The Midwife of Venice
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5 journalers for this copy...
From amazon.com
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Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril. But Hannah’s compassion for another woman’s misery overrides her concern for self-preservation. The Rabbi once forced her to withhold care from her shunned sister, Jessica, with terrible consequences. Hannah cannot turn away from a labouring woman again. Moreover, she cannot turn down the enormous fee offered by the Conte. Despite the Rabbi’s protests, she knows that this money can release her husband, Isaac, a merchant who was recently taken captive on Malta as a slave. There is nothing Hannah wants more than to see the handsome face of the loving man who married her despite her lack of dowry, and who continues to love her despite her barrenness. She must save Isaac. Meanwhile, far away in Malta, Isaac is worried about Hannah’s safety, having heard tales of the terrifying plague ravaging Venice. But his own life is in terrible danger. He is auctioned as a slave to the head of the local convent, Sister Assunta, who is bent on converting him to Christianity. When he won’t give up his faith, he’s traded to the brutish lout Joseph, who is renowned for working his slaves to death. Isaac soon learns that Joseph is heartsick over a local beauty who won’t give him the time of day. Isaac uses his gifts of literacy and a poetic imagination—not to mention long-pent-up desire—to earn his day-to-day survival by penning love letters on behalf of his captor and a paying illiterate public. Back in Venice, Hannah packs her “"birthing spoons”—secret rudimentary forceps she invented to help with difficult births—and sets off with the Conte and his treacherous brother. Can she save the mother? Can she save the baby, on whose tiny shoulders the Conte’s legacy rests? And can she also save herself, and Isaac, and their own hopes for a future, without endangering the lives of everyone in the ghetto? The Midwife of Venice is a gripping historical page-turner, enthralling readers with its suspenseful action and vivid depiction of life in sixteenth-century Venice. Roberta Rich has created a wonderful heroine in Hannah Levi, a lioness who will fight for the survival of the man she loves, and the women and babies she is duty-bound to protect, carrying with her the best of humanity’s compassion and courage.
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Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril. But Hannah’s compassion for another woman’s misery overrides her concern for self-preservation. The Rabbi once forced her to withhold care from her shunned sister, Jessica, with terrible consequences. Hannah cannot turn away from a labouring woman again. Moreover, she cannot turn down the enormous fee offered by the Conte. Despite the Rabbi’s protests, she knows that this money can release her husband, Isaac, a merchant who was recently taken captive on Malta as a slave. There is nothing Hannah wants more than to see the handsome face of the loving man who married her despite her lack of dowry, and who continues to love her despite her barrenness. She must save Isaac. Meanwhile, far away in Malta, Isaac is worried about Hannah’s safety, having heard tales of the terrifying plague ravaging Venice. But his own life is in terrible danger. He is auctioned as a slave to the head of the local convent, Sister Assunta, who is bent on converting him to Christianity. When he won’t give up his faith, he’s traded to the brutish lout Joseph, who is renowned for working his slaves to death. Isaac soon learns that Joseph is heartsick over a local beauty who won’t give him the time of day. Isaac uses his gifts of literacy and a poetic imagination—not to mention long-pent-up desire—to earn his day-to-day survival by penning love letters on behalf of his captor and a paying illiterate public. Back in Venice, Hannah packs her “"birthing spoons”—secret rudimentary forceps she invented to help with difficult births—and sets off with the Conte and his treacherous brother. Can she save the mother? Can she save the baby, on whose tiny shoulders the Conte’s legacy rests? And can she also save herself, and Isaac, and their own hopes for a future, without endangering the lives of everyone in the ghetto? The Midwife of Venice is a gripping historical page-turner, enthralling readers with its suspenseful action and vivid depiction of life in sixteenth-century Venice. Roberta Rich has created a wonderful heroine in Hannah Levi, a lioness who will fight for the survival of the man she loves, and the women and babies she is duty-bound to protect, carrying with her the best of humanity’s compassion and courage.
This didn't have quite as much mid-wifery as I expected but it was still very enjoyable from a historical standpoint and also because I love Venice and Venice's history always interests me.
