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Midwife #1
The Midwife of Venice
At midnight, the dogs, cats, and rats rule Venice. The Ponte di Ghetto Nuovo, the bridge that leads to the ghetto, trembles under the weight of sacks of rotting vegetables, rancid fat, and vermin. Shapeless matter, perhaps animal, floats to the surface of Rio di San Girolamo and hovers on its greasy waters. Through the mist rising from the canal the cries and grunts of foraging pigs echo. Seeping refuse on the streets renders the pavement slick and the walking treacherous.
It was on such a night that the men came for Hannah.
—
Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril.
But Hannah’s compassion for another woman’s misery overrides her concern for self-preservation. The Rabbi once forced her to withhold care from her shunned sister, Jessica, with terrible consequences. Hannah cannot turn away from a labouring woman again. Moreover, she cannot turn down the enormous fee offered by the Conte. Despite the Rabbi’s protests, she knows that this money can release her husband, Isaac, a merchant who was recently taken captive on Malta as a slave. There is nothing Hannah wants more than to see the handsome face of the loving man who married her despite her lack of dowry, and who continues to love her despite her barrenness. She must save Isaac.
Meanwhile, far away in Malta, Isaac is worried about Hannah’s safety, having heard tales of the terrifying plague ravaging Venice. But his own life is in terrible danger. He is auctioned as a slave to the head of the local convent, Sister Assunta, who is bent on converting him to Christianity. When he won’t give up his faith, he’s traded to the brutish lout Joseph, who is renowned for working his slaves to death. Isaac soon learns that Joseph is heartsick over a local beauty who won’t give him the time of day. Isaac uses his gifts of literacy and a poetic imagination—not to mention long-pent-up desire—to earn his day-to-day survival by penning love letters on behalf of his captor and a paying illiterate public.
Back in Venice, Hannah packs her “"birthing spoons”—secret rudimentary forceps she invented to help with difficult births—and sets off with the Conte and his treacherous brother. Can she save the mother? Can she save the baby, on whose tiny shoulders the Conte’s legacy rests? And can she also save herself, and Isaac, and their own hopes for a future, without endangering the lives of everyone in the ghetto?
The Midwife of Venice is a gripping historical page-turner, enthralling readers with its suspenseful action and vivid depiction of life in sixteenth-century Venice. Roberta Rich has created a wonderful heroine in Hannah Levi, a lioness who will fight for the survival of the man she loves, and the women and babies she is duty-bound to protect, carrying with her the best of humanity’s compassion and courage.
It was on such a night that the men came for Hannah.
—
Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril.
But Hannah’s compassion for another woman’s misery overrides her concern for self-preservation. The Rabbi once forced her to withhold care from her shunned sister, Jessica, with terrible consequences. Hannah cannot turn away from a labouring woman again. Moreover, she cannot turn down the enormous fee offered by the Conte. Despite the Rabbi’s protests, she knows that this money can release her husband, Isaac, a merchant who was recently taken captive on Malta as a slave. There is nothing Hannah wants more than to see the handsome face of the loving man who married her despite her lack of dowry, and who continues to love her despite her barrenness. She must save Isaac.
Meanwhile, far away in Malta, Isaac is worried about Hannah’s safety, having heard tales of the terrifying plague ravaging Venice. But his own life is in terrible danger. He is auctioned as a slave to the head of the local convent, Sister Assunta, who is bent on converting him to Christianity. When he won’t give up his faith, he’s traded to the brutish lout Joseph, who is renowned for working his slaves to death. Isaac soon learns that Joseph is heartsick over a local beauty who won’t give him the time of day. Isaac uses his gifts of literacy and a poetic imagination—not to mention long-pent-up desire—to earn his day-to-day survival by penning love letters on behalf of his captor and a paying illiterate public.
Back in Venice, Hannah packs her “"birthing spoons”—secret rudimentary forceps she invented to help with difficult births—and sets off with the Conte and his treacherous brother. Can she save the mother? Can she save the baby, on whose tiny shoulders the Conte’s legacy rests? And can she also save herself, and Isaac, and their own hopes for a future, without endangering the lives of everyone in the ghetto?
The Midwife of Venice is a gripping historical page-turner, enthralling readers with its suspenseful action and vivid depiction of life in sixteenth-century Venice. Roberta Rich has created a wonderful heroine in Hannah Levi, a lioness who will fight for the survival of the man she loves, and the women and babies she is duty-bound to protect, carrying with her the best of humanity’s compassion and courage.
336 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2011
317 people are currently reading
8601 people want to read
About the author
Roberta Rich
11 books215 followersI was born on January 9th. Not the best time to be born if your birthplace happens to be the buckle on the snow belt, Buffalo, New York. Buffalo remained my home until I struck out on my own and managed to get 73 miles down the New York State Freeway to Rochester. My life took a turn for the better- better climate, better opportunities.
Writers of a certain vintage always seem to boast of the variety of interesting jobs they held before settling down to write. Jobs like fire breather on the Reforma in Mexico City, or turkey plucker. I have not done anything so exotic. Moving from present to past, I have been: a divorce lawyer, student, waitress, nurses’ aide, hospital admitting clerk, factory assembly line worker and child.
I live in Vancouver, B.C. and in Colima, Mexico. I have one husband, one daughter, three step-children, a German Shepherd, tropical fish and many over sexed parakeets. When in Mexico, I nurture my husband, and my vanilla vines. When in Vancouver I try to keep dry.
Writers of a certain vintage always seem to boast of the variety of interesting jobs they held before settling down to write. Jobs like fire breather on the Reforma in Mexico City, or turkey plucker. I have not done anything so exotic. Moving from present to past, I have been: a divorce lawyer, student, waitress, nurses’ aide, hospital admitting clerk, factory assembly line worker and child.
I live in Vancouver, B.C. and in Colima, Mexico. I have one husband, one daughter, three step-children, a German Shepherd, tropical fish and many over sexed parakeets. When in Mexico, I nurture my husband, and my vanilla vines. When in Vancouver I try to keep dry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,454 reviews
May 19, 2014
Welcome to another edition of Megan's Damning With Faint Praise!
This book is fine. It is readable, it didn't piss me off, I enjoyed it while I was reading it. These are things I almost always say about books I liked but inspired me to no passion, one way or another. And it's true in this case as well.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
This book is fine. It is readable, it didn't piss me off, I enjoyed it while I was reading it. These are things I almost always say about books I liked but inspired me to no passion, one way or another. And it's true in this case as well.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
August 26, 2012
With The Midwife of Venice, Roberta Rich has joined the hordes. By "hordes," I mean authors producing historical fiction about parts of the world that are legendary, which is to say mostly imaginary to them. Strangely, most are about 16th-century Italy, one region or another. Also, they tend to feature resourceful female protagonists whose pluck and daring gets them through the most unlikely adventures. There is usually some form of prejudice; a helper in the form of another social outsider (a randy dwarf, a cloistered monk); and a great deal of travel (to Scotland, Morocco, Rome). That "legendariness" is not entirely a bad thing; it allows readers to *think* they are being transported through a place while still suspending disbelief as wholly improbable events take place there. When an author also so obviously wants his/her fiction to be taken seriously as a political statement or quasi-historical document, however, the lack of research or actual realism becomes a distraction rather than a boon.
And that is just one problem with Rich's novel. Rich has imagined a "Venice" in which the Jewish midwife Hannah, so downtrodden and impoverished by racial prejudice that she fears for her life if she steps outside the Ghetto or helps to birth a Gentile woman's baby (a task she – compassionately and rebelliously – nonetheless undertakes with surprising regularity), mysteriously becomes the target of a rich family's rage and vengeance. So much so that she has to disguise herself as a prostitute, guided by her "lapsed" sister, and then as a victim of the Black Death. Oh, and she also steals the rich family's baby, and manages to get stuck with him, so she and her (downtrodden and impoverished) husband Isaac can finally have the child they have dreamed of. Oh, and she escapes Venice on board a freight ship bound for Malta, where her husband has managed to win favor with nuns, a local eccentric artist woman, and a reluctantly admiring slave-owner who happens to be in love with the eccentric artist woman. Oh, and somewhere in there Hannah sneaks out of Venice and has a totally unnecessary subplot-adventure involving a suspicious ship's captain and a kind Muslim woman. Oh, and Hannah also rescues her husband from the clutches of the greedy nun and then the greedy slave-owner, and they bring the baby up and live happily ever after.
