The Midwife's Sister

by Christine Lee

"Our childhood came to an end when our parents parted and from then on Jennifer was placed in the impossible position of having to be a parent to me, her sister. I shall always be grateful for her protection . . ."

Millions have fallen in love with Jennifer Worth and her experiences in the East End as chronicled in Call the Midwife but little is known about her life outside this period. Now, in this moving and evocative memoir, Jennifer's sister, Christine, takes us from their early idyllic years to the cruelty and neglect they suffered after their parents divorced, from Jennifer being forced to leave home at fourteen to their training as nurses

After leaving nursing Jennifer took up a career in music, her first love, and Christine became a sculptor, but through marriages and children, joy and heartbreak, their lives remained intertwined. Absorbing and emotional, The Midwife's Sister is testimony to an enduring bond between two extraordinary women.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History, Autobiography, Biography Memoir, Womens

341 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Christina McLain · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You are only as sick as your secrets"or so goes the cliche, but in this case, the statement bears bitter lifelong fruit. This autobiography, written by Christine Lee, younger sister of Jennifer Worth author of the popular series Call the Midwife, is a chilling account of the other side of the placid 50s, as neglect and misbehaviour twist and torment the lives of two young girls with predictable longterm consequences. Although the Lee daughters had had an apparently idyllic early childhood in the Home Counties during WWII, everything changed in the summer of l945, when their mother came home unexpectedly from a seaside vacation to discover her husband in bed with a local woman. The stress of this encounter caused her to suffer a serious stroke and family disapproval forced her husband from the home. In the midst of all this upheaval the children were bundled off to a Dickensian nightmare of a convent which along with subsequent parental denial and neglect, scarred them forever. I think the worst aspect of this story lies in the absolute failure of anyone in the family to communicate in any real way with the children. No remorse or admission of regret was ever given to these girls and as a result they became angry and Jennifer's case, violent. Their ineffectual father was, on the surface, kind and loving, and threw money at them for years to atone for his behaviour but their lives with further blighted by his cold unfeeling new bride and by their narcissistic mother and abusive stepfather, who I think were among the most terrible parents I have read about in a long long time. I do believe that some of the bad bevaviour was a result of the stifling confomity of the period where shame and silence were seen as the way to cope with scandal but the upshot of all this was that Jennifer at 16 beame embroiled in a painful affair with a man three times her age while Christine spent her life having affairs with and marrying unsuitable men. Both girls triumphed in the end as writers and in Christine's case as a sculptress but their souls were scarred by their mistreatment. This is a good tonic for anyone nostalgic for the good old days when children were seen and never heard.

[Hannah Roache · Rating 1 out of 5]

Misleading Title

...Shameless use of her sister's name in the title for something that was Christine's autobiography. Christine is nowhere near the writer that Jennifer was. The book was a dull read.

