Jennifer Worth
Jennifer Louise Worth
Biography
Jennifer "Jenny" Louise Lee was born in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on 25 September 1935, to Gordon and Elsie (née Gibbs) Lee.[2] Worth was raised in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. She had a younger sister, Christine, and two younger paternal half-sisters. After leaving school at the age of 15[2] she learned shorthand and typing[3] and became the secretary to the head of Dr Challoner's Grammar School. She then trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and moved to London to receive training to become a midwife.[2]
Lee was hired as a
She married the artist Philip Worth in 1963, and they had two daughters.[3] Worth left nursing in 1973 to pursue her musical interests. In 1974, she was appointed a licentiate of the London College of Music, where she taught piano and singing. She obtained a fellowship in 1984. She performed as a soloist and with choirs throughout the UK and Europe.[2]
Many years later she began writing, and her first volume of memoirs, Call the Midwife, was published in 2002. The book became a best-seller when it was reissued in 2007. Shadows of the Workhouse (2005; reissued 2008) and Farewell to the East End (2009) also became best-sellers.[2] The trilogy sold almost a million copies in the UK alone.[4] In a fourth volume of memoirs, In the Midst of Life, published in 2010, Worth reflects on her later experiences caring for the terminally ill.[5]
Activism
Worth was highly critical of
Death
Worth died on 31 May 2011,[where?] having been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus earlier in the year.[7] Deeply religious, she had a commitment to God.[2] The first episode of the television series Call the Midwife, based on her experiences in Poplar, London, in the late 1950s, was dedicated to her. A fictionalised version of her is played in the first three series by Jessica Raine, and the series is narrated by Vanessa Redgrave as an older version of her.
Publications
- Worth, Jennifer (2007). Eczema and Food Allergy: The Hidden Cause? : My Story. Merton Books. ISBN 978-1872560182.
- ISBN 978-0297868781. (2002)
- ISBN 978-0297853268. (2005)
- Worth, Jennifer (2009). Farewell to the East End. Phoenix. ISBN 978-0753823064. (Third book in the Midwife trilogy)
- Worth, Jennifer (2010). In the Midst of Life. ISBN 978-0297859581.
References
- ^ "Call The Midwife". BBC Media Centre. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ OCLC 49632006. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Bestselling author Jennifer Worth dies". Orion Books. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ Compton, D.G (2012). "Book review: In the Midst of Life". Dignity in Dying. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ Price, Gareth (7 June 2011). "Midwife author Jennifer Worth dies". Royal College of Midwives. Retrieved 23 January 2012.