If you're reading this with eyes narrowed and the shadow of a "WTF" dancing across your peripheral vision, you're not alone. The novel is a full-tilt disappointment whose rave reviews on Amazon leave me baffled. It is full of racial depictions in all directions that turn characters into black-and-white cardboard cutouts worthy of a 19th-century melodrama (The Good Jewess, The Greedy Rabbi, the Scheming Count and so on), historical and geographical inaccuracies (I'm sorry, but if you are going to write a historical novel about downtrodden but plucky Jews in 16th-century Venice you need to know how to spell "G-I-U-D-E-C-C-A," not to mention the fact that the Jews did not, in fact, live in this area but in the Ghetto, which was in the Cannaregio), and wild radical leaps of logic that stymy even the most faithful of suspended disbelievers. How did Hannah, who cannot afford an orange, manage to get the silversmith from the Ghetto to manufacture her birthing tool, a set of soldered silver spoons (ostensibly the first forceps)? Why would the Rabbi, suspicious of anyone's authority beyond his own, even allow a pair of Gentile gentlemen into the Ghetto after hours, much less up into Hannah's private rooms – and then permit her to leave with them at midnight? Why would an independently wealthy (and oddly sexually liberated) artist fall in love with the emaciated but well-spoken Isaac? And, sigh, why do the non-Jews all have to be such caricatures of despicability and greed? This kind of representation may make for a cathartic page-turner, but it makes the novel feel mis-classified, as if it should be sold in the YA section. And that's *bad* YA, the kind that refuses to recognize the complexities of a world whose strands of black and white weave into a highly nuanced fabric of grey.
As for the page-turner thing? I reached page 241 in my copy and discovered that the next available page was 318. Perhaps the best assessment I can give of this book is to say that my reaction was one of relief and renewed enthusiasm : the end was near, and that was promising. What a shame to waste such an original idea for a novel – and such good intentions, too, to draw attention to the realities of women's daily lives in historically oppressed communities – on such claptrap.
And that is just one problem with Rich's novel. Rich has imagined a "Venice" in which the Jewish midwife Hannah, so downtrodden and impoverished by racial prejudice that she fears for her life if she steps outside the Ghetto or helps to birth a Gentile woman's baby (a task she – compassionately and rebelliously – nonetheless undertakes with surprising regularity), mysteriously becomes the target of a rich family's rage and vengeance. So much so that she has to disguise herself as a prostitute, guided by her "lapsed" sister, and then as a victim of the Black Death. Oh, and she also steals the rich family's baby, and manages to get stuck with him, so she and her (downtrodden and impoverished) husband Isaac can finally have the child they have dreamed of. Oh, and she escapes Venice on board a freight ship bound for Malta, where her husband has managed to win favor with nuns, a local eccentric artist woman, and a reluctantly admiring slave-owner who happens to be in love with the eccentric artist woman. Oh, and somewhere in there Hannah sneaks out of Venice and has a totally unnecessary subplot-adventure involving a suspicious ship's captain and a kind Muslim woman. Oh, and Hannah also rescues her husband from the clutches of the greedy nun and then the greedy slave-owner, and they bring the baby up and live happily ever after.
If you're reading this with eyes narrowed and the shadow of a "WTF" dancing across your peripheral vision, you're not alone. The novel is a full-tilt disappointment whose rave reviews on Amazon leave me baffled. It is full of racial depictions in all directions that turn characters into black-and-white cardboard cutouts worthy of a 19th-century melodrama (The Good Jewess, The Greedy Rabbi, the Scheming Count and so on), historical and geographical inaccuracies (I'm sorry, but if you are going to write a historical novel about downtrodden but plucky Jews in 16th-century Venice you need to know how to spell "G-I-U-D-E-C-C-A," not to mention the fact that the Jews did not, in fact, live in this area but in the Ghetto, which was in the Cannaregio), and wild radical leaps of logic that stymy even the most faithful of suspended disbelievers. How did Hannah, who cannot afford an orange, manage to get the silversmith from the Ghetto to manufacture her birthing tool, a set of soldered silver spoons (ostensibly the first forceps)? Why would the Rabbi, suspicious of anyone's authority beyond his own, even allow a pair of Gentile gentlemen into the Ghetto after hours, much less up into Hannah's private rooms – and then permit her to leave with them at midnight? Why would an independently wealthy (and oddly sexually liberated) artist fall in love with the emaciated but well-spoken Isaac? And, sigh, why do the non-Jews all have to be such caricatures of despicability and greed? This kind of representation may make for a cathartic page-turner, but it makes the novel feel mis-classified, as if it should be sold in the YA section. And that's *bad* YA, the kind that refuses to recognize the complexities of a world whose strands of black and white weave into a highly nuanced fabric of grey.
As for the page-turner thing? I reached page 241 in my copy and discovered that the next available page was 318. Perhaps the best assessment I can give of this book is to say that my reaction was one of relief and renewed enthusiasm : the end was near, and that was promising. What a shame to waste such an original idea for a novel – and such good intentions, too, to draw attention to the realities of women's daily lives in historically oppressed communities – on such claptrap.
June 13, 2020
Set in the 16th century Venice and Malta, the story brings a vivid picture of Jewish ghetto in Venice.
Hannah is a talented Jewish midwife of Venice, a gift aided by the secret “birthing spoons” designed by her. When asked to attend to a Christian woman, she is torn as a Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians. The payment sways her to risk her life as the sum is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea.
At the same time, in Malta Isaac awaits for the Society for the Release of Captives to offer his freedom.
History and traditions of Jewry and Christianity come alive in this story. Among them, reality of the 16th century of noble women to birth an heir. And if the choice is to save one, it is to save an heir. A woman can be easily replaced. And using any tool during the birth is seen as heresy.
Very engrossing story, with most chapters ending in such interesting way that it’s hard to stop reading, and making it a very quick read.
Hannah is a talented Jewish midwife of Venice, a gift aided by the secret “birthing spoons” designed by her. When asked to attend to a Christian woman, she is torn as a Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians. The payment sways her to risk her life as the sum is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea.
At the same time, in Malta Isaac awaits for the Society for the Release of Captives to offer his freedom.
History and traditions of Jewry and Christianity come alive in this story. Among them, reality of the 16th century of noble women to birth an heir. And if the choice is to save one, it is to save an heir. A woman can be easily replaced. And using any tool during the birth is seen as heresy.
Very engrossing story, with most chapters ending in such interesting way that it’s hard to stop reading, and making it a very quick read.
April 28, 2017
Let me just say that I wish this novel was longer! Three hundred pages are not enough for this amazingness.
Hannah is a Jewess, a midwife, and a wife living in the 16th century Venice. Her husband was captured and sold into slavery on Malta. When he realized that nobody is going to save him, he is trying to find his own ways to survive, escape and get back to Venice.
In the meantime, a wealthy and powerful Count is asking Hannah’s help to deliver his wife’s baby and save him, since it is his last hope to have a child and an heir to his fortune. None of the Christian midwives could help the Countess that is in labor for over two days. The Rabbi of the Ghetto forbids Hannah to help Christians and risk the safety of the entire Ghetto but after a generous offer from the Count, that can buy her husband's freedom, she accepts to help.
Delivering Countess Baby is not the most challenging thing Hannah must face. Shortly she finds herself alone with a Christian child, fighting for its safety. When there is nobody to turn for help, she goes to the person she rejected years ago, her sister, Jessica. She is now a New Christian, a woman who betrayed her people and her religion, and who is now living a not an honorable life. Would Hannah be able to save herself, the baby and her husband?
I have no words to describe how I enjoyed this novel. There is so much going on, and every time you turn another page there is drama, action, a twist, an intrigue, and a surprise!
When I read the summary of this novel, I was expecting a quite slow and steady telling of a midwife... but I was the opposite of slow. A Very captivating story, I wish there was more to it though.
Hannah is a Jewess, a midwife, and a wife living in the 16th century Venice. Her husband was captured and sold into slavery on Malta. When he realized that nobody is going to save him, he is trying to find his own ways to survive, escape and get back to Venice.
