Toffee Apples and Quail Feathers: New Stories From Call the Midwife

by Jennifer Worth, Suzannah Worth

Following the death of her beloved mother Jennifer Worth in 2011, Suzannah Worth discovered amongst her manuscripts a folder simply labelled 'Fifth Book'. Imagine her excitement when she sat down to read and her mother's distinctive voice came flooding back. She found herself once again immersed in the world of the 1950s East End of London. The voices of much loved, familiar characters spoke loud and clear, particularly that of Fred the boiler man, who features extensively in this joyful collection. From Fred and Maisie's romance, to Fred's little earners including boat tours on the Thames, a fledgling singing career and raising pigs on the allotment, these new stories are as heart-warming and funny as the originals.

Published here for the first time and accompanied by a selection of Suzannah's favourite chapters from the original memoirs, featuring Chummy and Sister Monica Joan, this is a very special addition to the Call the Midwife family.

Genres: Historical, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2022

About the author

Worth, born Jennifer Lee while her parents were on holiday in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was raised in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. After leaving school at the age of 14, she learned shorthand and typing and became the secretary to the head of Dr Challoner's Grammar School. She then trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and moved to London to receive training to become a midwife.

Lee was hired as a staff nurse at the London Hospital in Whitechapel in the early 1950s. With the Sisters of St John the Divine, an Anglican community of nuns, she worked to aid the poor. She was then a ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Bloomsbury, and later at the Marie Curie Hospital in Hampstead.

She married the artist Philip Worth in 1963, and they had two daughters.

Worth retired from nursing in 1973 to pursue her musical interests. In 1974, she received a licentiate of the London College of Music, where she taught piano and singing. She obtained a fellowship in 1984. She performed as a soloist and with choirs throughout Britain and Europe.

She later began writing, and her first volume of memoirs, 'Call the Midwife', was published in 2002. The book became a bestseller when it was reissued in 2007. 'Shadows of the Workhouse' (2005; reissued 2008) and 'Farewell to the East End' (2009) also became bestsellers. The trilogy sold almost a million copies in the UK alone. In a fourth volume of memoirs 'In the Midst of Life', published in 2010, Worth reflects on her later experiences caring for the terminally ill.

Worth was highly critical of Mike Leigh's 2004 film Vera Drake, for depicting the consequences of illegal abortions unrealistically. She argued that the method shown in the movie, far from being fairly quick and painless, was in fact almost invariably fatal to the mother.

Worth died on 31 May 2011, having been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus earlier in the year.

A television series, Call the Midwife, based on her books, began broadcasting on BBC One on 15 January 2012.

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the stories about Fred, but wish it would have been made clear how much of the book is just old stories. I skipped over those because I've reread them a lot previously. I really enjoyed the foreword by Suzannah Worth though. I wouldn't have minded hearing more from her about her mum and how she wrote the original books rather than old stories, but I enjoyed the book anyway.

[Stephanie Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't justify giving it more than 3 stars as so much of the book I have already read as it has been taken word for word out of one of the other books she has written. However of the half the book that remains of original writing I would give it 4.5 stars. Interesting, humourous and amazing story telling.

[Karolien · Rating 5 out of 5]

After having read all the other books i could not be more enthusiastic about this book. I know it is not entirely written by Jennifer Worth herself but a collection of unpublished material combined with a number of public favourites is a great combination.
I loved the stories of Fred, Sister Monica Joan and Chummy although after having read this book i am really curious about the Youth of Sister Julienne.

I found the foreword by Suzannah, the author's daughter very endearing. It shows how much she loved her mother and father.
The books are a great memento of bygone times that drew to a close when women had the choice to have children.
A story about the East End like you have never seen before

[Daryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have said - it should have been made clear how many of the stories had been recycled from the previous books.

[Alli · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Following the death of her beloved mother Jennifer Worth in 2011, Suzannah Worth discovered amongst her manuscripts a folder simply labelled 'Fifth Book'. Imagine her excitement when she sat down to read and her mother's distinctive voice came flooding back.

This enchanting new collection from Jennifer Worth's Call the Midwife takes you back to the East End of London in the 1950s. Heart-warming and funny, these never-before-seen stories feature all Worth's beloved characters, with a particular focus on Fred, the irresistible Poplar boiler man.

A selection of Suzannah's favourites from the original memoirs, featuring Chummy and Sister Monica Joan, join the new stories to make a very special addition to the Call the Midwife family."

The above is what Amazon advertised the book as. I thought it'd be mostly new stories with just a couple of existing tales. I was looking forward to a new set of stories about the East End, midwifery in the 50s, maybe the tenements of London in the 50s, a new collection of colourful patients and characters Worth met.

But it's not that.

