Devon based sister of Call the Midwife author reveals their childhood

The story of Call The Midwife’s Jennifer Worth by her sister Christine

“It was the autumn of 1945. I was seven and Jennifer had recently had her tenth birthday. We knew that whatever had occurred had to be serious. What we didn’t know was that our childhood as we had known it was over.”

Having returned to our TV screens recently, the BBC’s evocative Call the Midwife drama tells the stories of women giving birth in harsh and difficult circumstances in the East End of London.

Call the Midwife is based on the book written by Jennifer Worth, who died in 2011 but the vivid memories have been kept alive by her sister, Christine Lee, best known as a figurative sculptor who is based in Budleigh Salterton.

In a moving and emotional memoir, The Midwife’s Sister, Christine tells the true story of their early idyllic years to the cruelty and neglect they suffered after their parents divorced. From Jennifer being forced to leave home at fourteen to both sisters eventually training as nurses, The Midwife’s Sister brings their story alive.

Christine, 79, is a renowned sculptor who is best known for works such as the remarkable 17 foot high Commemorative Fountain outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Christine continues to make privately commissioned sculptures as well as works in public places.  She is currently working on a memorial destined for a church in Oxfordshire.


The Midwife’s Sister by Christine Lee is available
image002.pngin all good bookshops and published by Pan (£7.99)
Paperback and ebook  ●  9781447282648