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Praise What
Inspired
the Birth House? Reviews The
Hysteria Quiz Related
Links | The
Canadian novel that knocked
The Da Vinci Code out of the #1 spot
on The Globe and Mail bestsellers list! | | | Vintage Canada
| Harper Perennial
| Harper Perennial UK |
"Stunning…an
astonishing debut, a book that will break your heart and take your breath away."
- The Ottawa Citizen Now
in its 21st week on bestseller lists across Canada including: The Globe and
Mail, the Canadian Booksellers Association, Maclean's and Quill
and Quire. Chosen
by Heather Reisman, CEO of Chapters Indigo Books as the Heather's Pick for March
2006. "This book, by first-time author Ami McKay, is a read to savour.
Beautifully written, unique in voice, and passionate. "
Winner Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award
Best Fiction 2007
Best Author 2007
From
the Publisher -
Tradition
clashes with modernity in this unforgettable debut novel, set in a small Nova
Scotia village in the early 20th century, that is reminiscent of the works of
Annie Proulx and Chris Bohjalian. As
a child, Dora Rare, the first female in five generations of Rares, is taken under
the wing of Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for storytelling
and a kitchen filled with herbs. As she grows into adulthood, Dora becomes Miss
Babineau's apprentice, and together the pair help the women of Scots Bay through
infertility, difficult labour, breech births, unwanted pregnancies, and even unfulfilling
marriages. But their idyllic community
is threatened with the arrival of Gilbert Thomas, a brash medical doctor armed
with promised of sterile, painless childbirth. Soon some of the women begin to
question the midwives' methods - an uncertainty that erupts in a war of gossip,
accusations, and recriminations after a woman dies. Overshadowed by this powerful,
determined male doctor, Dora must summon all her strength and wisdom to protect
herself and the birthing rituals of her ancestors, and the village she loves. An
enthralling tale with deep resonance for today, The Birth House
brings to light the struggles women have faced to control their own bodies, and
to keep tradition alive in the face of modernity.
Ami
McKay started writing thank-you notes "to people she didn't know"
in the year 2000…her first attempt led to a featured guest appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show. She then became a freelance writer for CBC Radio. Her
work has aired on numerous public radio programs throughout Canada, the United
States and around the world. Her documentary, Daughter of Family G won an Excellence
in Journalism Medallion at the 2003 Atlantic Journalism Awards. When she moved
with her family from Chicago to Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, she learned that their
new home was once known as the birth house.
From:
Knopf Canada 0-676-97772-3 / $29.95 cdn HC FICTION February 2006
4th
Estate 0-007-23282-9 / 11.99 TP FICTION August 7, 2006
Wm.
Morrow 0-061-13585-2 / $24.95 HC FICTION August 22, 2006
ISBN13: 9780061135859
For
appearances and interviews in Canada contact:
Nicola Makoway
Publicity Manager - Random House of Canada
T 416.957.1538
C 416-432-3322
nmakoway@randomhouse.com
For
appearances and interviews in the UK contact:
Jessica Axe
Senior Press
Officer - Fourth Estate /HarperCollins UK
T: 020 8307 4928
F: 020 8307
4656
Jessica.Axe@HarperCollins.co.uk
|
"The
moon over Nova Scotia must have extra magic in it to have fostered a writer of
Ami McKay's lyrical sway and grace.
- Marjorie Anderson, co-editor
of Dropped Threads I and II.
|
