The Midwife: My Review

The Midwife

About the Book:

The Past -- Graduate student Beth Winslow was sure she was ready to navigate the challenges of becoming a surrogate. But when early tests indicate possible abnormalities with the baby, Beth is unprepared for the parents' decision to end the pregnancy -- and for the fierce love she feels for this unborn child. Desperate, she flees the city and seeks refuge at Hopen Haus, a home for unwed mothers deep in a Tennessee Mennonite community.

The Present -- As head midwife of Hopen Haus, Rhoda Mummau delivers babies with a confident though stoic ease. Except in rare moments, not even those who work alongside her would guess that each newborn cry, each starry-eyed glance from mother to child, nearly renders a fault through Rhoda's heart, reminding her of a past she has carefully concealed.

Past and present collide when a young woman named Amelia arrives in the sweeping countryside bearing secrets of her own. As Amelia's due date draws near, Rhoda must face her regrets and those she left behind in order for the healing power of love and forgiveness to set them all free.

My Comments:

The story is told in the first person with chapters told by different characters at different times.  Each is headed by the character's name and the date, so keeping track isn't that hard.  I actually liked the writing style and the way the story was told.  Unfortunately, by the end of the book the main thought running through my mind was "unbelievable" and not in a good way.  Too many things were interconnected, too many things that weren't likely to happen had to happen and did.  As an example, toward the end of the book a girl from this home for unwed mothers goes into labor unexpectedly.  The baby is in the footling breach position (coming out feet first) and these very experienced midwives don't know what to do.  It turns out that an unexpected visitor to the home that night trained as an obstetrician over twenty years ago (though he's never practiced) and he delivers the baby vaginally.  He knows better than those midwives how to do that?  I doubt it.  I won't spoil the story with all the interconnections but suffice to say I thought there were too many.  

While the book really drew me in an I loved the writing, I've got to give this one a C+ for the total lack of credibility at the end.  

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.

Question for my readers?   Do you expect to be able to believe the story being told when you read a book?

Review: The Outcast

The Outcast

About the Book:

Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop. 

But secrets run deep in this cloistered community, and the bishop is hiding some of his own, threatening his conscience and his very soul. When the life of Rachel’s baby is at stake, however, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home.

My Comments:

This book is supposed to be a re-telling of The Scarlet Letter, which I'm pretty sure I read somewhere along the line.  Like the community in which The Scarlet Letter was set, Rachel lives in a community dominated by religion, in her case the Old Order Mennonite church, which is similar to the Amish in maintaining close group ties and eschewing much modern technology.  A difference that is noted is that while the Amish shun members who break certain rules until those members repent, the Mennonites in this book do not, at least not formally.  However, like any society, those who choose to flaunt its rules find themselves on the outside looking in, even while living in its midst.  

I guessed the father of Rachel's baby long before he was revealed in the book, and I actually agreed with Rachel's reasons for not telling.  

I found the story to be very well written and the characters were well-developed.  In reading Amish fiction it is easy to romanticize the lifestyle and the close community bonds.  Without being critical of the faith of these people, Jolina Pertersheim manages to point out the pitfalls of those close community bonds, not only for Rachel but also for a friend of hers who left the Amish.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade: B+