In the meantime, a wealthy and powerful Count is asking Hannah’s help to deliver his wife’s baby and save him, since it is his last hope to have a child and an heir to his fortune. None of the Christian midwives could help the Countess that is in labor for over two days. The Rabbi of the Ghetto forbids Hannah to help Christians and risk the safety of the entire Ghetto but after a generous offer from the Count, that can buy her husband's freedom, she accepts to help.
Delivering Countess Baby is not the most challenging thing Hannah must face. Shortly she finds herself alone with a Christian child, fighting for its safety. When there is nobody to turn for help, she goes to the person she rejected years ago, her sister, Jessica. She is now a New Christian, a woman who betrayed her people and her religion, and who is now living a not an honorable life. Would Hannah be able to save herself, the baby and her husband?
I have no words to describe how I enjoyed this novel. There is so much going on, and every time you turn another page there is drama, action, a twist, an intrigue, and a surprise!
When I read the summary of this novel, I was expecting a quite slow and steady telling of a midwife... but I was the opposite of slow. A Very captivating story, I wish there was more to it though.
June 20, 2015
16. stoljeće: 2 paralelne priče - priča jevrejke Hane koja radi kao babica u Veneciji i njenog muža Isaka zarobljenog na Malti, priča o tome šta prolaze jedno bez drugog, pa sve do ponovnog susreta. Jako dobro, a posebno mi se dopalo to što je radnja jednim dijelom smještena u Italiji i to baš u 16. stoljeću - prava kombinacija za sve obožavatelje renesansne Italije :) ocjena 4 jer mi je u sličnoj tematici Marina Fioratto bolja, ali i za ovu ide preporuka!
February 19, 2012
The Midwife of Venice by debut novelist Roberta Rich is full of great historical facts and truly does reveal the seamy and seedy side of 16th Century Venice. I was so delighted to find a new Historical novel that moves quickly and is so accurate in its portrayal of the times without trying to recapture history, but rather crafting a fresh story with new and thoroughly interesting characterizations. I was also very intrigued to learn of the enslavement of Jewish people in Italy because it is so historically relevant to the persecution of Jews all over Europe in the centuries to follow. It is obvious that the seeds of much torture during the pograms of Russia and Poland up until Hitler and WWII may have been planted in places like Malta and Venice. That is why it so good for authors to explore these roots because even many Jewish persons like myself, do not always know the full history of our culture's persecution....Now, on to the review! Hannah Levi is a midwife in the ghettos of Venice during the late 1500's. She possesses excellent skill in this profession despite the fact that she herself is barren. She is known for her unique instrument called "birthing spoons" that seem to mirror modern day forceps. While many people see this tool as a miracle, she must be careful in its use because it is very easy to be branded a heretic or a witch and be sentenced to death for using items like these during this era in history. It is of course forbidden for a Jewish midwife to attend Christian births. One evening Hannah is visited by her Rabbi along with two Christian noblemen and asked to break this law to attend one of the elite man's wife who is dying in birth. The Rabbi forbids this action, but Hannah's sense of caring along with her need for money drives her to defy the rabbi and leave the ghetto to attend to the dying woman....Hannah's husband Issac is in Malta after journeying at sea to make a better life for them and is imprisoned and enslaved. The money will pay his ransom and bring these true loves back together again...Thus Hannah's motivation when she leaves with the Count(Conte) is rooted in her love for husband, her need of money and of course her devotion to her profession... Arriving at the home of the Conte we meet his beloved wife Lucia who has already lost several babies and appears to be going this route again. The Conte must have an heir soon or he will not be able to come into a fabulous inheritance. His motivations are mixed, but he does obviously love his wife enough to bring a Jewish Midwife into their lives to deliver this potential heir...It is afterall against the law for all involved... After Baby Matteo is successfully born, Lucia and the Conte make a surprise journey and leave the baby behind. I am never really sure of the true purpose of this sudden trip and am left wondering if this is just a good plot device to move the novel more into how Hannah will acquire Matteo and become his guardian as she fights to get to Issac in Malta. Meanwhile Issac will be purchased by a Nun and traded about because of his skill with pen and ink. Most of Malta is illiterate and he manages to live by his pen because of this....How does love come again?...I certainly do not want to be a spoiler, but rather you will need to read the novel yourself!...I will say though that The Midwife of Venice dwells well on the squalor of Venice and how people's social mores are often challenged for the sake of life and love. I cannot remember a more enchanting or fast read of late. Between the history and the suspense I found the pages flying by. But what gave me the most joy was Hannah who is truly a "mother" and "wife" in every sense of the word!...constancy and faith are her best tools...along with her blessed spoons! What a debut!
March 2, 2019
Medieval Venice and its Jewish Ghetto and the rest of Venice is fascinating, the story reads quickly, like a good soap, which is what I thought it was. Each chapter ends with our heroine about to confront another crisis, that we never doubt she will overcome, even when it’s gynecological or obstetrics.
September 9, 2015
Frankly, I only read this book because I was interested in the sequel. Now I'm nervous about the sequel.
This book follows Hannah, a Jewish midwife in Venice, as she tries to rescue her husband from slavery in Malta. Unfortunately, the book managed to be stressful and unpleasant without ever being suspenseful. This is in large part due to the complete lack of nuanced characters. Hannah and Isaac are good and pure and smart. Everyone else is eeeeeevil. No motives, no character, just evil. And the plot takes so many eye-rollingly improbable twists and turns that it was hard not to laugh.
Not a wall-banger, but should "so bizarre it's actually boring" be a new shelf?
This book follows Hannah, a Jewish midwife in Venice, as she tries to rescue her husband from slavery in Malta. Unfortunately, the book managed to be stressful and unpleasant without ever being suspenseful. This is in large part due to the complete lack of nuanced characters. Hannah and Isaac are good and pure and smart. Everyone else is eeeeeevil. No motives, no character, just evil. And the plot takes so many eye-rollingly improbable twists and turns that it was hard not to laugh.
Not a wall-banger, but should "so bizarre it's actually boring" be a new shelf?
January 3, 2015
This was a quick read and I liked some of the historical perspectives of life in 1500 Venice. However as other reviewers indicated, everything was a bit too black and white with herculean actions that became unbelievable for 1500 Venice.
August 30, 2017
“Odd that you should choose to be a midwife, having never experienced birth yourself.”
In other circumstances the words would have stung. She thought, Do not physicians provide medicaments for illnesses they have never suffered? But Hannah held her tongue. Two in her care were suspended between life and death. She had more important matters to worry about.
I want to start with a caveat: I don't tend to read historical fiction, and if I did, I wouldn't be looking for historical fiction built around domestic drama and romance. So, for all I know, The Midwife of Venice might be a very fine example of its genre, and if others find it satisfying, then it succeeds. As for me, I picked this book up because I'll be in Venice next week and wanted to get in the mood – and it worked for my purpose, too. This was a fine, if lightweight, read; I doubt I'll seek out the other volumes in this trilogy.
You are ruled by men – the Rabbi, Isaac, our father when he was alive. You are a little ghetto mouse and will never be anything else.
As the book begins, Hannah – a Jewish midwife of extraordinary gifts – is summoned by a rich Venetian nobleman to attend to his wife. Not only is it against the law for Jews to offer medical aid to Christians, but as Hannah's Rabbi warns her, if either the Contessa or the baby were to die under her care, their Ghetto's entire population would be held to account. Hannah is moved by the Conte's account of his wife's condition, but more so, she sees his desperation as an opportunity: Hannah's husband, Isaac, has recently been kidnapped and enslaved by Maltese Knights, and if she is able to demand a high enough fee for her services, she'll be able to pay his ransom and bring the man she loves back home. The narrative moves between Hannah's drama in Venice and Isaac's in Malta, and with plenty of cliffhangers, manufactured suspense, and not-quite-credible circumstances, the plot advances through a fairly predictable story arc. The historical facts are often inserted inorganically:
Now he was in Valletta, capital city of Malta, stronghold of the Knights. During their long nights and endless days in jail, Simón, another Ashkenazi Jew and a fellow prisoner, had explained to Isaac that in 1530, Charles V of Spain had bestowed this island of rock and wind on the Knights of St. John in exchange for their protecting the archipelago against the infidel Turk. The Knights succeeded in defending the land from the rapaciousness of the Ottomans, but over the years they had grown greedy. Bewitched by their victories, they used the pretext of defending their island to prey not only upon the infidel ships of the Ottomans but on Christian ships as well, seizing cargo and enslaving all on board, rich or poor, merchant or servant, woman or child. They called themselves Knights but they were little more than pirates, grown rich through crimes sanctified in the name of the Holy Crusade.
