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There are currently 26 member reviews
for The Secrets of Midwives
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Robin F. (Tucson, AZ)
The Secrets of the Midwives
The book captured my attention from the first page. I am always interested in reading books about women, but Midwives is more than that. The author's development of her characters let me really see them. These women certainly had faults, but there were also strong women with a clear sense of what is right and they had the courage to do the right thing. Especially Grace who was courageous enough to stay with her pregnant mothers, even while under investigation. I thought it took Neva much longer to figure out the right thing to do. This a book I would recommend that my book club read. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.
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Anita R. (North Barrington, IL)
The Secrets of Midwives
I thought this would be a lecture strongly promoting home births and knocking hospital births. Fortunately, not so. Three women with interesting personal secrets are just incidentally all midwives. Sometimes it was a little preachy and often empathetic--but all together a good fast read very much fiction, which I like.
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Laura Gail W. (Kapaa, HI)
Great read
I liked this book for a few reasons, mainly the character development. I found I liked all of the three main characters for different reasons. Their personal lives were revealed with flashbacks which worked well in this book because they were short and the plot returned easily. I liked the way the author kept the story moving with anticipation of who would find out what and when.
The ending was a bit of a surprise but with some touches of a romance novel.
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Virginia W. (Chapel Hill, NC)
The Secrets of Midwives
The Secrets of Midwives is written following the lives of three generations of women who are all midwives. Neva, her mother Grace and her grandmother Floss all have secrets that they are guarding while dealing with the complexities of their differing views of midwifery. The research into the history of midwifery is well done and the story of the three generations of women is developed nicely as the book progress. Although these characters were well developed the men in their lives were less defined. This was the only disappointment in this generally well written and well researched story.
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Viqui G. (State College, PA)
The Secrets of Midwives
I enjoyed this novel of 3 generations of midwives. The narrative style with each character telling her story in alternating chapters was engaging and made the story line easy to follow. Since I am a women's health nurse practitioner, I particularly liked reading about the midwifery practice and deliveries. The three female protagonists were well developed and believable. The male side characters were more two dimensional, but since the story was not really about them, it was less important. My only criticism is that the story arc was very predictable and it became melodramatic near the end with Neva and Patrick's relationship. Otherwise I would recommend this novel to any woman who wanted a "light" read.
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Aleksandra E. (Alpharetta, GA)
A fast, entertaining read
What can I say about a book I finished in 2 days? I really enjoyed the storyline, the characters and was thoroughly engaged from start to finish. It was a light but well developed plot and hearing from the different characters point of view held my interest. Often, I judge a book based on how often I want to go back to it to find out what's going to happen next. I polished this one off in two days so I would definitely categorize it as highly enjoyable, entertaining & even informative.
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Kay D. (Strongsville, OH)
Multiple Secrets Reveal Multiple Links
This was a quick read. Enjoyed the three person narration style which changed from chapter to chapter. Each main character had a different personality and approached similar topics with a different viewpoint. I did think the storyline was a bit predictable, but it flowed. If you are looking for a light, quick read this is a good choice.
