifth book in her series. I was so please to be able to review this book. This is a lovely book with letters from people who loved her books and wanted to tell Jennifer this. There are also personal touches from people they knew at that time, areas of Poplar and the east end. Although this is titled as letters, there is also are really interesting section of Jennifer’s life in 50s Paris and good descriptions of post war Paris.

This book is easy to read, I read this in a day as it was light and such a lovely read.

Highlights:

I particularly enjoyed the foreword by Miranda Hart comedian and actor who Jennifer knew immediately that Miranda would be ideal for the role as Chummy as she reminded Jennifer of this character- sadly Miranda never got to meet Jennifer as she died in 2011. There is also a good insight by the family as an introduction.
This book also reminded me of the book The Real James Herriot written by his son Jim Wight and just how much his fans loved his books. Jennifer trained as nurse at in war torn London where the NHS was in its infancy, the east end was poverty stricken and this was a very different time in nursing.

Surprising for me was that she was also a musician too.

At times I found myself smiling as she has good sense of humour and at other times I was moved to tears.


Strengths and weaknesses:

This is a wonderful collection of correspondence to and from Jennifer and it highlights her love of her books and her enjoyment in corresponding with her fans both men and women.
It highlights her caring as a nurse and as a wonderful person. She writes with warmth and like James Herriot memorable characters

I found no weaknesses in this book.

Potential Readers:

This book is for all healthcare professionals both midwives and all trainees. Times and conditions were poor, but the standards of care were high. This is for anyone who enjoys nursing from a bygone age too.

Profile Image for Sian Thompson.
255 reviews3 followers
March 11, 2014
I love books of an autobiographical nature and so learning a little of the life of Jennifer Worth and of the way her books have touched the hearts of many and caused them to recount their own memories of East London in the 1950s was excellent to read. It certainly kept my interest and has even prompted me to ask my own mother about her early days. I have already read 'Call the midwife' and shall definitely be getting the remainder of her books.
1,671 reviews12 followers
Read
May 14, 2024
An interesting collection of ordinary correspondence inspired by the success of Jennifer Worth's books, Letters to the Midwife details all kinds of reactions from people who were actually there to people of subsequent generations, finding it hard to imagine that things were as reported. There are a few real gems in the collection, though it's not quite the same experience as reading Worth's own books about the Poplar area in the late 50s and the challenges of nurses therein.
Profile Image for Wendell Barnes.
304 reviews4 followers
May 10, 2022
What a fitting conclusion to the reading of Jennifer Worth’s four books! It was almost as if she had come back from the grave to comment on letters she had received and wanted to responded to! Fortunately we will still have more future seasons of the BBC series to watch ( just finished season 11 last week and two more have been announced), and I plan to start “The Midwife’s Sister” by Christine Lee next week, so I’ll not be rid of Nurse Jenny for some time quite yet!
Profile Image for Anne.
2,332 reviews1,153 followers
March 2, 2014
I really don't watch a great deal of television drama. I work strange hours in my job as a Community Development Worker, often having evening meetings that finish quite late and I never seem to be at home on the same evening each week. However, I watched the first episode of Call The Midwife and was hooked. I have no idea why, I'm not a mother, I've never been interested in nursing, or in being a nun! There's just something about the programme that entrances me for the full hour that it is on.

When Letters to the Midwife popped through the letterbox, I was intrigued by it, and started to read straight away, and could hardly put it down. The book is introduced by Jennifer Worth's family; her husband Philip and her two daughters and Miranda Hart has written the foreward.

This book is a real piece of social history, with stories from people who would probably never have been able to tell them so widely if it were not for Jennifer Worth. So many people wrote to her after she wrote her books; people who recognised the places that she described and the people that she worked with. Some people even recognised Jennifer herself. It is clear from the amount of correspondence she received, and the fact that she took the time to answer the letters, and that she kept them all, that Jennifer Worth was a lady of compassion and depth, and was much loved by all who came into contact with her.

This is a fascinating look at Jennifer Worth's 'other' side too - the time she spent in Paris in the 1950s is especially interesting.
Profile Image for Angela.
430 reviews
March 15, 2014
After having read all the books in the Midwife series I had high hopes for this book. However, I found it a bit boring and it smacked of the publisher's desire to add more books to the series even though the author has now passed away.
I won't read it again.
Profile Image for Donna Syler.
79 reviews2 followers
April 20, 2018
An absolutely different kind of book, but thoroughly enjoyable reading. I never thought I would like reading other prople’s letters, but after reading all of the Midwife books and seeing the series on tv I was hooked on the letters as well. Jennifer Worth was truly a remarkable woman.
Profile Image for Rachel.
81 reviews
October 11, 2014
I have fallen in love with this author. She creates a beautiful world which I found myself quickly becoming lost in. I would highly recommend.
Profile Image for Julia Smith.
65 reviews1 follower
January 11, 2015
Brilliant book! So sad Jennifer died before I knew of her books, I would've written to her also.
Profile Image for Barb.
63 reviews
September 17, 2015
Beautiful warm letters from Worth's fans and return letters from her. Great addition to her "Call the Midwife" trilogy.
Profile Image for Angieleigh.
827 reviews121 followers
May 13, 2017
Letters to the Midwife is a collection of letters from fans of the much loved BBC show, Call the Midwife, to the beloved Jennifer Lee Worth. Only, they're not really "fan letters" as much as they are pieces of Jennifer's history, the backbone of her life's work as a midwife/nurse. From people she worked with, babies whom she helped deliver, parents she'd helped, relatives of those who may have been mentioned...the list goes on.