[Gail Amendt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Jennifer Worth's series about her experiences as a midwife in Lond0n's impoverished East End, so I was quite excited to find that her younger sister Christine had also written a book. This book is really Christine's autobiography, and I feel she is trying to ride her sister's coat tails to some extent, by using her name in the title. Christine tells of their difficult childhood, and the complicated relationship that evolved as Jennifer tried to be both mother and sister to her after their parent's divorce and the neglect that the two subsequently suffered. They both survived and went on to have successful careers and families, but both were deeply scarred. The story was interesting and heart wrenching, but also left me feeling a bit uncomfortable, as I don't think Jennifer would have approved of her sister sharing these painful details. This book was written after Jennifer's death, and she never shared any of this in her own writing, so I feel that she wanted this part of her life to remain secret. It was likely cathartic for Christine to write it, but I'm not sure it should have been published.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why the GR average rating is so low with this. Parts of "The Midwife's Sister" are truly awful - particularly the last third or quarter of the book when Christine Lee attempts to finish up the book with a different focus (a memoir of the most uninteresting parts of her own middle-aged life featuring irrelevant, inane minutia like what everyone wore and ate) than that with which she began (the childhood autobiography and early lives of both Worth sisters).
Lee does deserve credit for the portions of the book that actually fulfill the promise on the book's cover, "The Story of 'Call the Midwife''s Jennifer Worth by her sister Christine."
Lee's detractors with this say the book is a self-serving and misleading exercise in self-indulgence, but my feel of the narrative was that it did tell the early story of the Worth sisters' lives fairly.
Sadly, after the second half of the book, the fact that Pan MacMillan didn't see fit to hire an editor becomes painfully apparent.
The publisher knew they were going to sell a lot of copies of this because of the success of the "Call the Midwife" trilogy and the success of the TV show, as well as that of Worth's final book, "In the Midst of Life."
Throughout all of these books, which are head-and-shoulders more sophisticated in their writing than this one, Worth's captivating storytelling sort of teases readers with a taste here or there of her personal life, but leaves them with far more questions about her than answers.
So when the publisher got the chance to put out a book that might be a tell-all at worst or an enlightening biography or memoir at best about Worth from a family insider, they took the chance knowing the quality of the content was irrelevant. That's disappointing, but such is commercial publishing.
Another complaint other reviewers have had is that they seemed to feel that Lee painted an unfair or surprising portrait of Worth herself. The warts-and-all portrayal of Worth with all her personality flaws and insecurities -- and most shockingly, and maybe disappointingly for some, her her affair from an early age with her married boss -- probably left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of hopeful readers.
The affair itself was alluded to but not fully explained in either the books or the TV series.
These issues reminded me a bit of the "Little House on the Prairie" controversy over how "real" the books were in depicting the actual lives of the Ingalls family. Recent Laura Ingalls Wilder biography and scholarship has determined that MUCH was left out of the novels, and probably for good reason at the time. Much of the material was re-imagined if not purposely misrepresented for the sake of the intended audience - mid-20th century schoolchildren.
It seems that some of the disillusionment with the portrayal of Worth in this book comes from the clash with her much-beloved presentation in the TV series. Many readers don't want to accept the complications within the real-life woman's life and personality.
Having acknowledged that, we can't know for sure that Lee's depictions are without a doubt accurate either. Lee is free-spirited, but as her own portrayal of her life suggests, likely a little flaky -- and what sibling anywhere would give a perfectly objective description of a sibling with whom they've had a complicated relationship -- made more so by years of childhood abuse and neglect?
I do love a good story about complicated family dynamics, so if you also enjoy these types of stories, this is a halfway decent read at least. The end of the book has to be forgiven, I think, for Lee's clear lack of writing experience and ability, but her story was worth telling and reading.
It's also a great read for anyone who enjoys life-affirming stories about how someone with a disadvantaged past overcomes adversity and makes something a good life for herself.
Both Lee and Worth overcame tremendous odds and easily could have become teenage delinquents, but because of their own drive to succeed coupled with last-minute family support, they were able to find their places in the world and lead fulfilling lives. Personally, I appreciated that aspect as much as anything else.

[Maggie BB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the glimpse into what life was like for women who needed to be independent in a time when women so rarely were... But I found the voice weak and at times clunky. An interesting life story somewhat blandly told. I also found the voice at times insipid - she was forever excusing and apologizing for the people in her life that treated her poorly. While many times this could be seen as forgiveness and admirable, when she seemed to find it acceptable that her husband was not at all supportive and understanding of her pain and illness I lost a lot of sympathy for her.

Overall an enjoyable read, and the author truly led a fascinating life. However the style is not of my tastes.

[Kath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not as well written as the books by Jennifer Worth and lacking their warmth. It is definitely a 'warts and all' biography which leaves something of a sour taste in the mouth.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very excited to get this book in the mail. However, the book quickly let me down. The book says that it is the about Jennifer Lee's life written by her sister, but Jennifer played a minimal role and often what was shown was negative. I felt icky reading the negative details of her life, especially knowing that the book was written after her death. Additionally, the storytelling was dull. I slogged through the book and was thrilled when I finally finished.

[Karen McKenzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book, tried a few times to not be put off but in the end I had to stop reading.
I can't remember the last time , if ever, I have done this.
Totally self serving book, and pretentious.
It would have made a more enjoyable story written as a novel..

[Julia Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, was good to get an insight into both sisters and their early lives.

[Jennifer Real · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing

[Sarah Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a Brontë novel, except the narration seems to be bullet points from a socialite’s diary including the venue, guest list, menu and the clothing worn. Rather than a flowing story that portrays Mrs Worth and Ms Lee suffering through hardships, growing, persevering and finally becoming comfortable in their own skins: this reads like an outline of a tragedy with fast cars, rags-to-riches real estate and music/arts thrown into soften the emotional turmoil.

Humans are so very complex. That our favorite Midwife, Jenny Lee, is counted in that category- doesn’t surprise. She and her sister endured such a bereft and traumatic emotional adolescence thru young adulthood is sad. But hardships don’t always define the individual and do much to explain the person they become. However, I can’t help but think that this author defines happiness in life based on material items and achievements which is not the depiction given in CTM.

