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Die Hebamme von Glückstadt
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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July 15, 2019I picked this up off the shelf, hoping for a light inconsequential read after An artist of the Floating World and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, well as you know the saying goes, 'be careful what you wish for' because it turned out that in reading terms this book was a duvet, not purely because it is guaranteed to give the reader a good night's sleep, but because it is a bit shapeless too.
I hadn't appreciated that it was part of a series but I didn't feel that was hugely important, after all this novel didn't have a plot, it seems a bit much to expect the resulting series to have a structure beyond very loosely that of a bildungsroman, although having said that our intrepid heroine seems pretty fully formed already.
The heroine, Clara, is a midwife. She bustles about the small north German town of Glückstadt (Lucky town) from May to October 1634 , she delivers a couple of babies (it was only a small town), but has various demi-adventures, in this it reminded me of various TV programmes with historical settings - people are dressed up in historical costume but behave in fairly modern ways while there is no real threat or danger, Clara seems a little headstrong and has an exchange of almost harsh words with the town Apothecary and later with a couple of women, and as if this wasn't enough she has a disagreement with a clergyman who refuses to baptise an illegitimate child - reasonably enough - it is 1634 after all, and with all this business going on she forgets to water her medicinal plants which die, . As I said a bit of a duvet of a book. The nature of the book is such that when she gets in to trouble she is helped out by important men - the Town Doctor Olsen, and twice his Majesty King Christian IV of Denmark who turns up when needed in her house, I don't know if the Danish court was quite that informal but there you go, it is that kind of book.
Equally I was a bit surprised by the early mention of potato salad - a bit Nouvelle cuisine surely for 1634, wisely when Clara can't eat it all, she stores it carefully in her cool pantry for later, but then it is the kind of historical book in which her presumed future boyfriend, Willem, not only invents some midwifery forceps for her, but also makes some soup for her and her girlfriend while Clara becomes some kind of proto-health visitor and social worker encouraging the social acceptance of bastards, and proper standards of hygiene, also everybody seems able to read, the early seventeenth century seems to have been surprisingly progressive and generally ahead of its time. Perhaps the author was hoping for a TV contract - a seventeenth century 'call the midwife' but with added detective work as in-between starting mother and baby discussion groups Clara stumbles across a case of false customs declarations (relating to feathers for duvet filling)! Oh the horror. The book sadly, is less fun to read than it is to describe it.
Glückstadt was founded by his majesty Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, Iceland and Greenland, Duke of Holstein etc etc in 1617, he was one of those hard working (relatively speaking) kings who had an ambition to make his territory wealthier and more prosperous, in his case by founding towns including this one, and he had a particular association with it,as if I recall correctly he had his second wife imprisoned in the town after their relationship broke down, if he spared time to solve the problems of midwives I have no idea, it seems a little improbable to me. In an effort to encourage settlement the King granted religious toleration to the town, so historically finding somebody prepared to baptise a child even an illegitimate one was possibly a bit easier there at that time than in other places with the competition between pastors to grow their communities.
Still the book was good for me as I had been the town and reading I was prompted to remember where the bookshop is there - west from the train station then north from the market place on the left bank of the canal / canalised river (your high point of seventeenth century transportation infrastructure, not that I imagine barges low in the water, heavy with books where much in evidence there in 1634) I stopped there and asked if they had a copy of Haffner’s Geschichte eines Deutschen which they didn't have, and which I didn't order as I had only popped in there in-between eating herring, which was my prime task for that day . Well anyway that was that little book.
I hadn't appreciated that it was part of a series but I didn't feel that was hugely important, after all this novel didn't have a plot, it seems a bit much to expect the resulting series to have a structure beyond very loosely that of a bildungsroman, although having said that our intrepid heroine seems pretty fully formed already.
The heroine, Clara, is a midwife. She bustles about the small north German town of Glückstadt (Lucky town) from May to October 1634 , she delivers a couple of babies (it was only a small town), but has various demi-adventures, in this it reminded me of various TV programmes with historical settings - people are dressed up in historical costume but behave in fairly modern ways while there is no real threat or danger, Clara seems a little headstrong and has an exchange of almost harsh words with the town Apothecary and later with a couple of women, and as if this wasn't enough she has a disagreement with a clergyman who refuses to baptise an illegitimate child - reasonably enough - it is 1634 after all, and with all this business going on she forgets to water her medicinal plants which die, . As I said a bit of a duvet of a book. The nature of the book is such that when she gets in to trouble she is helped out by important men - the Town Doctor Olsen, and twice his Majesty King Christian IV of Denmark who turns up when needed in her house, I don't know if the Danish court was quite that informal but there you go, it is that kind of book.
Equally I was a bit surprised by the early mention of potato salad - a bit Nouvelle cuisine surely for 1634, wisely when Clara can't eat it all, she stores it carefully in her cool pantry for later, but then it is the kind of historical book in which her presumed future boyfriend, Willem, not only invents some midwifery forceps for her, but also makes some soup for her and her girlfriend while Clara becomes some kind of proto-health visitor and social worker encouraging the social acceptance of bastards, and proper standards of hygiene, also everybody seems able to read, the early seventeenth century seems to have been surprisingly progressive and generally ahead of its time. Perhaps the author was hoping for a TV contract - a seventeenth century 'call the midwife' but with added detective work as in-between starting mother and baby discussion groups Clara stumbles across a case of false customs declarations (relating to feathers for duvet filling)! Oh the horror. The book sadly, is less fun to read than it is to describe it.
Glückstadt was founded by his majesty Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, Iceland and Greenland, Duke of Holstein etc etc in 1617, he was one of those hard working (relatively speaking) kings who had an ambition to make his territory wealthier and more prosperous, in his case by founding towns including this one, and he had a particular association with it,as if I recall correctly he had his second wife imprisoned in the town after their relationship broke down, if he spared time to solve the problems of midwives I have no idea, it seems a little improbable to me. In an effort to encourage settlement the King granted religious toleration to the town, so historically finding somebody prepared to baptise a child even an illegitimate one was possibly a bit easier there at that time than in other places with the competition between pastors to grow their communities.
Still the book was good for me as I had been the town and reading I was prompted to remember where the bookshop is there - west from the train station then north from the market place on the left bank of the canal / canalised river (your high point of seventeenth century transportation infrastructure, not that I imagine barges low in the water, heavy with books where much in evidence there in 1634) I stopped there and asked if they had a copy of Haffner’s Geschichte eines Deutschen which they didn't have, and which I didn't order as I had only popped in there in-between eating herring, which was my prime task for that day . Well anyway that was that little book.
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