Book ~ "The Virgin Cure" (2011) - Ami McKay

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart." So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. As a young child, Moth's father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from her forever. The summer she turned twelve, her mother sold her as a servant to a wealthy woman, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as "The Infant School." Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth.

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her, where her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure"--that deflowering a "fresh maid" can heal the incurable and tainted. She knows the law will not protect her, that polite society ignores her, and still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There's a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

This book started off okay. It was an interesting story to see how Moth was living in poverty with her mother, who was a Gypsy and made selfish decisions. Her mother sold her to wealthy woman as maid. After being constantly beaten and abused by the woman, Moth escapes and heads home, only to discover that her mother has disappeared. With no choices, Moth enters the world of becoming a whore. All this at the age of 13.

I wasn't crazy about the writing style ... I found it draggy and drawn out. With about 100 pages to go, I found that I started skipping pages to get to the end to see how things were going to go for Moth.

In the sidebars on some pages were tidbits of information of how things were back in those days.

So though I found the story interesting, the writing style makes me not recommend it. But that's just my taste ... maybe you'll like it better than I did.

Book ~ The Birth House - Ami McKay (2007)

From Amazon.com ~ When Dr. Gilbert Thomas, self-proclaimed expert in hygienic, pain-free childbirth, opens a practice in a Nova Scotia coastal village during the World War I years, it sets the stage for a classic conflict between long-held traditions and modern medicine. Seventeen-year-old Dora Rare, the only Rare daughter within five generations, improves her lot in life by becoming the apprentice of Marie Babineau, the independent but caring Acadian midwife who helped bring several generations of Scots Bay residents into the world. The women of the village (not to mention their husbands) grow bitterly divided when Dr. Thomas calls the health and safety of expectant mothers into question. His vengeful actions toward Dora herself, a young woman looking for guidance with her own love life, turn particularly personal as well. McKay has fashioned what she terms a "literary scrapbook," reproducing and re-creating historical news clippings, advertisements, and letters within the text. This sensitively written novel of women's birthing rituals, strengths, and friendships will appeal to readers who enjoy gentle humor and plenty of homespun wisdom.

What attracted me to this book was that it is set in Nova Scotia, where I'm from. And the story sounded interesting. And it was.

The characters were believable and I was rooting for Dora to beat Dr. McKay!

I enjoyed this book. Definitely worth a read if you are looking for something different about the way it was a long time ago in a small town. It was interesting to read about the natural tonics to cure whatever ailed them.

The author's webpage