I think Mrs Worth’s nature as an older sister (to protect and guide the younger sibling) is a classic firstborn trait. A ten-year old desperate to find just one adult (in this case her grandfather) to rely upon as the emotional leader during her parent’s marital and health crisis actually leads to her misguided choice of the headmaster at her job for the next crutch. It happens. But, her maturity finally came about (while nursing with the Anglican Sisters) by her recognition of needing to be subordinate to a spiritual Sovereign: which is the redeeming element of this entire book. It’s just tedium to get there.

I hope the author finally finds such a solace.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me say that I chose to read this book for the same reason most people likely did, that it is written by the sister of Jennifer Worth, of Call the Midwife notoriety.
Christine Lee is not the natural author her sister was, the narrative was more clunky than flowing, the timeline jumped around quite a bit, and there were times when I felt like surely I must have missed a few pages because of the abrupt shifts and gaps in information. However, I did get from the book what I expected which is the life story of a woman who happens to be the sister of Jennifer Lee. I appreciate that the author didn't try to make her often strained relationship with her sister fit into some neat box, or dress it up in pretty imaginations.
Christine Lee has led an interesting life in her own right. I admire her ability to move through life's challenges, not let them weigh her down, and that she shares some of her greatest mistakes as well as her successes. I maay not have flown through the pages of her story, but it was well worth the read.

[Vicki Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this off a community bookshelf because of my interest in midwifery and enjoyment of the show, Call the Midwife. What I read was the story of two very neglected girls who were left to basically raise themselves. That neglect and downright cruelty left them emotionally scarred and shows clearly own how this trauma can follow a person for the rest of their life.
It was not a well written book which is why I only gave it 3 stars.

[Tonya M Donnelly Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightened

Lovely story sad and funny in parts and very enlightening loved the way she talked about her sister as that character does not come out in her own books

[Rachel Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely changed my perception of nurse Jenny Lee. Her own books don't appear to convey any of this side to her.

[Marilyn G. Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing,

What an amazing and productive ,lovely, haunting life. So glad she shared it with us. Great peace to all read.

[Crazyforbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing to do with Call the Midwife

[Lauryn Kavanagh-Coombes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a reasonably enjoyable read, though readers should bare in mind that the title is more accurate than the description. This is the story of the midwife's sister, with snapshots of Jennifer's life splashed here and there in between. Although this book does fill in quite a bit of Jennifer's life aside from her stint in Poplar, the vast majority of the book centres around Christine's life (which to be quite honestly seems to have been one disaster after another) and her on-off relationship with Jennifer. At times the author seemed to be sounding rather bitter and unfair towards her sister, but she did emphasise the different perspectives of her feelings and events that occur during their lives. Don't go to this book for cheering up, it certainly is full of disappointments, neglect and downright unpleasant family drama, but it is an interesting read for anyone interested in finding out some background on the author of the Call the Midwife trilogy.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parents and other relatives in this book are horrifying. Jennifer and Christine's mother obeys her own mother and insists her husband move out after she finds him in bed with his secretary. The shock brings on a stroke which puts her into hospital for some time and in bed for some time afterward. (Hope you can keep the pronouns straight) The girls are cared for by the grandmother for a while, but are never told what is going on. Jennifer sees her father leave and seems never to have forgiven him for leaving. Once the mother recovers she takes up with "Jock" who appears to be more than something of a beast since the girls have to hide in cupboards when he's around.
It all becomes murkier and murkier as the girls grow up. Nothing is ever explained and they are left to figure things out on their own. How are they supposed to do that?
I found the writing a little confusing at times. Both the girls go into nursing but there is very little said about the training except the pre-nursing training where they learn the accepted way to do routine things. (I learned to make "hospital corners" from my sister in law who thought to go into nursing for a while) The real training came after that but it is scarcely mentioned save when it is involved with something else, like parties with doctors in training. The time that Jennifer was at Poplar is only mentioned in passing so you aren't really clear as to when it fits into historical time.
I wonder how much effect their life with their Mother and Jock had on the decisions the girls made later on. There was no stability, as Christine says herself, and the fact that Jock had no use for them and their Father's second wife was the same must have made it difficult for them to trust a partner and Christine certainly doesn't seem to have been able to settle easily with any one of her husbands until the last. Jennifer at least found someone and it was too bad she died early.
The book was fascinating but horrifying. I'm only about ten years younger than Jennifer and my parents didn't overload me with insight into family matters but what I was told was at least truth and as I got older I had access to anything that had been omitted. The way those girls were treated was unreal - being literally thrown out at fifteen, shoved into cupboards, given a storage room as a bedroom, what was the matter with the Father that he allowed these things to happen? It's no wonder the girls went into nursing since accommodation and food came with the job, even if the treatment was almost as bad as at their parents' places. I wonder how accurate a picture this book gives since the author is looking back a long way. The photos were interesting, too, although they naturally showed everyone as smiling and happy.
There was obviously quite a strong artistic strain in that family, considering Christine's sculpture and Jennifer's painting. They also managed to have money at the most advantageous times, especially Christine who was able to invest in houses, renovate, and then sell at a profit.

