The Birth House

Dora returns home to Scots Bay. Hart, Bertine, Sadie, and Mabel have the house ready and food prepared, and “Wrennie seemed happy to have me home” (340). However, Dora knows that “Ginny was well on her way to trouble” due to the fact that she is “swollen all over, suffering from crippling headaches and nearly blind each time she tries to stand up” (340). Her face looks like “visage d’etranger, the stranger’s face,” which is a sign of death according to the Willow Book (340).

Dora brings Ginny to stay at Spider Hill until the birth so that she can try to treat the symptoms. Ginny’s husband, Laird, is worried and wants to get Dr. Thomas even though the doctor’s expensive “obstetrical theory hasn’t done Ginny any good” (342), notes Dora. His treatment suggestion for Ginny’s current condition was a bloodletting, to which Dora responds in her journal: “no woman, no person, deserves such thoughtless care” (342).

After a few days, Dora’s treatment for Ginny starts to reduce the swelling. The next day, Dora prepares Ginny for birth, recording the process in her journal. Ginny is cheerful and argues with Dora about eating shad again, which Dora takes as a good sign.