Do you need to read this in order to enjoy the three memoirs she wrote based on her life as a midwife? No, you don't. If you would like to know more about the era, whom she worked with, what it was like to be an expectant mother (and a midwife or nun!), then you'll enjoy this trip down memory lane of people who really loved Jenny.

There are some bonus stories about Jenny's time in Paris as an au pair that are interesting. There's one "story" that was so familiar to me, as I'd seen it play out in the show...only, the whole premise around the family feast was quite different from story to show as those things usually are.

Profile Image for Sally.
207 reviews3 followers
December 31, 2019
Well worth a read - this volume is a mixture of perhaps predictable but always touching fan letters and their replies, essential additional memories from Jennifer of her youth, and some miscellaneous writings.

Most entertaining of all for me were the passages about Jenny's time in France - no spoilers, but you will be amazed at some of what went on! But the true stories contributed by those of her fans who had done similar work come a close second.

One cannot deny the part religion played in Jennifer's life but in the books it's interwoven with the story, whereas the found diary on faith here is entirely self-contained and feels perhaps too personal to have been published.

Gives a good all-round picture of the author as a person. How lovely that she took the time to read all the letters and reply to so many. There are also some great photos.
Profile Image for Agnesxnitt.
359 reviews18 followers
January 4, 2018
I got stuck with my self imposed Christmas themed reads for Advent/Christmas, and picked up this book which I had found for my Mum at a car boot earlier last year.
I enjoy the BBC TV series based on Jennifer Worth's trilogy of her experiences as a Midwife in the Docks Area and East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s, and the books they are based on, they are addictive reading.
I wasn't sure about this book but I raced through it, I tried to ration myself to so many pages a day but epically failed and read it in about 3 days amongst the post Christmas pootling about.
Very much enjoyed this book - so sad Jennifer Worth died before she could see how popular her series is and how much people identify and become emotionally involved with it.
Profile Image for tay.
6 reviews
January 17, 2019
This book is a collection of correspondence to and from the author Jennifer Worth about her books and her life. While it was interesting to read peoples reactions to the stories she told, I found myself really missing the stories of her Midwife Trilogy. The only letters in the book that caught my eye were the letters from the nun that her Sister Julienne character is based on. I also enjoyed the introduction by her husband, daughters and grandchildren; their stories about their late wife, mother and grandmother were quite emotional and made me feel quite a connection to their family. Overall, this book wasn't awful but it wasn't what I was expecting. I probably won't be reaching for it the way I'll be reaching for the Midwife Trilogy.
Profile Image for Kirsty.
331 reviews
June 5, 2021
I feel a terrible person for rating this with only 2 stars but this book is nothing like the others. The main reason being, this is all correspondence with Jennifer worth as she has unfortunately passed.
It was lovely to see so many people were touched by the books and how it triggered so many memories. But after a while I was bored of reading "thank you for writing Call the Midwives ".
The parts about her religious journey were very long and for me boring. I skipped over them entirely.
I feel like this book is more for holding her memory, more beneficial for the family than readers.
Profile Image for Rebecca Fernandez.
67 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2021
Sadly I found this book quite a struggle and ended up skim reading it after a while. It feels flung together with no real linking between the letters. I was hoping for more responses from Jennifer Worth herself rather than basically a book of letters half from people presiding her book, the other half sharing their own experiences. If you are looking at this after having read only the Call The Midwife books, steer clear. It’s nothing like them.
Profile Image for Meredith.
122 reviews2 followers
April 12, 2023
Very endearing to read about the impact that Worth's memoirs had in the lives of so many. Most of the letters are from fans sharing about their family, childhood and memories of the East End without much context, which makes them a little hard to follow at times but is forgivable as they were writing directly to Worth. There was a brief interlude of previously unpublished content written by Worth detailing her time working in France (as a nanny, not nurse). I quite enjoyed that!
Profile Image for Carol M.
430 reviews2 followers
May 28, 2024
Although I lived the other two books by this author, I found myself plodding along with thus one. I am glad many people had similar experiences and that they wrote letters to Jennifer but I found it tiresome to read them all!

I am glad that she was a wonderful woman and a saint but equally tiresome to read all the praises and exaltations! Every woman is a heroine to her own family, community, workplace!
389 reviews
December 20, 2018
I almost gave this 2 stars but felt a bit mean spirited to do so. It is a well meaning book capitalizing on the popularity of Worth's books and the television programme. But what a mishmash. Letters to the Call the Midwife author in no particular order with other writing by Worth floating in the middle.
Profile Image for Bev.
233 reviews2 followers
May 31, 2019
Parts of this book I enjoyed very much, particularly the writings of the author’s husband and daughters and Jennifer’s time in Paris. It is a great testament to Jennifer and her writing that she received so much fan mail which amazingly she kept. I look forward to reading In The Midst of Life which I’ve had to order from overseas.
Profile Image for Ann.
276 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2022
Interesting to read the letters that people have written to Jennifer Worth over the years. The history of that area of London is fascinating, and many of the letters revealed shared experiences with Worth from nursing or teaching in the same area. It did get repetitive after awhile. The previously unpublished part about her experiences as a nanny in Paris was the best section of the book.
Profile Image for Agnes.
470 reviews1 follower
November 5, 2022
The letters were a bit repetitive but it's wonderful how many fans Jennifer Worth wrote back to.
I enjoyed her memories of Paris, not so much her religious journal.
She was a great writer, with powerful stories and obviously touched a lot of people.
She was a voice for midwives, nurses, and the poor families of Poplar.
Profile Image for Carlota.
48 reviews
July 26, 2019
It was lovely to see the impact Jennifer's words had on so many people. However, what I'll always remember from this book is the wonderful description she made of Paris in the 50s!!
Jennifer Worth lived an intense and beautiful life, and I loved knowing more about what she did.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.