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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Village cruelty aimed at a defenseless child: Alyce is beaten, mocked and pelted; the midwife strikes and berates her
Language
Barely any
No modern profanity
Sexual Content
Barely any
Childbirth is depicted directly, and the midwife's trade means pregnancy, unmarried mothers and a village bawd are all part of the landscape
Substance Use
Barely any
Ale drinking is ordinary village life here; the midwife's herbal concoctions include intoxicants
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Extreme neglect and the psychology of a child who believes she is worthless
What this book is about
Brat, later Alyce, is found sleeping in a dung heap and taken on by a hard, grasping village midwife. Cushman does not sanitize the fourteenth century: the midwife is verbally and physically abusive, village boys torment Alyce, and the birthing scenes are frank about pain, blood, breech deliveries and babies that do not survive. Reader content warnings on StoryGraph flag child abuse, animal cruelty and pregnancy loss. It is short and often funny, but the frankness about bodies is the thing to know going in.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Frank, unromanticized childbirth including a loss
Adult verbal and physical abuse of a child
Animal cruelty
Reader Verification
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