National Network for Equitable Library Service

Set in the UK in the 1970s, Middenrammers follows the story of young Dr. Brian Davis and his efforts to adjust to his new job in a Yorkshire fishing town. The town’s only hospital permits no contraceptive advice, or abortions. Dr. Davis and Woodie—the midwife he falls in love with—regularly come face to face with the terrible repercussions of these policies. Because they refuse to accept the attitude of the hospital administrators—who believe that the right thing to do is to restrict choice and deny reproductive options—the course of their lives is changed as much as those of the patients. Told in graphic detail, the novel drives home the link between reproductive rights and social justice, while reminding us that a few decent people can make a world of difference.