The midwife of Venice / Roberta Rich.
Publication details: New York : Gallery Books, 2012, c2011.Edition: 1st Gallery Books trade pbk. edDescription: 335, [9] p. ; 21 cmISBN:- 9781451657470 (pbk.)
- 813.6 23
- PR9199.4.R4875 M53 2012
Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Cherry Hill Public Library | Cherry Hill Public Library | Fiction | Fiction Collection | FICTION RIC (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 33407003835137 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Not since Anna Diamant's The Red Tent or Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book has a novel transported readers so intimately into the complex lives of women centuries ago or so richly into a story of intrigue that transcends the boundaries of history. A "lavishly detailed" ( Elle Canada) debut that masterfully captures sixteenth-century Venice against a dramatic and poetic tale of suspense.
Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers using her secret "birthing spoons." When a count implores her to attend his dying wife and save their unborn son, she is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians, but his payment is enough to ransom her husband Isaac, who has been captured at sea. Can she refuse her duty to a woman who is suffering? Hannah's choice entangles her in a treacherous family rivalry that endangers the child and threatens her voyage to Malta, where Isaac, believing her dead in the plague, is preparing to buy his passage to a new life. Told with exceptional skill, The Midwife of Venice brings to life a time and a place cloaked in fascination and mystery and introduces a captivating new talent in historical fiction.
"A novel"--Cover.
"Originally published in Canada in 2011 by Random House of Canada Limited"--T.p. verso
Includes a readers group guide.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-329).
"Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers--a gift aided by the secret "birthing spoons" she designed. But when a count implores her to attend to his wife, who has been laboring for days to give birth to their firstborn son, Hannah is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical tratment to Christians, but the payment he offers is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea"--P. [4] of cover.
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Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
In 16th-century Venice, it is illegal for Jewish midwives to treat Christians, but when a count begs Hannah Levi to attend his dying wife ("they say you have a way of coaxing stubborn babies out of their mothers' bellies"), she is torn. If the baby dies, Hannah and her community will be blamed. If the delivery is successful, Hannah will earn the 200 ducats she needs to ransom her husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea by the Knights of Malta and sold into slavery. Hannah's decision entangles her in a family dispute that endangers the count's newborn son and threatens to expose her secret-the "birthing spoons" that are the key to her success as a midwife. Meanwhile on Malta, Isaac tries to buy his way to freedom by penning love letters for his illiterate owner. Verdict A best seller in Canada, this debut novel is an entertainingly suspenseful and sometimes moving melodrama of steadfast love against all odds. In a series of cliff-hanging chapters, Hannah transforms from a "timid little ghetto mouse" into a resourceful young woman as she seeks to save her husband and an innocent child. While some aspects of Hannah's and Isaac's predicaments are too neatly resolved and the other characters are broadly drawn, Rich's fascinating historical details and her warm empathy for her protagonists will capture historical fiction fans and readers who enjoyed Anita Diamant's The Red Tent.-Wilda Williams, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Review
In her U.S. debut, Rich successfully captures the seedy side of 16th-century Venice-the Jewish ghetto, the plague, the confluence of religious and legal authority-but stumbles with unevenly rendered main characters. Hannah, a midwife, and Isaac Levi are Venetian Jews. Isaac, a trader, is captured at sea and held for ransom in Malta by the Knights of St. John. Hannah is legally forbidden to treat Christians, but as a healer-and a woman suddenly in need of money-she cannot refuse the request of a high-born Venetian to help his wife give birth. Though she delivers the baby safely, the infant faces mortal danger and Hannah's involvement deepens, leaving her susceptible to charges of murder and witchcraft. To evade authorities, she must rely on her estranged sister, a courtesan. Meanwhile, Isaac languishes on Malta. His kidnappers sell him as a slave to a nun, who in turn sells him to a brutish peasant. Using his wits to survive (selling his writing skills and helping woo a beautiful woman), he escapes captivity, but his and Hannah's harrowing efforts to reunite are stymied at every turn. Both characters demonstrate intelligence, but only Isaac comes to full life: his thoughts, feelings, humor, and behavior leap off the page. Agent: Beverly Slopen, the Beverly Slopen Agency. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.Kirkus Book Review
It's one crisis after another for a 16th-century Italian-Jewish midwife and her merchant husband struggling to be reunited. Religious persecution, sexism, pestilence and murderous, scheming siblings are just a few of the hurdles confronting Hannah Levi and her husband Isaac in Canadian-based Rich's cliffhanger-strewn debut. Key events have happened before the story opens, giving the novel the feel of a sequel: Isaac, who gambled his fortune on a shipment of silk, was captured by mercenaries and is now a slave in Malta; Hannah's sister, a convert to Christianity, is working as a courtesan; and Hannah herself has become "the best midwife in Venice, Christian or Jew," having invented forceps, the use of which risks accusations of witchcraft. When a Christian nobleman implores Hannah to help deliver his son and heir, she does so in defiance of her rabbi in order to raise Isaac's ransom money. The baby is born, but the forceps are stolen by the nobleman's wicked brother from whom she must also rescue the kidnapped child before masquerading as a plague victim to avoid further threats. Meanwhile, in alternate chapters, Isaac is being starved and beaten in Malta where, after multiple plot twists, the story screeches to a breathless halt. Overstuffed is an understatement for this heavily researched but lightweight historical adventure.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.There are no comments on this title.