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The Reason Why Nonnatus House Is Idyllic: It’s All About Friendship & Camaraderie
Raise your hand if you watch Call the Midwife. I’ve been watching this show since its beginning. In fact, I’ve been so enamored with it that it inspired my 2019 novel called Little Milestones. I even talk about the show in my author’s notes. Now, with the 12th season of the show under my belt, I have a pretty good handle on the reason why Nonnatus House is idyllic for those of us who watch the show. Nonnatus House stands for something important. It is a beacon of light, because it represents everything that is good and solid and kind about friendships, particularly female friendships. Nonnatus House is the ship,…
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Writing About Women + Friendship in Little Milestones
For the past several years, I’ve watched a PBS show called Call the Midwife. It’s a series based on the memoirs entitled Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End by Jennifer Worth, a district nurse and midwife who was living in the East End of London during the 1950s. The show intermingles birth and birth issues experienced by a group of midwives consisting of nurses/midwives and nuns, with the theme of women friendships at the core of all these characters who live together in Nonnatus House. When I first came across this show, I was mesmerized. In my own life, I’d experienced some ill-fitting friendships and was…
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How ‘Call The Midwife’ Helps Us Better Understand Female Friendships
* PBS offers a lot of great programming, and I’ve been delighted with several shows that have become my favorites, from Downton Abbey to Mr. Selfridge to Grantchester; the writing, sets, plot lines, and characters keep me coming back. One show that is a must-see for women is Call the Midwife, now in its 5th season, that focuses on the nuns and midwives of Poplar, East London, and their struggles and triumphs. The show is based on the memoir by Jennifer Worth. I’ve said it from the beginning: the thing I like best about the show is it focuses on women’s friendships, the sincerity of them, and what makes and…
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Thanks for Leaving Me Melancholy, Mr. Selfridge
Whoa. Last night, my husband and I finished watching the final season of Mr. Selfridge. We’re a little behind the rest of you who watched it unfold each Sunday night in real time. We recorded all the shows and spent the last couple of weeks watching an episode about every other night. A big fan of Downton Abbey, we also watch Grantchester, Call the Midwife, and Poldark all on PBS. The quality of programming and the level of acting in these series are superior. I’d taken the liberty of reading about the real Harry Gordon Selfridge, the American business man who opened the department store Selfridge & Co. in London,…
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Call The Midwife
That glorious show, “Downton Abbey,” sucked me in and, of course, I am awaiting the next season of it. It’s fabulously cast, perfectly written, and the settings make one want to jump on a plane to visit Highclere Castle. It is all about the rich, their servants, and the way in which they all communicate and live together under one roof owned by Lord Grantham. They are filming the next season now and won’t be back for a while. In the meantime, I am besotted with another group of English folks–the women, both midwives and nuns, who live in London’s East End, who are the main characters in “Call the…
