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Loading... Last Midwife: A Novel (edition 2016)by Sandra Dallas (Author)
Work InformationThe Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  BookConcierge | Nov 18, 2022 |    ) Jen-Lynn | Aug 1, 2022 |  ) AMKitty | Jun 17, 2022 |  ) busymomsreadtoo | Mar 29, 2022 | ) oobiec | Nov 2, 2021 | no reviews | add a review
"SANDRA DALLAS is the author of fourteen novels, including A Quilt for Christmas, Fallen Women, True Sisters, The Bride's House, Whiter Than Snow, Prayers for Sale, Tallgrass and New Mercies. She is a former Denver bureau chief for Business Week magazine and lives in Denver, Colorado. "--
"It is 1880 and Gracy Brookens is the only midwife in a small Colorado mining town where she has delivered hundreds, maybe thousands, of babies in her lifetime. She is a gifted and important resource for the women of her hardscrabble community, a position earned through wisdom and trust. Most women in Swandyke couldn't even imagine getting through their pregancy and labor without Gracy by their sides. But everything changes when a baby is found dead...and the evidence points to Gracy as the killer. Gracy knows she didn't commit the crime. But her innocence isn't quite that simple, either. She knows things and that's dangerous. Invited into her neighbors' homes during their most intimate times, she can't help what she sees or hears. A woman sometimes says things in the birthing bed, when life and death seem suspended within the same moment. Gracy has always tucked those revelations away, even the confessions that have cast shadows on her heart. With her friends taking sides and a trial looming, Gracy must decide whether it's worth risking everything to prove her innocence. And she knows that her years of discretion may simply demand too high a price now...especially since she's been keeping more than a few dark secrets of her own"-- No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.04)
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Wikipedia in English
1
Gracy Brookens is the only midwife in the small Colorado mining town where she and her husband live. She’s delivered hundreds, if not thousands of babies, and the women of Swandyke trust and depend on her. But when a baby is found dead, and the father accuses Gracy of killing the child, she has to face the fact that some people in town are NOT on her side.
I was interested in the birthing stories, and in the ways in which Gracy worked among both the men and women of the community. With her knowledge of herbs and home remedies, her calm, steady presence in a crisis, and her willingness to attend to anyone, she’s the one who’s always been called upon, whether it’s to birth a baby, help treat a fever or stitch up a wound. She’s a marvelously strong woman, and over the course of the novel we learn a few of her own heartaches and how she’s overcome and persevered.
I liked the relationship between Gracy and her husband, Daniel. This is a good marriage, not a perfect one, and they certainly have their ups and downs. I also liked the friendship between the Brookens and sheriff John Miller, and the friendship between Gracy and the young woman, Mittie.
I actually guessed the big reveal fairly early on, but Dallas put plenty of red herrings in the story to make me question my assumptions. There were times when I thought the whole murder mystery was a bit too contrived, but it certainly held my attention. My F2F book club will be discussing it in December and I’m eager to hear what others thought of it. (