It's about 80% rehashed stories from the other books. Sure, they're nice stories, but I've read them dozens of times, and if I wanted to read them again, i'd just listen to the book they originally came from.

The other 20% is actually new stories- but all about Fred. Sure, he's a funny character, but ultimately the reader has no real reason to care deeply for Fred over any other character. The other Jennifer Worth books went far beyond any individual character- they captured the way people lived and talked to each other in the 50s, what life and morality was like at that time, the ups and downs of life in the 50's in the poor part of London. A book focused solely on Fred missed all of that.

I considered stopping the audiobook at the point where the narrator spent several minutes trying to imitate Fred's terrible singing voice. I mean, the narrator did a great job through most of the book, but Fred's voice by all accounts sounded horrible, so of course the imitation did too.

I kept going for a bit hoping for new stories, but in the end stopped with about an hour left unheard. I guess I just wanted more interesting stories about the 50s- not about this random man, him raising pigs, and him collecting animal poo to sell.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved reading Jennifer Worth's Call the Midwife series. She more than filled her self-imposed brief of "doing for midwifery what James Herriot did for vets". And I loved watching the TV series with its painstaking recreation of the 1950s and 60s setting, wardrobe, and soundtrack. So I thought I would love this book, and I do -- but I don't think it needed to exist, or be marketed and sold, as a new title in its own right. The majority of it is reprinted material from Worth's existing books in the Midwife series. Only at the end do we get a few chapters about Fred's further adventures, and while they are a joy to read, they don't constitute a new book. The introduction by the author, one of Worth's children, was a pleasure too but even this combined with the new chapters didn't compensate for the disappointment of realising that so much of the book was rehashed.

The sensitive, thoughtful intro could have been combined with the scant few new chapters into a novella or other "mini" publication rather than misleading fans into thinking we were getting a whole new book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've loved all of Jennifer Worth's memoirs and this was a touching posthumous addition. It is compiled of some 'new' stories, that her daughter Suzannah came across while going through some of her mother's papers. These have interwoven with previously published, edited chapters from earlier volumes. It was nice to be reacquainted with old friends and learn more about the real Fred (as opposed to the smartened up character portrayed in the BBC adaptations of Worth's work). The book did feel like a bit of a hybrid affair at times, the first part in particular felt a little disjointed. But once it gets into its stride and we move to the new material I found this collection a very enjoyable read. A fitting tribute to Suzannah worth's mother.

[Kirsty Garrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this, like I had enjoyed Jennifer's previous books, but alas I couldn't. It deals more on Fred and Sister Monica Joan and Chummy. Mainly Fred, which is a nice addition but it does feel very different (I'm aware that it is mainly by Jennifer's rough draft) but it is missing that magic from the rest.
But it's mainly stories that have been previously used in other books and if jumps from Fred to Sister Monica and back again with a sprinkling of Chummy, it would have been better if it was broken into separate sections so that the stories were easier to follow.
Some of Fred's stories are very funny and enjoyable, as are Sister Monica, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read this again

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would love to give this 5 stars, but I can't, based off the fact that it is only some new stories mixed with stories already told in the Call the Midwife trilogy. The new content is delightful, tales of Fred the boiler man, fun stories, well written and utterly charming. However, as half of the book is rehashed from books I had already read, I skipped these chapters and the book was pretty much finished, a real shame the author could not complete the book before they passed. Overall good, but glad I got the book on loan, rather than paying for mostly stories that I have already read

[Pippa Collins-Gould · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the series of these books and have read them all, I was slightly disheartened as a lot of these stories were repeats from the previous books, hardly any new material at all. Almost not worth the read in all honesty. I love her writing and her stories and a few made me chuckle but again, they were previous stories from the other books! Really the book should have just been dedicated and written purely about Fred.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the previous review, as a call the midwife lover, I had to read the book as I agree learning more about Fred was interesting and enjoyable, I just wish the book didn’t have exact chapters from the previous three books- I did enjoy the first bit of the book about how the idea of this book came about.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book says New Stories from Call the Midwife. Only about half of the stories were new. The rest were repeated from books that I already own. I probably wouldn't have purchased it had that been more clear.

[Gavin Shiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read about the lives of the real people in Popular. I love that programme

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry but this book is just the old books repackaged.
There are little bits that are new, but not enough that it is worth buying.

[Natalie Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

[Tori Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

so obvious this isn’t written by her

[Angie Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The new stories about Fred are my favorite!

[Mary Churchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story great insight into
The East End London 1950’s based on
Recollections of a midwife

[Bernadette Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, easy read.

[Karen]

u9ullili0 80s

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can sum this up as mostly a reminiscence of stories previously told & published. Not a lot of new material.
Sweetly told… of bygone times…

[Theresa Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite what I'd expected but I enjoyed it