And the drama was quite dramatic:
Hannah felt a pain under her breast and a tearing sensation, as though her heart had come loose from its moorings. In her mind's eye, she covered the mirror and rent her clothing. These were not the empty gestures prescribed by the Rabbi years ago, but heartfelt this time. Shiva was complete. Now, Jessica was truly dead to her.
But still, author Roberta Rich captured something of the feeling and history of Venice; this wouldn't be inappropriate for high school students to read before The Merchant of Venice in order to get a sense for Shylock and the injustices he lived under. With mention made of everything from the canals to plague doctors to Commedia dell'arte, Rich obviously put in plenty of research and she whetted my appetite for the soggy city. Good enough for my purposes.
June 27, 2018
Η Χάνα είναι μια Εβραία μαμή του μεσαίωνα που ζει στη Βενετία. Την ημέρα εργάζεται στην πόλη, προσφέροντας τις γνώσεις της, αποκλειστικά στις Εβραίες που τη χρειάζονται και τη νύχτα αποσύρεται σε ένα από τα γκέτο που υπάρχουν στην πόλη.
Ο ραβίνος αποφασίζει και επιτηρεί την τήρηση των νόμων, γραπτών και άγραφων και όλοι είναι υποχρεωμένοι να πειθαρχούν. Η Χάνα είναι παντρεμένη με τον Ισαάκ, ο οποίος αιχμαλωτίζεται στη Μάλτα καθώς κάνει εμπόριο μπαχαρικών. Όταν ένας αριστοκράτης βενετσιάνος τής ζητά να ξεγεννήσει τη γυναίκα του, σε έναν τοκετό ζωής ή θανάτου για τη μητέρα ή/και το μωρό, η Χάνα, παραμερίζει τις απαγορεύσεις και βοηθάει με αντάλλαγμα τα λύτρα για να σώσει τη ζωή του άντρα της.
Αυτή είναι πάνω κάτω η ιστορία της μαμής, με ένα δάνειο : δανείζεται από τους Chamberlen, μια οικογένεια Γάλλων Ουγενότων χειρουργών, την πατρότητα των πρώτων μεταλλικών εμβρυουλκών, που εφαρμόστηκαν σε ζωντανά έμβρυα το 1569. Εδώ, η Χάνα εμφανίζεται να τους έχει εμπνευστεί και κατασκευάσει από ασήμι αλλά τους χρησιμοποιεί κρυφά, επειδή μπορεί να κατηγορηθεί ως μάγισσα και να οδηγηθεί στην πυρά.
Μετά από πολλές περιπέτειες, τις οποίες παρακολουθούμε παράλληλα, μια από τη μεριά της Χάνα και μια από τη μεριά του Ισαάκ, η ικανή μαμή απελευθερώνει τον Ισαάκ και θριαμβεύει η αληθινή αγάπη που ξεπερνά όλα τα εμπόδια κλπ κλπ.
Μια περιπέτεια του μεσαίωνα, χωρίς ιδιαίτερες συγγραφικές αρετές αλλά με ενδιαφέρον ιστορικό πλαίσιο και βέβαια τη μοναδική Βενετία, που περιγράφεται με βρωμερά κανάλια, γεμάτα σκουπίδια και αρουραίους, όπως πραγματικά υπήρξε δηλαδή εκείνη τη μακρινή εποχή, πριν εισβάλλει η μαγεία του τουρισμού και ο ρομαντισμός του εμπορίου.
Σε πολλά σημεία βαρέθηκα αφόρητα. Ειδικά σε κάτι περιγραφές τοκετών που τραβούσαν με άχρηστες λεπτομέρειες. Ανάμεσα στην ανάγνωση, έπιασα τον εαυτό μου έντρομη να σκέφτομαι ότι κάλλιστα κάτι ανάλογο θα μπορούσε να γράψει μία εκ των κεκέδων - βρυσουλίδων - κρεμμυδοσέλινων και λοιπών επίδοξων νεόκοπων συγγραφέων, μετά από ένα τους ταξίδι στη Βενετία με τα κέρδη των ευπώλητων τους.
Η ανάγνωση, συνέβαλλε αισθητά στην κούραση από το κείμενο. Ανάγνωση μαθήτριας έκτης δημοτικού.
Στο εξώφυλλο θα ήταν καλό να υπήρχαν μόνο οι γόνδολες (και ίσως ένας περαστικός αρουραίος). Το σίγουρο είναι ότι η Χάνα ήταν τόσο φτωχή που δεν είχε να πάρει ψωμί, όχι να πάρει κοκκαλάκι με λουλουδάκια για τα μαλλιά της, ενώ ο αρουραίος ήταν πραγματικός.
Ο ραβίνος αποφασίζει και επιτηρεί την τήρηση των νόμων, γραπτών και άγραφων και όλοι είναι υποχρεωμένοι να πειθαρχούν. Η Χάνα είναι παντρεμένη με τον Ισαάκ, ο οποίος αιχμαλωτίζεται στη Μάλτα καθώς κάνει εμπόριο μπαχαρικών. Όταν ένας αριστοκράτης βενετσιάνος τής ζητά να ξεγεννήσει τη γυναίκα του, σε έναν τοκετό ζωής ή θανάτου για τη μητέρα ή/και το μωρό, η Χάνα, παραμερίζει τις απαγορεύσεις και βοηθάει με αντάλλαγμα τα λύτρα για να σώσει τη ζωή του άντρα της.
Αυτή είναι πάνω κάτω η ιστορία της μαμής, με ένα δάνειο : δανείζεται από τους Chamberlen, μια οικογένεια Γάλλων Ουγενότων χειρουργών, την πατρότητα των πρώτων μεταλλικών εμβρυουλκών, που εφαρμόστηκαν σε ζωντανά έμβρυα το 1569. Εδώ, η Χάνα εμφανίζεται να τους έχει εμπνευστεί και κατασκευάσει από ασήμι αλλά τους χρησιμοποιεί κρυφά, επειδή μπορεί να κατηγορηθεί ως μάγισσα και να οδηγηθεί στην πυρά.
Μετά από πολλές περιπέτειες, τις οποίες παρακολουθούμε παράλληλα, μια από τη μεριά της Χάνα και μια από τη μεριά του Ισαάκ, η ικανή μαμή απελευθερώνει τον Ισαάκ και θριαμβεύει η αληθινή αγάπη που ξεπερνά όλα τα εμπόδια κλπ κλπ.
Μια περιπέτεια του μεσαίωνα, χωρίς ιδιαίτερες συγγραφικές αρετές αλλά με ενδιαφέρον ιστορικό πλαίσιο και βέβαια τη μοναδική Βενετία, που περιγράφεται με βρωμερά κανάλια, γεμάτα σκουπίδια και αρουραίους, όπως πραγματικά υπήρξε δηλαδή εκείνη τη μακρινή εποχή, πριν εισβάλλει η μαγεία του τουρισμού και ο ρομαντισμός του εμπορίου.
Σε πολλά σημεία βαρέθηκα αφόρητα. Ειδικά σε κάτι περιγραφές τοκετών που τραβούσαν με άχρηστες λεπτομέρειες. Ανάμεσα στην ανάγνωση, έπιασα τον εαυτό μου έντρομη να σκέφτομαι ότι κάλλιστα κάτι ανάλογο θα μπορούσε να γράψει μία εκ των κεκέδων - βρυσουλίδων - κρεμμυδοσέλινων και λοιπών επίδοξων νεόκοπων συγγραφέων, μετά από ένα τους ταξίδι στη Βενετία με τα κέρδη των ευπώλητων τους.
Η ανάγνωση, συνέβαλλε αισθητά στην κούραση από το κείμενο. Ανάγνωση μαθήτριας έκτης δημοτικού.
