[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Formats: Paperback, Kindle, eBook, Audible, Audio Book
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
This story takes place in a small town in West Virginia during the years of the Great Depression. It is a difficult time for everyone. Men cannot find work and women have to find ways to feed their starving children. During this time nurse Becky Myers arrives in a town called Liberty. She brings with her Dr. Isaac Blum, her former employer, who is suffering from a tragic loss and appears to be in a catatonic state of mind. They both have fallen on hard times and are seeking help from a friend, Patience Murphy, who is a midwife in this town. Becky loves tending to the wounded or sick but was never comfortable with midwifery. She desperately tries to find work doing anything else but work is clearly hard to find. She ends up going on house calls with Patience, because she learns that Patience is pregnant herself. Patience will need coverage, because even in hard times women still get pregnant. And this is how nurse Becky Myers becomes the reluctant midwife.
Patience’s wonderful husband, Daniel Hester, takes on a lot of the care of Dr. Blum. Hester takes him on house calls to birth a calf, or to the backyard to cut firewood. Even the local Black Pastor comes by with firewood and seedlings for the two of them to plant. Together, Becky and Dr. Blum find themselves slowly mending with the help of neighbors and friends in this town. Through the challenges of everyday life, both Becky and Dr. Blum find health, humor and healing in this town on the Hope River.
The author wrote a warm and funny account of the life of a midwife during the depression years, drawing from her own experiences as a midwife. The story is written with lots of emotion and spunk and will appeal to people who love community involvement. The reader will be drawn into the story quickly. This was a good read!
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