The Midwife's Tale - Gretchen Moran Laskas

This had been in my pile of books to read for a while and something about it kept making me put it off. I think it was the thought that it is set in the early 1900’s that made me dismiss it as my next read so often, but I eventually needed a change in direction in my genre and picked this up. Elizabeth Whitely had been born to a long line of midwives and everyone expected her to be no different from her mother and grand-mother before. Elizabeth settled into the lifestyle well if somewhat reluctantly, and helped her mother deliver the women’s babies around Denniker’s Mountain in West Virginia. She learned the vocation well and her granny taught her the family ...  Read the complete review

I don’t really know why I picked this book up. I think perhaps it was because the title reminded me of titles such as The Abortionist’s Daughter and The Timekeeper’s Wife, neither of which I have read, but I keep meaning to. Whatever the reason, I’m certainly glad I chose it. It held my attention from page one and I read it quickly in two days because I so desperately wanted to know how the book was going to end – rare for a non crime fiction book. This is all the more impressive because it is the author’s first book. The story Elizabeth is the latest of generations of her family to become a midwife. Using herbs and methods passed down from her ...  Read the complete review