Want to learn the ideas in The Midwife better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Midwife by Jennifer Worth here.
Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.
Video Summaries of The Midwife
We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Midwife, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Jennifer Worth.
1-Page Summary of The Midwife
Overall Summary
The Midwife’s Apprentice is a novel about Alyce, a street orphan who becomes an apprentice midwife. She finds her place in society by working with the midwives and helping them as they help their clients through childbirth. This book has many classic coming-of-age themes, such as finding one’s purpose and making sense of life.
The novel begins with a young orphaned girl curled up on top of a dung heap. She is roused from her slumber by some boys who mock and tease her. The town midwife, Jane, comes to the rescue and shoos away the children. Beetle (the girl) asks if she can work for food in exchange for helping out around Jane’s house. Jane agrees but calls the girl Brat because of her brattish behavior (i.e., being disrespectful). However, Beetle admires how skilled Jane is at midwifery and thinks that it’s like magic because she has never seen anyone perform such feats before—she refers to this as “Jane Sharp” for having a sharp nose and glance; nevertheless, Beetle stands in awe of her skills
Jane is often rough with Beetle, but Beetle doesn’t think she deserves any better. She’s used to living a hard life and can’t see it getting much easier. Jane does not train her to be a midwife, but lets her carry things for her clients as well as watch the births from behind the door. This gives Beetle an idea of what midwifery is like without actually training in it.
One day Jane sprained her ankle and could not go out to get supplies for the household. Her friend Beetle went in her place, but while she was there a merchant complimented her on something about herself and gave her a gift as thanks. She had never received such attention before and it was shocking to be treated this way. On her way home from the fair, someone mistook Beetle for Alyce, who is described as being smart enough to read. This made Beetle think that maybe she was smart enough to learn how to read too so she decided that from now on she would call herself Alyce instead of just accepting what others called her all these years.
Alyce has a difficult time getting others in her village to call her by her new name, however. The boys, in particular, continue to tease her. One day, Alyce has the opportunity to help one of the boys, a red-headed boy named Will. At great risk to herself, Alyce saves him from drowning in a river. Doing so earns his admiration and they become friends. Alyce also begins being more respected by the villagers and is able to deliver a baby on her own one day; this fills Alyce with pride but angers Jane who isn’t keen on competition later when another woman asks for help she calls on Jane who delivers without any problem humiliating Alyce’s self esteem crumbles
Alyce is hired by John and Jennet Dark to work at their inn. She stays with them for a while, but feels guilty about her past failures as a midwife. Alyce spends most of her time watching Magister Reese from afar, but she is too shy to talk to him. However, he notices this and decides to teach Purr how to read in order to get closer to Alyce. Soon after that, she learns how to read on her own because of the lessons she’s been observing behind Magister Reese’s back.
After a while, Jane arrives at the inn. Alyce is afraid to see her, but she’s surprised that Jane isn’t angry with her for abandoning her duties as an apprentice midwife. Instead, she criticizes Alyce for running away from problems and not facing them head-on. She leaves after telling Alyce that what she really wants in life is to return to Jane and become an official midwife’s apprentice.
Alyce returns to Jane’s house and asks if she can stay with her again. She promises that she has learned her lesson, will not run away from any more problems, and wants to stay with Jane as an apprentice.