[Geertje · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the memoirs of Christine Lee, sister of Jennifer Worth, who is famous for her memoirs called Call the Midwife. The Midwife’s Sister tells about their childhood and adolescence, as well as the different paths Christine and Jennifer took in life.
I’m going to be very harsh here and say it straight away: this book would not have been published if Call the Midwife and Jennifer’s subsequent books hadn’t been such bestsellers. Its most interesting parts are those in which Christine tells us more about Jennifer and their childhood together, because it gives us insight into Jennifer’s character and provides us with details that we knew nothing about. Their childhood was rather happy until their parents divorced, after which it became horrendous. Really, those stepparents behaved appallingly and my heart broke when reading those parts. Sadly, as soon as Jennifer and Christine stop seeing much of each other, this book loses its momentum. It becomes a string of Christine marrying and divorcing as well as buying dilapidated houses, improving them, and selling them for a profit. Though parts of her life were extremely sad (I wanted to have a good talk with her first husband, who told her that her chronic back pain was all just imagined, even though it later turned out that Christine had several spinal fractures) other parts were, honestly dictates me to say, rather boring. It may be because I am only twenty and have a hard time imagining marrying anyone, which makes it hard to sympathise with a woman who seems to marry on a whim, or because it is hard in general to feel bad for a woman who has to trade in her Downton-Abbey-style mansion for a slightly smaller villa, but I had a hard time feeling for Christine at all. These memoirs are certainly interesting when one has read the Call the Midwife trilogy, but on its own, it isn’t all that captivating.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably say 3.5 or so if half stars were a thing.

It was definitely interesting to get more of the backstory as to what Jennifer Worth's life was like. definitely much more scandalous and surprising than Call the Midwife would lead you to believe!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written by the sister of Jennifer Worth and it is mostly her story. We learn of the family's background and a lot more including sibling rivalry raising it's ugly head.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was some what disappointed as I thought the book was about Jennifer through Christine's eyes but really was about Christine with a lot of negative comments about Jennifer.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I so desperately wanted to love this book. I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Worth's Call the Midwife series as well as the TV show, so I was super excited to read Christine's account of their childhood and their relationship. Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with what I've read. Getting into technical things first, the writing isn't very good, nor has it been edited well. I saw another review here that said it lacks warmth, and I very much agree with that assessment. For someone to be as naturally loving as she is (according to her own writing), her memoir lacks the warmth that her cold older sister Jennifer lacked in real life but put into her books.

Which brings me to the content. God. I'm conflicted because I understand all too well that how we present ourselves to a wider public is EXTREMELY different from how others perceive us. The Jenny Lee we see in the books and show is the way that Jennifer Worth portrayed herself. The Jennifer Lee we see in this book, though, is in no way close to the Jenny Lee who captured my heart in both series. I also want to believe that Christine didn't write this book after Jennifer's death because it was to be a purposeful slander piece. God, I hope with all my heart that it isn't true. But the memoir does have a very twisted bias to it. Christine is innocent and sweet and is so forgiving I half-expected a tale about how she was officially naked a saint to come at the end of the book. Jennifer, by contrast, is cruel, distant, unfeeling, abrasive, and all around nothing at all like the Jenny Lee in the books and the show. Again, I know that how people choose to present themselves is very different from how we are perceived. I want to make that clear. But it's just so difficult for me to reconcile myself to the idea that the Jenny Lee I've grown to love is the same Jennifer Lee in Christine's book who was fired from her position as a nurse in a hospital for hitting a child. It's just so vastly different it's difficult to process.

Regardless of whether this book was purposely meant to damage Jennifer Worth's reputation and Jenny Lee's image of a kind, loving nurse and person, both Christine and Jennifer grew up in what sounds like a hellish household. My heart and sympathy go out to them, and I wish they'd both had happier lives. So to sum it all up, I wouldn't recommend this book even to diehard Call the Midwife fans like myself. There's very little about Jenny, and what little there is, it shows an utterly ugly side that isn't in any way flattering. (At one point, Christine tells a story of Jenny grabbing a knife and chasing her with it in an attempt to harm her. Jenny, according to Christine, was very violent during her childhood and adolescence.)

