Just okay.

I had some high hopes for this month's book club read. This is a title that I had put forth, based on a recommendation I had from a dear friend who had also read it. Sorry Gilly, I was not jumping up and down and waving my arms back and forth about this book, but The Birth House was an okay read, but not one that I found was a stellar read. I can't sing it's praises from high on the mountaintop, rather more from a middle perch.

There were parts of this book that I thought were magical - I loved the first section, and then I found the middle lacking the same spirit of the first part. Maybe it was because there were no more stories about Ms. B. The protagonist, Dora, falls somewhere between the willing midwife and the almost cartoonish and evil "modern" maternity doctor who comes peddling his wares. The end of the story picked up for me, and I did find that it almost wound up to a close too fast, I wanted to more about where Dora's future would spin off in to. I guess what I wanted from this book was a little more, the BH is peppered with some interesting characters, and then salted with some really one-dimensional ones. I found that it wavered a bit between these poles, perhaps as this author found her own stride?

There are lots of stories from the east coast, but I would love to read more from the west coast, about our trials and experiences. Perhaps the east coast writers are just better about promoting their books??? I am not sure, but I would love to read more stories about the west, and not just the recognized classics like Moody's "Roughing it in the bush" which I have, but it is just sitting there on my shelf waiting for the right moment (or mood) for me to pick it up.

Truth be told, I love the website for the book, and plan to go back to some exploring. The book was a decent read, not a 10, but worth a few hours whiling away with a book. In the novelties section of the website, you can actually take a quiz to discover if you are hysterical!