A girl of twelve or thirteen years begins The Midwife's Apprentice without mother, name, or home. She is a stranger to soft words who has known only curses, kicks, and blows. One would need to read widely to find a heroine on the verge of womanhood with a less promising future, yet by the end of the novel she has moved far beyond the desperate struggle just to survive and become a person who knows '". . how to try and risk and fail and try again and not give up.'" She has put herself in position to learn everything about being a midwife— physical techniques, herbs, potions, superstitions, spells and charms— and, even more importantly, has unlocked her capacity for compassionate intelligence which will add the grace of tenderness to her future ministrations.

It was as cold and dark inside her...