This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Secrets of Midwives

Neva, a young midwife who works at a birthing center. Neva gets to experience the magic of bringing a baby into the world- but also being close enough to doctors- on the off chance there is a problem. For Neva, this is the way she chooses to be a midwife.

However, Neva comes from 2 previous generations of midwives. Floss, her grandmother, became a midwife in England, then moved to the United States- with a baby. Grace is more hippie like- with her crunchy, Earthy ways. Neva learned from the 2 previous generations. 

The relationship between grandmother, mom and daughter is not without secrets. Neva is several months pregnant- and refuses to tell who the father is. Grace’s secrets could cause much harm to her future. But Floss- her secret is the one that might harm all 3 women. Floss has been keeping this secret for years- and it’s beginning to weigh heavily on her.

When Floss and Grace learn of Neva’s pregnancy- grandmother and mom react differently. Floss wants to let Neva tell in her own time, her own way, her own choosing. Grace struggles with a way to find out the secret- and makes it her mission to find out. Each woman has their own reasons for understanding or not understanding Neva’s plan to keep the baby’s father a secret.

Alternating voices in THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES reveal this story bit by bit, piece by piece, morsel by morsel. Each voice has something beautiful about it- and as a daughter, I found myself nodding along when Neva was exasperated with Grace; yet understanding her love for her mother.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I LOVED this book. It was just my cup of tea. Secrets, a love story, a multi-generational story.

Neva’s story- I thought Neva’s pregnancy, her feelings about not revealing the father of her baby, and how her pregnancy affected both Grace and Floss was very interesting. Even a little heart-tugging at times.

Grace’s story- I’ll admit- Grace sometimes annoyed me. It was like she wasn’t listening to Neva- and while her heart was in the right place, sometimes I wanted to tell Grace to sit down and shut up! But, she had some one-liners that were hysterical to me- and a way of looking at the world that was like the lemon in water-  refreshing!

Floss’s story- I had an inkling where her story was headed. While I had some of the secret guessed, my idea of how the secret came to be was all wrong. Floss’s story was a story that I was eager to get to the bottom of- even more so than finding out Neva’s baby’s daddy.

I liked all the stories intertwined, how Sally kept some secrets up her sleeve dropping them at the most opportune moments. I liked how the story- the story of the 3 women- gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling while reading it. There were moments where I wanted to cry, moments I just laughed, and many parts where I felt satisfied. Waking up early one weekend morning to lay in bed to read the last 150 pages of THE SECRETS OF THE MIDWIVES  was the best way to start my day.

Final thoughts: Get this book. You won’t be sorry.

 

*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration by St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone. 

 

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T