Hannah Levi is a skilled and respected midwife in the Jewish ghetto in Venice. One night she is approached by a Christian nobleman to help his wife deliver their baby. His wife has been labouring and is near death and he has heard that she is the best. He is desperate to save this baby and begs and pleads with Hannah to help him.
In 16th Century Venice, Jews are not allowed to mix with Gentiles upon punishment of imprisonment or death so what the nobleman is asking is forbidden by both sides. Hannah's rabbi does all he can to dissuade her, but Hannah can't stand to think of a baby dying or a mother suffering if she can help and she needs the money she's offered to free her husband from slavery in Malta.
Helping the nobleman and his wife deliver their baby changes the course of all their lives and what follows is Hannah's story of survival.
Hannah Levi is a skilled and respected midwife in the Jewish ghetto in Venice. One night she is approached by a Christian nobleman to help his wife deliver their baby. His wife has been labouring and is near death and he has heard that she is the best. He is desperate to save this baby and begs and pleads with Hannah to help him.
In 16th Century Venice, Jews are not allowed to mix with Gentiles upon punishment of imprisonment or death so what the nobleman is asking is forbidden by both sides. Hannah's rabbi does all he can to dissuade her, but Hannah can't stand to think of a baby dying or a mother suffering if she can help and she needs the money she's offered to free her husband from slavery in Malta.
Helping the nobleman and his wife deliver their baby changes the course of all their lives and what follows is Hannah's story of survival.
Sending to Dove-i-Libri as part of the wishlist tag game.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
I am so happy and excited to have received this book. The topic of midwifery has always been interesting to me, and the historical fiction about the 1500s is always thrilling! Thank you, c'estmoi, for tagging me with this book. NOW? I only hope that I get to read it sometime in THIS lifetime! I'll be sure to make a journal entry when I read it and then share it with someone else. Thanks again!
June 11, 2019: Finally! Coming up on the short list! Will read it soon and then share it with someone else!
Jan 3, 2020: I had started to read this book December 23, 2019, but promptly had to put it down to prepare for the holidays. So, now I'm picking it up again. I was already enjoying it very much!
January 3, 2021: Happy New year! Hope it's better than last! Anyway, I loved this book! Saving it to participate in a VBB.
May 13, 2022: Entered into Booklady331's ABC VBB.
May 20, 2022: Claimed by NancyNova!!
June 11, 2019: Finally! Coming up on the short list! Will read it soon and then share it with someone else!
Jan 3, 2020: I had started to read this book December 23, 2019, but promptly had to put it down to prepare for the holidays. So, now I'm picking it up again. I was already enjoying it very much!
January 3, 2021: Happy New year! Hope it's better than last! Anyway, I loved this book! Saving it to participate in a VBB.
May 13, 2022: Entered into Booklady331's ABC VBB.
May 20, 2022: Claimed by NancyNova!!
Journal Entry 5 by 
Dove-i-Libri
at ~ Booklady331's ABC Virtual Book Box, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Monday, May 23, 2022
Dove-i-Libri at ~ Booklady331's ABC Virtual Book Box, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Monday, May 23, 2022
Set in 1575, a nobleman comes to the Jewish Ghetto to hire Midwife Hannah, which is against papal edict. Going against her Rabbi, Hannah takes the job to earn $$ to ransom her husband, Isaac, who has been sold into slavery in Malta. The story goes back and forth between Venice and Malta, as Hannah tries to save herself and the newborn noble baby & Isaac tries to free himself before he starves.
Chosen from the PERSON, PLACE, & THING book spiral Round #2.
I loved the book. Hannah was way ahead of her time.
As a previous home-birth midwife and current herbalist who loves historian tales of blended fiction with non-fiction, I absolutely adored this novel. I found it locally, my first read from the book crossing membership, and it was a terrific 2-day read of 321 pages. The story eloquently bounced between a couple split by hardship and horrific conditions in Italy in the 1570's, and the adequate description of survival met with unsavory situations was intoxicating. Of course, the use of herbs and traditional midwifery techniques was a bonus for me!
Journal Entry 11 by HerbalistHanna at Longs Peak Pub in Longmont, Colorado USA on Sunday, April 7, 2024
Leaving in free library/in-house game section in back toward restrooms...enjoy.