Στο εξώφυλλο θα ήταν καλό να υπήρχαν μόνο οι γόνδολες (και ίσως ένας περαστικός αρουραίος). Το σίγουρο είναι ότι η Χάνα ήταν τόσο φτωχή που δεν είχε να πάρει ψωμί, όχι να πάρει κοκκαλάκι με λουλουδάκια για τα μαλλιά της, ενώ ο αρουραίος ήταν πραγματικός.
October 14, 2017
Book that starts so faceless and little bit boring , it turns to a unbelievable and amazing story. Through the adversity of a Jewish midwife, we are a silent witness of one dark side of Venice history from one side, and one great love... love for a husband, for a child, for one simple life, from the other side.
March 18, 2020
Nothing like a global pandemic to get this gal out of her reading rut! I loved this book. Why? Because it was about a Jewess (reclaiming that word by the way because it is badass) in the 1500s. She is a midwife dealing with the demands from gentiles to deliver their babies (not legal then), needing to use advanced tools in her midwifery that get her accused of being a witch, the plague sweeping through Italy, the discrimination against Jews, and the capture of her husband who is shipped off to another land and sold at auction to the highest bidder. Spoiler: She makes it! Female perseverance at its finest. As they were describing the horrid scenes of this time and place where every day you have to figure out how to survive in the Jewish ghetto with a severe lack of supplies, food, medicine and housing, I couldn't help but look around my own apartment and be grateful. I have everything I need. You probably do too. We're going to be okay. We must persist (but also please stay the f#$% home!).
January 31, 2011
I received The Midwife of Venice as a First-Reads giveaway copy.
The Midwife of Venice opens with a difficult and potentially very dangerous situation. Hannah, a Jewish midwife in Renaissance Venice, is approached by a Christian count to attend his wife, who has already been in labour for over two days. If she complies at all, she risks arrest for breaking the law against Jewish doctors and midwives attending Christian patients, although the law is sometimes ignored. If she complies and the mother or child die, she can expect not only certain arrest for herself, but reprisal against the Jewish ghetto community as a whole. If she complies and is caught using the birthing spoons - rudimentary forceps - she has designed herself to aid in extremely difficult deliveries, she risks being accused of witchcraft. But Hannah's husband is being held for ransom in Malta and she may be able to get a high enough fee if she saves the count's wife and, more importantly, his heir, to pay for his freedom.
The Midwife of Venice is a very fast-paced historical novel. For me, its major plus, aside from its appealing Venetian setting and midwife protaganist, is writing that immerses the reader in its time and place. I like to feel the textures, smell the scents and odours, see the blood and grime, as I read a historical novel, and this book delivered that well.
A bit of a drawback, however, was how fast-paced the book seemed at times. I would have liked it to be about 100 pages longer, with more history of Venice, its Jewish ghetto, Malta, etc. thrown in, as well as more backstory on some of its secondary and tertiary characters.
It also seemed to race through its events, from bad news, to bad luck, to more misfortune, to outright danger. It felt like, "Could be worse, could be raining." RAIN. "Oh well, at least there isn't thunder and lightning." THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. "Thank heavens, at least there's no hail." HAIL. Replace all that weather with just about every negative complication that could happen, and that's what it felt like. A little more daily life, please. A couple more positive or even neutral characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but to place it in relation to other historical books I've read in the past few years, The Midwife of Venice rates a 3, Girl With a Pearl Earring rates a 4, and Crimson Petal and the White rates a 5.
The Midwife of Venice opens with a difficult and potentially very dangerous situation. Hannah, a Jewish midwife in Renaissance Venice, is approached by a Christian count to attend his wife, who has already been in labour for over two days. If she complies at all, she risks arrest for breaking the law against Jewish doctors and midwives attending Christian patients, although the law is sometimes ignored. If she complies and the mother or child die, she can expect not only certain arrest for herself, but reprisal against the Jewish ghetto community as a whole. If she complies and is caught using the birthing spoons - rudimentary forceps - she has designed herself to aid in extremely difficult deliveries, she risks being accused of witchcraft. But Hannah's husband is being held for ransom in Malta and she may be able to get a high enough fee if she saves the count's wife and, more importantly, his heir, to pay for his freedom.
The Midwife of Venice is a very fast-paced historical novel. For me, its major plus, aside from its appealing Venetian setting and midwife protaganist, is writing that immerses the reader in its time and place. I like to feel the textures, smell the scents and odours, see the blood and grime, as I read a historical novel, and this book delivered that well.
A bit of a drawback, however, was how fast-paced the book seemed at times. I would have liked it to be about 100 pages longer, with more history of Venice, its Jewish ghetto, Malta, etc. thrown in, as well as more backstory on some of its secondary and tertiary characters.
It also seemed to race through its events, from bad news, to bad luck, to more misfortune, to outright danger. It felt like, "Could be worse, could be raining." RAIN. "Oh well, at least there isn't thunder and lightning." THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. "Thank heavens, at least there's no hail." HAIL. Replace all that weather with just about every negative complication that could happen, and that's what it felt like. A little more daily life, please. A couple more positive or even neutral characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but to place it in relation to other historical books I've read in the past few years, The Midwife of Venice rates a 3, Girl With a Pearl Earring rates a 4, and Crimson Petal and the White rates a 5.
January 19, 2012
The Good Stuff
Fast paced and intriguing, which surprised me
Likeable realistic characters that you cheer for that they will be able to overcome the obstacles and reunite
Storyline switches between Issac and Hannah's POV - which keeps you intrigued as many of the chapters end with an almost cliffhanger like ending and than it switches to the other character.
Didn't want to put the book down
Some beautiful touching moments that made me tear up
Author has a gift for making you see the landscape and feel the mood of the story
Obviously well researched
It still astounds me how often the Jews have been persecuted and this story brings more of these instances to life
The Not So Good Stuff
Took me a chapter or two to get into the story which might put off a more reluctant reader
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"Do all Jews reply to a question with another question?
"Is there a reason they should not?"
Gertrudis gave a a laugh that seemed to issue from deep within her."
"This is your last chance. Will you sign?"
"When all the teeth have fallen out of my head and my beard is down to my waist," Isaac answered
"Then my friend make peace with that harsh God of yours. This island will be your graveyard."
"And the Society for the Release of Captives offered me my freedom months ago if I signed a divorce. But without you, what was the point of freedom?"
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect beach or cold winters night read
Definitely for lovers of historical fiction especially Jewish historical fiction
This is one that anyone can enjoy even younger readers 13+
4.75 Dewey's
My sister lent this to me because she really enjoyed (And put to the top of my TBR list because of the Random Reader Historical Challenge)
Fast paced and intriguing, which surprised me
Likeable realistic characters that you cheer for that they will be able to overcome the obstacles and reunite
Storyline switches between Issac and Hannah's POV - which keeps you intrigued as many of the chapters end with an almost cliffhanger like ending and than it switches to the other character.
Didn't want to put the book down
Some beautiful touching moments that made me tear up
Author has a gift for making you see the landscape and feel the mood of the story
Obviously well researched
It still astounds me how often the Jews have been persecuted and this story brings more of these instances to life
The Not So Good Stuff
Took me a chapter or two to get into the story which might put off a more reluctant reader
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"Do all Jews reply to a question with another question?
"Is there a reason they should not?"
Gertrudis gave a a laugh that seemed to issue from deep within her."
"This is your last chance. Will you sign?"
"When all the teeth have fallen out of my head and my beard is down to my waist," Isaac answered
"Then my friend make peace with that harsh God of yours. This island will be your graveyard."
"And the Society for the Release of Captives offered me my freedom months ago if I signed a divorce. But without you, what was the point of freedom?"
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect beach or cold winters night read
Definitely for lovers of historical fiction especially Jewish historical fiction
This is one that anyone can enjoy even younger readers 13+
4.75 Dewey's
My sister lent this to me because she really enjoyed (And put to the top of my TBR list because of the Random Reader Historical Challenge)
July 12, 2016
Του βάζω κάτι ανάμεσα σε δύο και τρία αστέρια.
