by JoannaKavenna (Author)
It is Vienna, 1865: Dr Ignaz Semmelweis has been hounded into a lunatic asylum, ridiculed for his claim that doctors' unwashed hands are the root cause of childbed fever. The deaths of thousands of mothers are on his conscience and his dreams are filled with blood. It is 2153: humans are birthed and raised in breeding centres, nurtured by strangers and deprived of familial love. Miraculously, a woman conceives, and Prisoner 730004 stands trial for concealing it. London in 2009: Michael Stone's novel about Semmelweis has been published, after years of rejection. But while Michael absorbs his disconcerting success, his estranged mother is dying and asks to see him again. As Michael vacillates, Brigid Hayes, exhausted and uncertain whether she can endure the trials ahead, begins the labour of her second child. This is a beautifully constructed and immensely powerful work about motherhood that is also a story of rebellion, isolation and the damage done by rigid ideologies.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: Main
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 20 May 2010
ISBN 10: 057124517X
ISBN 13: 9780571245178
Book Overview: The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna explores, through the interwoven stories of four very different characters, the intense, conflicting emotions of motherhood as few contemporary novels have dared to do.