The Midwife's Apprentice
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| Author | Karen Cushman |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical, Children's novel |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Released | March 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 122 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0395692296 (first edition, hardback) |
The Midwife's Apprentice is a children's novel written by Karen Cushman set in the Middle Ages.
[edit] Plot summary
The story starts with an orphan girl, known simply as Brat, who is found in a dungheap by Jane Sharp, the village midwife. Jane takes the girl to be her apprentice and renames her Beetle. Most of the villagers do not care for Beetle and the village boys tease her. However, she learns to take care of herself and makes a place for herself in the village by giving herself a real name, Alyce, adopting a cat she found, which she names Purr. It is orange with white stripes. She even befriends one of the boys who tormented her.
One day, Alyce is called upon to deliver a child, but she fails. Jane ends up taking over and succeeding, after which Alyce runs away, believing that she is a failure and is of no use anywhere. She ends up working at a nearby inn, where she learns to read a little from one of the tenants, a scholar. Eventually, she realizes that her true calling is to be midwife's apprentice and perhaps someday midwife and returns to Jane's village.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Walk Two Moons |
Newbery Medal recipient 1996 |
Succeeded by The View from Saturday |