Μου φάνηκε ότι ήταν λίγο "περιληπτικό" όσον αφορούσε την πλοκή, δεν είχε ένταση αν και θα έπρεπε με όλα αυτά που συνέβησαν. Προσπάθησε να στριμώξει τα ιστορικά στοιχεία που ήθελε δεμένα σε μια ενιαία ιστορία και τα κατάφερε, αλλά δεν μπόρεσε να μου μεταφέρει συναισθήματα. Η μόνη ένταση που κατάφερε να μου μεταφέρει αφορούσε μυρωδιές (και μπράβο της, δεν θυμάμαι σε άλλο βιβλίο να κατάφερε κάποιος να περιγράψει μυρωδιές τόσο καλά που να είναι σαν να τις μυρίζω). Επίσης έχω κάποιες ενστάσεις.. (πόσο καιρό χρειάζεται κάποιος από την εμφάνιση συμπτωμάτων πανούκλας μέχρι την κατάληξή του; ) . Δύο αστέρια λοιπόν για την πλοκή και για τον τρόπο γραφής της ιστορίας.
Σίγουρα τρία αστέρια για τον τρόπο που κατάφερε να δώσει τα ιστορικά στοιχεία, ήταν ενσωματωμένα στην ιστορία και επαρκή ώστε να μου δημιουργήσουν εικόνες της ζωής εκείνη την εποχή. Μπράβο της για την έρευνα και την καταγραφή.
Είναι ευκολοδιάβαστο, μικρό και αρκετά ενδιαφέρον.
Μου φάνηκε ότι ήταν λίγο "περιληπτικό" όσον αφορούσε την πλοκή, δεν είχε ένταση αν και θα έπρεπε με όλα αυτά που συνέβησαν. Προσπάθησε να στριμώξει τα ιστορικά στοιχεία που ήθελε δεμένα σε μια ενιαία ιστορία και τα κατάφερε, αλλά δεν μπόρεσε να μου μεταφέρει συναισθήματα. Η μόνη ένταση που κατάφερε να μου μεταφέρει αφορούσε μυρωδιές (και μπράβο της, δεν θυμάμαι σε άλλο βιβλίο να κατάφερε κάποιος να περιγράψει μυρωδιές τόσο καλά που να είναι σαν να τις μυρίζω). Επίσης έχω κάποιες ενστάσεις.. (πόσο καιρό χρειάζεται κάποιος από την εμφάνιση συμπτωμάτων πανούκλας μέχρι την κατάληξή του; ) . Δύο αστέρια λοιπόν για την πλοκή και για τον τρόπο γραφής της ιστορίας.
Σίγουρα τρία αστέρια για τον τρόπο που κατάφερε να δώσει τα ιστορικά στοιχεία, ήταν ενσωματωμένα στην ιστορία και επαρκή ώστε να μου δημιουργήσουν εικόνες της ζωής εκείνη την εποχή. Μπράβο της για την έρευνα και την καταγραφή.
Είναι ευκολοδιάβαστο, μικρό και αρκετά ενδιαφέρον.
January 16, 2011
A fast paced page-turner of a historical novel about the triumph of love over adversity and pestilence.
Descriptions of 16th century Venice come alive, with stains, smells, garbage, sewage, excrement and blood—the underbelly of the city and its Jewish ghetto—evocatively drawn, although bombastic analogies such as sheep piss resembling “walking into the arsehole of a camel” did not compute for me.
The heroine, Hannah, a midwife living in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, is determined to re-unite with her husband Isaac who has been kidnapped by the Knights of Malta and is being held for ransom on that island. She delivers a Christian noblewoman’s baby (forbidden by law) with her pair of crude custom-made forceps (also forbidden) in an attempt to raise money to pay Isaac’s ransom. Isaac, for his part, is also making plans to escape and return to Venice. Immediately, the scene is set by placing these two lovers in opposite corners, in hard-to-win situations, and as they make their ways towards each other, the stakes are progressively escalated according to the fiction writer’s manual. Some chapters even end with the overt question – what will happen next? Overkill, perhaps?
Hanna’s and Isaac’s story lines alternate between chapters, which makes the action jerky. It also took me until the end of the novel to realize that their respective stories were about three months apart. And as the plot twisted, turned and reversed, the contrivances stuck out for me. Which parent would leave an infant, the sole heir to the family fortune, with a pair of murderous uncles who stand to inherit should the wee one “accidentally” die in plague-ridden Venice? The plague itself becomes a useful device to kill off the unlikeliest players, while the goop-covered, starving baby, tossed from breast to breast, continues to stay alive.
The women are portrayed as super-heroes, while the men are inept and effeminate, and the clergy (both Jewish and Christian) are mean-spirited. Hannah can plug a woman’s womb with a pebble to fit on a pitching boat, a pebble which she conveniently pulls out from a nook aboard the rocking vessel. And yet, a fully armed Uncle Jacopo loses his knife to Hannah in a tussle? Hmm...Sister Asunta will tether her slave Isaac to her cart and ride him into town in order to give her horse a rest. And the love-struck, sheep-piss covered Joseph has designs on the beautiful widow Getrudis, who in turn is enamoured with the emaciated Isaac... indeed!
If you can ignore the plot and situational inconsistencies, this is a good beach read, with factoids from that period in history rendered imaginatively. I just wished the author had not pursued the demands of plot but had stuck to flushing out Hannah and Isaac as more plausible characters. “Less is more” would have worked well here.
Descriptions of 16th century Venice come alive, with stains, smells, garbage, sewage, excrement and blood—the underbelly of the city and its Jewish ghetto—evocatively drawn, although bombastic analogies such as sheep piss resembling “walking into the arsehole of a camel” did not compute for me.
The heroine, Hannah, a midwife living in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, is determined to re-unite with her husband Isaac who has been kidnapped by the Knights of Malta and is being held for ransom on that island. She delivers a Christian noblewoman’s baby (forbidden by law) with her pair of crude custom-made forceps (also forbidden) in an attempt to raise money to pay Isaac’s ransom. Isaac, for his part, is also making plans to escape and return to Venice. Immediately, the scene is set by placing these two lovers in opposite corners, in hard-to-win situations, and as they make their ways towards each other, the stakes are progressively escalated according to the fiction writer’s manual. Some chapters even end with the overt question – what will happen next? Overkill, perhaps?
Hanna’s and Isaac’s story lines alternate between chapters, which makes the action jerky. It also took me until the end of the novel to realize that their respective stories were about three months apart. And as the plot twisted, turned and reversed, the contrivances stuck out for me. Which parent would leave an infant, the sole heir to the family fortune, with a pair of murderous uncles who stand to inherit should the wee one “accidentally” die in plague-ridden Venice? The plague itself becomes a useful device to kill off the unlikeliest players, while the goop-covered, starving baby, tossed from breast to breast, continues to stay alive.
The women are portrayed as super-heroes, while the men are inept and effeminate, and the clergy (both Jewish and Christian) are mean-spirited. Hannah can plug a woman’s womb with a pebble to fit on a pitching boat, a pebble which she conveniently pulls out from a nook aboard the rocking vessel. And yet, a fully armed Uncle Jacopo loses his knife to Hannah in a tussle? Hmm...Sister Asunta will tether her slave Isaac to her cart and ride him into town in order to give her horse a rest. And the love-struck, sheep-piss covered Joseph has designs on the beautiful widow Getrudis, who in turn is enamoured with the emaciated Isaac... indeed!
If you can ignore the plot and situational inconsistencies, this is a good beach read, with factoids from that period in history rendered imaginatively. I just wished the author had not pursued the demands of plot but had stuck to flushing out Hannah and Isaac as more plausible characters. “Less is more” would have worked well here.
January 14, 2012
Loved this novel - I was able to completely fall for Hannah and sympathize with her as she follows her conscience and delivers a Christian baby, even though she is forbidden as a Jew to do so. She feels such a calling to use the talent she is blessed with and help relieve suffering if she is able. In trying to save the wife of a Christian count and his unborn baby, she knows that she is putting herself in danger, but she puts aside her misgivings and helps in the birth. She knows that if she is successful, the money she is paid will be enough to ransom her husband Isaac, who was captured while on a sea voyage. This is a great story, filled with insight into what life was like for women, Christian and Jew, in the 1500's. Hannah knows her mind, and will not let anyone deter her from her main goal, saving the husband she loves with all her heart. Isaac is also a great character, as much in love with Hannah as she is with him, and as unwilling to forsake that love. This book was hard to put down once I started it, easily pulling me into the story and keeping me engrossed until I got to the last page.
