Midwives (edició 1998)

This was more the story of the trial of a midwife, whose patient died, than of the actual "midwives." Sybil, a midwife with no formal training, finds herself making a complicated delivery when a snow storm causes the phone lines to go dead in the late 1970's. The story is told through the eyes of her 14 year old daughter. I was not real invested with any of the characters; nonetheless, it was an average read ( )

The scenes about the home delivery and the court times were compelling reading. The author seemed to respect both sides of the issues. I really felt for the midwife who was so concerned for her clients and then has to deal with her doubts. ( )

Could probably use a re-read on this, but I remember it as very compelling and a total surprise twist at the end. Led me to read other books by Bohjalian too. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13115965

I picked this up because I was curious about the treatment of the title characters - midwives. I gave birth to my second child at home with two midwives and found it to be an amazing experience, unforgettable. I wondered how much this author would get right about them.

I was impressed. The story is in a different state than mine and its laws are different. In California it is flat-out against the law to be a midwife, unless you are a nurse-midwife delivering in a hospital. Apparently in Vermont it is frowned upon but not illegal, at least at the time when this story is set - late seventies, early eighties.

The story is about one child delivered by Sibyl Danforth. In the midst of winter, on a stormy night, she assisted a woman who was pregnant with her second child. The first had been born in another state. Labor became much more difficult than expected and the mother, after pushing for literally hours, crumbled. Her heart stopped. Danforth performed CPR but did not detect a heartbeat. In desperation she performed an emergency Caesarean on the woman, whom she took to be dead.

She was ultimately charged with causing the woman's death. She obtains a good attorney, who finds expert witnesses to counter the state's, and the action builds. It seems like one minute we are with Sibyl, the next we are in the courtroom. We get the full story by a kind of back-and-forth action.

The story is told primarily by Sibyl's daughter Connie, told from a distance of several years. The beginning of each chapter is an excerpt from Sibyl's diary, written in a different style. Apart from the weaving back and forth, which creates tension and drama, Connie's story is told in a straightforward way, with few embellishments. In fact, when I first started reading it I wondered if this were in fact a true story (it isn't). I had to look at the cover, see the word "novel", then then too note that the author is a man.

The detail in the birth event itself is remarkable. The event is described medically and legally, and each aspect is subjected to a great deal of scrutiny. Much like real life, there isn't necessarily only one version that's true. Sibyl is an honest, trustworthy, competent midwife, but is her version the right one? That's what we wonder throughout the dissection of the case.

I didn't particularly like Sibyl's "voice" as represented in the journals. There was something false about the style, to me. Not that I ever felt that she was in any way false, just those paragraphs written in a perhaps "too literary" way. I liked Connie's voice better, as it seemed more solid, more real.

I found it absorbing and to this day I am wondering. ( )

Throughout the long summer before my mother's trial began, and then during those crisp days in the fall when her life was paraded publically before the country- her character lynched, her wisdom impugned-I overheard much more than my parents realized, and I understood more than they would have liked.