The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel of an American Midwife

This book drew me right into the lives of these characters with a wonderful depth of perception about how the best and worst parts of ourselves manifest. It also shows how we can support each other to bring out our best selves. It was wonderful to see examples of how this can happen even in the most difficult and tragic times of our lives. I enjoyed the level of detail offered about the medical and nursing aspects of the cases she presented and the realism of life in that tine and circmstance. I have lived a life like that with the milk cows and chickens and hauling water and cutting firewood and could relate to the strength and determination required of that life. Such a fun read, thank you!

The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman has been out for ages and I’ve even owned the audiobook for a lot of that time but despite wanting to read it I never found the time to. Well when the chance to review the sequel for a book tour came up I knew it was time because you can’t read the sequel without having read the first book and I’m so glad I did. Besides that I have a fascination with all things to do with midwifery especially pertaining to long ago times such as the 1930’s when this book takes place. The Midwife of Hope River is about so much more than just birthing babies – it’s about struggling in hard times, friendship, heartbreak, and above all hope in new life, whether it be a birth or a rediscovery of one’s self.Taking place in the 1930’s we meet Patience Murphy who is an Appalachian midwife. Patience came to Hope River to escape her own haunting past. Patience, being new to the community, doesn’t turn anyone in need away. She births babies for everyone – the rich, the poor, the black, the white. Along the way she makes some good friends like Bitsy who ends up being her assistant. I loved Bitsy who was a strong, intelligent black woman with a wit that often had me smiling. As they attend births and experience both joy and sadness Patience finds herself reflecting on her own past and all that has happened to bring her to where she is now. As the two women become closer Patience is given a first hand look at what it is like to be a black woman in the 1930’s. People look down on Patience for having Bitsy living with her and assisting her but Patience doesn’t budge. She isn’t going to have anyone tell her who she can be friends with or work with for that matter. As tensions rise though Patience wonders if she will be able to keep the both of them safe.I loved this story and what I thought most impressive was the reality portrayed in the pages of this book and then I found out that Patricia Harman is herself a certified midwife and it all made sense. When you read a book like this you thank your lucky stars that you live in the times of modern medicine. As Harman describes the births and how harrowing they could be with babies or mothers dying you can understand how hard it was for women back then. Some women could afford to go to a hospital but a great majority and especially the ones that Patience administered to could not. More than that most couldn’t pay for the services either. They paid in food or whatever they could and Patience accepted that as well because more often than not she needed what they were offering as payment. I loved the author’s writing as well. She so vividly describes the sights, sounds, and smells of the births that I felt I was in those homes with those country folk just praying all would go well. What I feel most thankful for is that nowadays with modern medicine many more women and children make it even through the most harrowing of circumstances.For fans of historical fiction and novels on midwifery I think The Midwife of Hope River is one of the best I’ve read. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Anne Wittman and oh my she does a good job from the birthing scenes to the highly emotional tone of this novel at times. She truly does bring this novel alive for the listener. Highly recommended.

This was an interesting story of a woman thrown into the life of a midwife during the 1920s, who did the best she could during the Depression after the 1929 Crash in a rural part of West Virginia. Having lived in the city of Chicago and Philadelphia, Lizabeth aka/Patience, has to acclimate to life in coal country in rural W. Virginia. As money grows more scarce, she gets no pay for most of her deliveries. Sometimes she and her helper, Bitsy, get a chicken, ham, or even a woven basket from one mother. The county pays 25 cents to record a birth, and some months those quarters (3 or 4) are all that the midwife has to feed herself and Bitsy on. She does have a farm that the two women try to keep up with. The area citizens are in as bad straits as Patience, but they try to support her the best they can. The story was very real, and I look forward to the next book in this series.

This was a super good read. Although light reading I enjoyed getting into the mind of a midwife during the turn of the century. Very entertaining.

I picked up this book because I love the PBS/BBC show CALL THE MIDWIFE, and if you like that show, you’ll probably like this, too. There are plenty of birthing stories, and they’re all interesting. But beyond that, there isn’t a whole lot of meat and depth to this book.The author tries to make the main character deep by giving her a relatively detailed backstory, but this backstory is just told to us. Nothing of the heroine’s past ever shows up in her behavior, so the character remains pretty flat throughout. This makes the book a very light read, and the style of writing adds to that.The story takes place in 1930’s Appalachia, and so it just *felt* like the prose should have been more literary and/or poetic. It wasn’t.I like an easy read at the end of the day, but this was just too easy.There are some editorial errors; not so may to ruin the book, but more than a professional work should have. The historical aspects were presented well, although the terrible way African Americans were treated back then was sometimes too much on-the-nose and preachy.If you like the theme of midwifery, then this book is probably worth the read. Otherwise, consider passing.

I borrowed this book from my library and read it on my Kindle. After finishing I had to purchase a hard copy for my bookshelf. Why? Some books are 'keepers' and this is definitely one of them. It is so well written and loaded with knowledge, and the characters are real. It is a book that transports and informs. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys combining history with a great read. I can't say plot, because it is more than that. Also, any woman who is pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, this is an excellent informative piece of literature to give women an idea of the birthing process. I applaud this writer, Patricia Harman. I borrowed the book originally because it was written about a midwife in the Appalachian mountains and my step mother-in-law was a midwife who rode horseback in Appalachia to visit her patients. She will be 92 this year and reading this book helped me know what she went through. When my granddaughters get around to marriage and family, I plan on loaning them my copy to read.

This is an engaging story set in the time of the depression. The characters are believable and the story engaging. I couldn't put it down.

I loved this book, but I am interested in the topics this story is about. I have had 3 pregnancies , one which was a home birth in 1966, which was lovely and relaxed. Just me ,the midwife and my Mum. Nothing much is said about pain relief, but my mum had 4 babies with no pain relief,so I expect the depictions in the book are correct.The way people lived in this era outside the towns and cities is something we cannot envisaged now but they get through and have good levels of life and the comparisons with today are very stark. It is unimaginable that today's young people would be able to cope with life as it was then. A good, interesting and lovely story.

It's a real joy when, by chance, the book nobody speaks of just happens to be a true jewel... I hope this one will have as much success as "The help". I don't know why but I can't help compare them and I have as much pleasure reading it and as much difficulty to shut it....

I picked this up as a Kindle deal and couldn't put it down! The author manages to tell a captivating (though sometimes slightly predictable) story set during the depression that reminded me of The Help (which I loved) while weaving in intriguing episodes right out of the midwive's practice. I wasn't surprised to read in the appendix that the author's an experienced midwife herself: Her birth scenes are described in high professional detail but at the same time never bored me. All in all a great debut novel!

This was a most enjoyable book. The way the author portrayed every scene was memorable. I laughed, got angry and cried with her, it felt as if you were with her all the way her writing is superb. Patience was the midwife and the many situations that she got into with deliveries and personal situations were exciting, sad, joyous and what makes us human caring for other people. I would certainly recommend this book I just could not put it down. Thank you so much, I will certainly be reading more from this exceptional writer Patricia Harman.