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The Morgan Women
Emma's marriage to doctor Joshua Morgan marks the beginning of a dynasty of brilliant, ambitious physicians and the strong-willed, passionate women who love them
- GenresFiction
464 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 16, 2019
I was expecting a romance but what the author wrote was politics on childbirth through generations. We also got romance and deceit. A good story a few twists but the ending was just so so.
February 4, 2024
This was good at first, as it was a historical novel that spanned several decades and wars, and focused on how ridiculous it was to be against birth control, even for married couples!
There was also the whole dismal atmosphere of childbirth in days gone by (one of the characters compares delivery rooms to torture chambers), with mandatory stirrups, pubic hair shaves, enemas, twilight sleep, etc. Thank goodness for progress in this respect!!
There was also the controversial issue of abortion, and how one doctor goes against his conscience and performs them, because in many cases it was necessary for different reasons. (There's the conscience salve of "if I don't do it, someone else will, and who knows if it would be safe and what would happen, etc.)
There's also the usual stuff of marriages, affairs, etc. but toward the end it got pretty amoral, with one character (a serial cheater) sleeping with his daughter-in-law and getting her pregnant!! Gross!!! His daughter thinks the pill is great because now she can have sex like a man (to quote Carrie Bradshaw) and there's a young Jewish woman who rebels against her love for a married man by sleeping with an Arab sheik (whom I preferred to the raisin-ball guy she loved, who was putty in his bitchy wife's hands, even when he knew she opened her legs for his father)!!
I think Ms. Byrne was trying to say that people are naturally promiscuous and birth control and legal abortions only make this more convenient. Considering the hookup culture of today, maybe she's right?
There was also the whole dismal atmosphere of childbirth in days gone by (one of the characters compares delivery rooms to torture chambers), with mandatory stirrups, pubic hair shaves, enemas, twilight sleep, etc. Thank goodness for progress in this respect!!
There was also the controversial issue of abortion, and how one doctor goes against his conscience and performs them, because in many cases it was necessary for different reasons. (There's the conscience salve of "if I don't do it, someone else will, and who knows if it would be safe and what would happen, etc.)
There's also the usual stuff of marriages, affairs, etc. but toward the end it got pretty amoral, with one character (a serial cheater) sleeping with his daughter-in-law and getting her pregnant!! Gross!!! His daughter thinks the pill is great because now she can have sex like a man (to quote Carrie Bradshaw) and there's a young Jewish woman who rebels against her love for a married man by sleeping with an Arab sheik (whom I preferred to the raisin-ball guy she loved, who was putty in his bitchy wife's hands, even when he knew she opened her legs for his father)!!
I think Ms. Byrne was trying to say that people are naturally promiscuous and birth control and legal abortions only make this more convenient. Considering the hookup culture of today, maybe she's right?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2011
Very good...but a little long winded at times.
August 6, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns and the historical elements make it all the more enjoyable
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews