Story Description:
Harpercollins|August
20, 2012|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-06-219889-1
Midwife Patience Murphy has a gift: a talent for
escorting mothers through the challenges of bringing children into the world.
Working in the hardscrabble conditions of Appalachia during the
Depression. Patience takes the jobs that
no one else wants, helping those most in need – and least likely to pay. She knows a successful midwifery practice
must be built on a foundation of openness and trust – but the secrets Patience
is keeping are far too intimate and fragile for her to ever let anyone in.
Honest, moving, and beautifully detailed, Patricia
Harman’s The Midwife of Hope River rings
with authenticity as Patience faces nearly insurmountable difficulties. From the dangerous mines of West Virginia to
the terrifying attentions of the Ku Klux Klan, Patience must strive to bring
new light and life into an otherwise hard world.
My Review:
Patience Murphy was at one time Elizabeth Snyder who
was a showgirl, a wife, and a mother-to-be.
Now she is Patience Murphy, midwife in Appalachia in the 1930’s during
the Depression in a little county called Hope River. She attends the births of both rich and poor
families but is rarely paid in dollars for her services. Usually she’s paid nothing at all or a bag of
flour, a few potatoes, or some other form of food. Times are tough for everyone. Patience worries constantly about the day her
past catches up with her and is always on guard wondering if the people coming
up her driveway are in need of her services or if it’s the Sheriff.
The story begins with Patience attending one of the
communities white residents who is expected to have a stillbirth but the baby
is born alive. Patience has not yet had
a lot of experience at being a midwife but she is the only choice for a lot of
folks since Dr. Blum, the county’s white doctor refuses to birth any babies for
people who cannot afford to pay him.
Mrs. Potts, the negro midwife is ill.
Patience keeps a record book of all the births she
attends, recording the name of the family, the baby’s name and weight, who was
in attendance and if there were any complications during the birth. The births she attends are riveting and will
keep you glued to the edge of your seat.
Patience befriends, Bitsy, a young black girl who
moves in with Patience and begins attending the births and assisting,
Patience.
The Midwife
of Hope River is a story of great strength, struggles, loss,
redemption, truth, survival, and hope.
It is also a celebration of life.
For a debut novel, this was a crackerjack read!
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