Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

by Erwin
(Manalapan, NJ)

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian is a gripping story from the opening line until the last page! I was literally mesmerized by the story... and I have to be honest, a story I originally thought I would have no interest in!

The story is about Sybil Danforth a current day midwife living in Vermont. Sybil is passionate about what she does... assisting at births is her life!
One night while Sybil is assisting a birth...the unthinkable happens- the mother dies while the baby lives!
Sybil is charged with murder!
What happened?

This is the heart of the story.
The story is told by Sybil's daughter in a voice that is both innocent and riveting. Connie, her daughter, talks from her own involvement as well as borrowing the actual details from her mothers 'secret' diary.

Sybil goes to trial all along accepting her fate... whatever that may be. (I will not compromise you by telling you the ending)

I happened to get my copy of Midwives while attending a signing by Chris Bohjalian at my local Barnes & Noble. His recent work "Secrets Of Eden" was just released. I was lucky enough to get signed copies of about five of his works. Midwives was a soft cover edition.

I liked the book so much that I immediately pursued the hard cover first which I was able to purchase through ABE books.

I am now building a collection of other firsts by Bohjalian.

If you have never read or thought of collecting Bohjalian... I would strongly recommend him based on my experiences with Midwives. Bohjalian gets a lot of buzz in the literary world.

Midwives happens to be an Oprah pick and another novel The Double Bind was one of Barnes & Nobles 'Recommends Main Selection' when first released.