May 29, 2013
I read this book because Elle Fowler has read it. Granted that Elle Fowler enjoys reading YA, I should not have set my hopes too high for this one. I truly enjoy reading historical fiction as I like history. I love how historical fiction authors take the time to use what they've found in their research for that era and weave into a story.
This book did not do it for me. It was a really *really* light read. If you're looking for something to kill the time with a book that wouldn't make you laugh hysterically and/or make you bawl your eyes out, this book is for you.
The story line was good. The characters were fairly interesting. The setting seems researched enough. Unfortunately, it did not bring me to Venice nor to Malta. That's a bit sad as Venice is very interesting in any era. I was expecting a bit of Philippa Gregory but found Roberta Rich lacking in "feelings". The book did not transport me to where ever it was I was supposed to go. The writing and scenes feel rushed. The whole Isaac parts could go entirely. I wanted Hanna (whose POV it was in Venice) and I wanted more of her.
If there was anything good about the book, it was the birthing spoons.
This book did not do it for me. It was a really *really* light read. If you're looking for something to kill the time with a book that wouldn't make you laugh hysterically and/or make you bawl your eyes out, this book is for you.
The story line was good. The characters were fairly interesting. The setting seems researched enough. Unfortunately, it did not bring me to Venice nor to Malta. That's a bit sad as Venice is very interesting in any era. I was expecting a bit of Philippa Gregory but found Roberta Rich lacking in "feelings". The book did not transport me to where ever it was I was supposed to go. The writing and scenes feel rushed. The whole Isaac parts could go entirely. I wanted Hanna (whose POV it was in Venice) and I wanted more of her.
If there was anything good about the book, it was the birthing spoons.
August 10, 2017
Chose this book to read on a long plane trip because it was short and I needed something light to divert me--in that it succeeded. I had higher hopes for the book: an interesting setting and a strong protagonist. However, I found the writing rushed, the plot twists strained (some to implausibility), and the characters insufficiently developed. I read the ebook version and was totally surprised when it ended. I thought I had another 30-40 pages to go. I felt the book needed a few more pages to deliver a satisfying ending. I wanted to like this book, but it felt like too many things were left out.
May 12, 2012
It was as promising at the beginning as disappointing in the end.
October 17, 2019
After 2 years I can finally remove this from my tbr.
Lets be honest for a moment, this was a cover buy. Like, just look at it. Other than that, the story didn't wow me. I stopped paying much attention when the author told us Hana, the protagonist, had a bone fracture but didn't notice it for days cause she was sad. To make the things even worse, she's a midwife. Yeah, no thanks.
Lets be honest for a moment, this was a cover buy. Like, just look at it. Other than that, the story didn't wow me. I stopped paying much attention when the author told us Hana, the protagonist, had a bone fracture but didn't notice it for days cause she was sad. To make the things even worse, she's a midwife. Yeah, no thanks.
April 16, 2017
Kirjutan raamatust blogis https://triinuraamatud.wordpress.com/...
March 30, 2018
A very up-and-down reading experience for me:
I found the plotlines revolving around Hannah's midwife practice very compelling. It was fascinating to learn more about the role of midwives at that time (1575). Of course, we know that childbirth was a hazardous undertaking for women prior to the advent of modern medicine, but seeing it up close through Hannah's experiences really drives home how risky it was and how closely death would hover for both mother and child. On top of the risks of childbirth, in The Midwife of Venice we get a stark portrayal of the status of Jews in Venice. The anti-Semitism of the time is commonplace, ordinary, and frightening. The threat of the inquisitors arresting Jews in violation of the law is an ever-present danger. When Hannah agrees to deliver a Christian nobleman's baby, she's putting the entire ghetto at risk, because if a Jewish woman can be blamed for causing the mother or baby to die, it's likely that the people of Venice will invade the ghetto and slaughter the Jews.
Woven throughout Hannah's story are chapters focusing on her husband Isaac, held prisoner on Malta with a ridiculous and unattainable sum set as his ransom. His efforts to earn his own freedom come to nothing, and the best he can do is try to stay alive until he can either escape or get rescued.
While the story as a whole held my interest, there are some oddities in the narrative that kept it from being more than just an okay read for me. It was often hard to tell how much time had passed from one chapter to another, so that a messenger might bring Isaac word of something that had happened in Venice -- word that would presumably take weeks or longer to travel that distance -- while only days had passed in Hannah's part of the story. I wish the sections dealing with Hannah and her estranged sister Jessica had been better developed; their relationship is very layered and complex, yet it seemed to be dealt with much too quickly. Some of the action sequences happened much too quickly as well, leading me to believe that the author isn't quite skilled enough in this type of writing: She's very good at creating mood and characters, but putting together scenes of suspense or physical danger doesn't seem to be a strength.
On the whole, there are some believability issues as well. Characters change course and act in ways that seem illogical and not in keeping with what we know about them. There are story beats that seem to come from nowhere, keeping the drama high, but almost without connection to the scenes that came before. A few moments of high drama keep the tension ratcheted up, but at the same time, at least one in particular seems to have no impact on the plot whatsoever, so why even include it?
Overall, The Midwife of Venice presents a very interesting story and setting, but the execution isn't as good as I would have hoped.
I understand this is the first in a trilogy. Because of my issues with The Midwife of Venice, I'm not planning to read the follow-up books -- but I'm interested enough in the outcome for the characters to ask around and try to find out how it all turns out.
I found the plotlines revolving around Hannah's midwife practice very compelling. It was fascinating to learn more about the role of midwives at that time (1575). Of course, we know that childbirth was a hazardous undertaking for women prior to the advent of modern medicine, but seeing it up close through Hannah's experiences really drives home how risky it was and how closely death would hover for both mother and child. On top of the risks of childbirth, in The Midwife of Venice we get a stark portrayal of the status of Jews in Venice. The anti-Semitism of the time is commonplace, ordinary, and frightening. The threat of the inquisitors arresting Jews in violation of the law is an ever-present danger. When Hannah agrees to deliver a Christian nobleman's baby, she's putting the entire ghetto at risk, because if a Jewish woman can be blamed for causing the mother or baby to die, it's likely that the people of Venice will invade the ghetto and slaughter the Jews.
Woven throughout Hannah's story are chapters focusing on her husband Isaac, held prisoner on Malta with a ridiculous and unattainable sum set as his ransom. His efforts to earn his own freedom come to nothing, and the best he can do is try to stay alive until he can either escape or get rescued.
While the story as a whole held my interest, there are some oddities in the narrative that kept it from being more than just an okay read for me. It was often hard to tell how much time had passed from one chapter to another, so that a messenger might bring Isaac word of something that had happened in Venice -- word that would presumably take weeks or longer to travel that distance -- while only days had passed in Hannah's part of the story. I wish the sections dealing with Hannah and her estranged sister Jessica had been better developed; their relationship is very layered and complex, yet it seemed to be dealt with much too quickly. Some of the action sequences happened much too quickly as well, leading me to believe that the author isn't quite skilled enough in this type of writing: She's very good at creating mood and characters, but putting together scenes of suspense or physical danger doesn't seem to be a strength.
On the whole, there are some believability issues as well. Characters change course and act in ways that seem illogical and not in keeping with what we know about them. There are story beats that seem to come from nowhere, keeping the drama high, but almost without connection to the scenes that came before. A few moments of high drama keep the tension ratcheted up, but at the same time, at least one in particular seems to have no impact on the plot whatsoever, so why even include it?
Overall, The Midwife of Venice presents a very interesting story and setting, but the execution isn't as good as I would have hoped.
I understand this is the first in a trilogy. Because of my issues with The Midwife of Venice, I'm not planning to read the follow-up books -- but I'm interested enough in the outcome for the characters to ask around and try to find out how it all turns out.
