Report on The Midwife's Apprentice

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman is a good book to illustrate the value of life and the importance of self.  A young, homeless girl finds shelter in the home of a cruel, selfish midwife.  There, she is given several names, beginning with brat, then dung beetle, and finally, Alyce (a name she gave herself).  In running errands and observing the midwife in action, Alyce learns many of the techniques of the midwife trade.  However, after a failed attempt to help the sister of one of her former patients, she runs away and becomes an inn girl at an inn outside of town.  There, she learns to cook, clean, and even read and write a little.  Always curious about a young boy (Edward) that she helped while in the village, she returned to find him well.  On that trip, she bathed herself and discovered that she was beautiful.  After returning to the inn, a man and woman enter claiming that the woman is being eaten by a stomach worm.  The stomach worm turned out to be a child.  After all attempts failed to deliver the child, the innkeeper gives up hope.  Alyce, though reluctant to help because of her former failure, finally steps in, recalls her former training, and delivers the baby.  The man and woman are so grateful that they offer Alyce a job as a nurse for their child.  Another guest at the inn, Magister Reese, asks Alyce to accompany him to Oxford to be his ailing sister’s nurse.  The innkeeper offers to pay Alyce for her services if she will stay.  However, Alyce decides that she wants to be a midwife.  She and her cat return to the midwife’s house only to be turned away by the midwife.  Then, remembering the midwife’s wishes far an apprentice that would never give up, Alyce returned to the midwife and vowed never to quit again.  The midwife took Alyce back in, and the story ended.