The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas

She does what she can for the women of the community.  Most of the time she's successful but there are some difficult cases.  What she never expected was someone to accuse her of murdering a healthy child after its birth.  She left it alive, who killed it?  It wasn't her.

St. Martin's Press sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you).  It was published September 29th.

This is a story of secrets.  Every family in this community had them, even Gracy.  She never told the secrets she knew but some people still didn't trust her.  Some also thought she had caused their problems, mostly from guilt on their parts.  What she didn't expect was how many would stand against her.  The child belonged to the mine owner and he was a big man in town.  If he said she was guilty, they wouldn't disagree.

This story reads well.  It's sad and bit depressing but very honest about life in the late 1800's.  You didn't get coddled in that era.  My father's mother talked of having her babies at home by herself and then going back to the field to finish working.  The ladies in this book didn't have to do that but they also had to recover quickly.

I found myself reading the book in one sitting.  I had to see what happened and how it all turned out.  Gracy won't sacrifice a young girl to save herself.  It's not looking good for her.  The ending is ironic and appropriate.

This book is thought provoking and well worth the read.  If you have any interest in midwives or history this book is for you.