Eleven Hours

By Pamela Erens,

Book cover of Eleven Hours

Book description

Eleven Hours is a visceral, vital, microcosmic illumination of the most pivotal moment of any woman's life: giving birth. With taut, sensitive prose, Erens explores the lives of two women in New York - one in labour, the other her Haitian midwife - to gracefully reveal the seminal moments that…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Eleven Hours as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’m recommending this book because it is a beautifully written book that centers a universally human event that is overlooked in literature: childbirth.

This book frankly and unflinchingly depicts a harrowing experience of a woman giving birth in a hospital. This book also tells the stories of two very different women—the woman in labor and the labor nurse. The book covers only hours of a life but touches on themes and motifs that concern all human beings: loneliness, care, medical care and how it’s given, relationships, childhood, coming of age, city life, mortality, and love.

Want books like Eleven Hours?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Eleven Hours.

Browse books like Eleven Hours

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in motherhood, childbirth, and female friendship?

Motherhood 53 books
Childbirth 32 books
Female Friendship 131 books