January 28, 2013
“The Midwife of Venice” by Roberta Rich is the story of Hannah and Isaac Levi, a Jewish couple living in Venice. Hannah is a midwife and Isaac a trader. A Christian nobleman, asks Hannah to help his wife who has been in labour for two days. Hannah helps the Christian woman, against the counsel of her Rabbi who reminds her that for a Jew to render medical assistance to a Christian is against the law. As the story opens, Isaac has been captured in Malta and is enduring much suffering as a slave but hoping to be ransomed. The story develops against this background.
The subject has great promise and we do get glimpses of the social history of 16th century Venice and the surrounding areas. Poverty, disease and discrimination make for a hard life especially for the Jews. The book was an easy read and the suspense kept me reading and turning the pages but overall the book was disappointing. The subject had plenty of scope but the author I felt did not delve into the details adequately and therefore did not sufficiently develop the themes of the book.
The whole idea of midwifery, one of the central themes of the book was not described in enough detail. We see Hannah attending only one delivery. Other themes of the book, e.g Jewish customs and rituals or anti Semitism also are not sufficiently explored. Hannah is a very attractive character – intelligent, courageous, as is Isaac but we don’t know enough about them. What was Hannah’s background? How did she come to be a midwife? We meet no characters in the book other than characters central to the plot. The plot itself is weak and far too contrived. There are no sub plots to develop the main themes of the novel.
The book is a fast read and will definitely hold your attention but it is no more than that. It lacks the depth that would make it a good book. The idea is good, the execution leaves the reader wanting.
This review was originally published at Book Weyr
The subject has great promise and we do get glimpses of the social history of 16th century Venice and the surrounding areas. Poverty, disease and discrimination make for a hard life especially for the Jews. The book was an easy read and the suspense kept me reading and turning the pages but overall the book was disappointing. The subject had plenty of scope but the author I felt did not delve into the details adequately and therefore did not sufficiently develop the themes of the book.
The whole idea of midwifery, one of the central themes of the book was not described in enough detail. We see Hannah attending only one delivery. Other themes of the book, e.g Jewish customs and rituals or anti Semitism also are not sufficiently explored. Hannah is a very attractive character – intelligent, courageous, as is Isaac but we don’t know enough about them. What was Hannah’s background? How did she come to be a midwife? We meet no characters in the book other than characters central to the plot. The plot itself is weak and far too contrived. There are no sub plots to develop the main themes of the novel.
The book is a fast read and will definitely hold your attention but it is no more than that. It lacks the depth that would make it a good book. The idea is good, the execution leaves the reader wanting.
This review was originally published at Book Weyr
February 5, 2011
I received The Midwife of Venice as a free giveaway from Goodreads. The book I received was an uncorrected proof and will be on sale Feb. 2011. I don't think I've included any spoilers but reader beware! and I apologize if I've ruined something for you.
I enjoy a good historical fiction, although Italy and the 1600s are not what I would normally pick up. Oh, and I LOVE a happy ending! I thoroughly liked this book, it was easy to read with only a few sentences in Italian (which I found easy to translate). This story gives excellent detail of the environment of the Jewish ghetto, canals, and homes. It includes details of the ignorance and hatred between the Jews and Christians and of course the practices of midwifery in the 1600s.
Short summary:
Hannah, a Jewish midwife delivers a baby of a Christian noble. Hannah breaks the law by leaving the ghetto at night and by attending a Christian during a birth. She takes the risk to earn the money she needs to free her husband, Isaac, who was taken and made a slave in Malta.
Hannah ends up witnessing the kidnapping of the baby by his uncle and saves the child from being murdered. She seeks the help of her sister to keep the child safe from his Uncles until the parents return home. The plague ends up killing the parents so Hannah takes the child a boat to fetch her husband.
The book switches from Hannah's story to Isaac's story. Which includes how Isaac survives, a Nun who tries to convert him, how he writes letters for everyone in the community for profit and his attempt at escaping the island.
I enjoy a good historical fiction, although Italy and the 1600s are not what I would normally pick up. Oh, and I LOVE a happy ending! I thoroughly liked this book, it was easy to read with only a few sentences in Italian (which I found easy to translate). This story gives excellent detail of the environment of the Jewish ghetto, canals, and homes. It includes details of the ignorance and hatred between the Jews and Christians and of course the practices of midwifery in the 1600s.
Short summary:
Hannah, a Jewish midwife delivers a baby of a Christian noble. Hannah breaks the law by leaving the ghetto at night and by attending a Christian during a birth. She takes the risk to earn the money she needs to free her husband, Isaac, who was taken and made a slave in Malta.
Hannah ends up witnessing the kidnapping of the baby by his uncle and saves the child from being murdered. She seeks the help of her sister to keep the child safe from his Uncles until the parents return home. The plague ends up killing the parents so Hannah takes the child a boat to fetch her husband.
The book switches from Hannah's story to Isaac's story. Which includes how Isaac survives, a Nun who tries to convert him, how he writes letters for everyone in the community for profit and his attempt at escaping the island.
August 26, 2018
Maybe it was because I expected something different from this book so I got disappointed. Or maybe it is just not that good? All I know is I wanted to read about midwifery in the bygone days but except for two places, one at the beginning and one near the end, the information has been sparse. Instead it is more of an adventure story of Hannah, the Jewish midwife who is trying to save a gentile baby from his evil uncles and Isaac, Hannah's husband who got captured and sold as slave and is attempting to escape his fate and find his way home. I don't give a cow's fart for Isaac's side of the story though. Venice is also quite unimaginatively described and if it is not because everyone already knows of Venice, one will be hard-pressed to imagine how it looks like.
I would have given it one star but for the happy ending. Technically the ending is problematic too because it is just so abruptly happily ever after. But I was already weary after ploughing through this book that such ending wass very much welcomed. Will not be reading the sequel because of course things will get bad again. So instead I will just imagine that Hannah and Isaac do indeed live a happy prosperous life until the end of their days.
I would have given it one star but for the happy ending. Technically the ending is problematic too because it is just so abruptly happily ever after. But I was already weary after ploughing through this book that such ending wass very much welcomed. Will not be reading the sequel because of course things will get bad again. So instead I will just imagine that Hannah and Isaac do indeed live a happy prosperous life until the end of their days.
January 26, 2012
Hannah ha-Levi, a midwife in the Jewish ghetto, is known throughout Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door imploring her to attend his labouring wife who is near death, Hannah's compassion is tested. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture ... and death. But Hannah cannot turn down the money. With such a handsome sum, she can save her own husband, Isaac, who was captured at sea and taken to Malta as a slave of the Knights of St. John. Aided by her "birthing spoons" — rudimentary forceps she invented to help with difficult births — will Hannah be able to save mother and child? And if she can, will she also be able to save herself? Woven through Hannah's travails is the story of Isaac's life as a captive slave in Malta. Fearing that his wife has perished in the plague, he pins his hopes of returning home to Hannah on his talent for writing love letters that melt even the hardest of hearts. (From Goodreads)
January 3, 2012
This is one of the best historical novels I have read. I contains something for everyone within its pages.
It held my attention and kept me reading.
I thought I wouldn't like it because it was historical with religious themes...and it was a a first novel by Ms. Rich. But I enjoyed it a lot. I learned a lot from it about Being a Jew as well as a Christian during time in history. I also learned so much about being a midwife that I was not aware of before.
This novel has enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages and such wonderfully graphic details about the surroundings in Venice that readers will smell,taste,hear and feel what the characters are experiencing.
I highly recommend this this book for reading groups as well as a casual read. It is well written.
It held my attention and kept me reading.
I thought I wouldn't like it because it was historical with religious themes...and it was a a first novel by Ms. Rich. But I enjoyed it a lot. I learned a lot from it about Being a Jew as well as a Christian during time in history. I also learned so much about being a midwife that I was not aware of before.
This novel has enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages and such wonderfully graphic details about the surroundings in Venice that readers will smell,taste,hear and feel what the characters are experiencing.
I highly recommend this this book for reading groups as well as a casual read. It is well written.
June 30, 2011
The bones of a good story are here, but as it is, this book was not a satisfying read. One-dimensional characters who did not develop at all, lack of thematic elements to bind the two separate storylines together, and a plot that lurched predictably from event to event to a weirdly anticlimactic climax and ending. The writing, however, was engaging, and I think this author has a good voice. She just needs to spend a lot more time developing a decent story.
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