January 25th, 2010 by Laura Moncur in Literature
I heard about The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer from Entertainment Weekly. Considering who recommended it, I thought it would be a poorly written tale about servants in Victorian England. Instead, it was a brilliantly written tale of servants in Victorian England.
Susan Rose, our heroine, is a fat girl with bulbous breasts full of milk for the neglected babes of the upper classes. Like her mother before her, Susan is a wet nurse for rich English ladies who either cannot nurse their own babies or would rather not to “save their figures.” Each major section of the book is interspersed with the admissions of the families who sent their children to Susan’s mother.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
You can read all the quotes here:
I love Susan Rose as a hero because she isn’t a weak woman. She may be fat, but she is strong. She toils in the laundry room, hiding her pregnancy, right until the day she delivers. She fights like a pit bull for her baby. She valiantly takes on a violent and mentally ill mistress in her home in an effort to save her own child. She one tough chick.
I didn’t expect to be so fully sucked into the book. I started reading and within a day, I couldn’t pull myself away from it. I consumed the book in a marathon session of hiding under an afghan on my couch. I can’t wait for Erica’s second book!
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