There are better ways to pass the time than with this book.

[C A Gentle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book on a number of levels. Firstly, it was interesting to read about Christine and Jennifer's early childhood and how their happy childhood was suddenly taken from them, including the awful time they had. They lived in Buckinghamshire where I was born and bought up, so I could really identify with a lot of the areas that were mentioned. They were some years older than me, but I also had the sort of out all day from a very young age with adults not being concerned where you were childhood - you were trusted to play, explore and come home - there was little or no fear about strangers. I guess I was on the tail end of that aspect of British life. So I enjoyed that. It was interesting to read how they overcame their issues and circumstances, but I was struck by the fact they were quite well off financially and I did wonder how they would have fared without that luxury - that is were the identify with them stopped for me. I was also amused to hear of their parents going to dances at the Orchard in Ruislip - a posh hotel. It's actually a Beefeater now - had a lovely working breakfast there once, but posh? How things change! I found Christine's style of writing not to be up to Jennifer's and but it was good to see the background of Jennifer which helps to understand her books further, and Christine's trials and tribulations are also interesting.

[DrJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems to get mixed reviews. The problem is, by calling it "The Midwife's Sister" Christine is clearly putting herself and her work in direct comparison with Jennifer. Christine has lived a very varied and interesting life, but I believe she is truly a talented sculpturer, not a natural story teller. This should be right up my street as far as books go. But I got bored on more than one occasion. It is just a series of anecdotes, frequently without context or ending. For instance the rats outside Buckingham Palace! What was the point?!

Worth was a watcher of people and had immense empathy. Though goodness knows how now I've heard about her background. Worth weaves stories with their social, historical and medical context. I cried and laughed along with her protagonists. Christine Lee's account is too plodding and lacking the same level of insight. I finished it, but didn't learn much. I believe she feels she's being honest and fair to those around her in her reporting but, for me, it was too narrow and not sufficiently well rounded.

[Kirsty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to agree with several other reviewers. Jennifer worth was definetly the writer of the family.
Christine Lee just rambles and whines. There is a minor order to the book but otherwise you are left without a timeline so I found it made it harder to follow what was going on.
This book does show what happens when a childhood is disruptive because Christine Lee is all over the place as an adult. 4 failed marriages and perhaps not the best parent (from comments she has made in the book).
She uses this book to whine about how her relationship with her sister and how poor it is, how difficult it is. She is constantly placing all the blame on her sister for the relationship and how disapproving she is on her life. And then if Christine is not moaning about that she's going into all these fancy houses she has and woe is her etc.
This is a terrible book. I feel like after Jennifer Worth died, Christine Lee decided to try and make money off of that.

[Geasp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know what I was expecting when I picked this book up. The beginning of the book was interesting, if not pretty sad - Christine and Jennifer’s childhood, idyllic (on the surface) for some time, was obliterated in an instant, and some of the descriptions of their youth are pretty grim to read. However, this is the most engaging section of the book.

The book soon degenerates into a dull, repetitive, cumbersome prose, that comes across as pretentious and self-satisfied. Of course, Christine clearly has a lot of things to feel proud of; she’s an accomplished sculptor and has made the most out of every opportunity she has had. However, I grew tired of the namedropping, and found the descriptions of life in big houses/savvy money management smug.

[Denita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book as I am a fan of " Call The Midwife" series on television. I haven't read any of the books written by Jennifer Worth as yet.
After I read The Midwife's Sister I looked up comments that readers had made and I was very surprised by some of them. This book IS about Jennifer Worths's sister, Christine not Jennifer so it would be fair to say these are Christine's thoughts and memories. Both their childhood and teenage years were far from ideal to say the least but they both dealt with it in their own way and both had successful careers. I'm looking forward to reading the books that Jennifer wrote to compare the way they have been written as many of the readers of the two have said that Jennifer's writing is far better.

[Jenelle Van · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sure Christine is a very lovely person but this autobiography has nothing outstanding or interesting in it. The stories of the bygone days were charming and the horrors of their parents and the abuse that took place were awful. I had expected the book to be more about midwifery and barring that, at least about her sister. Well it turns out she barely ever talked to her sister and they had this strange distance between them. At times it seems she didn't even like her sister. Overall, it just wasn't what I was expecting and I didn't like it. Just my personal opinion and I wish the family well.