Helpful Score: 2
In this novel, Sybil, a Vermont midwife, is accused of manslaughter after the child whose birth she is attending amidst a terrible winter snowstorm dies. Narrated by Connie, the now-adult daughter of Sybil (who was a young teenager during the events), Midwives moves back and forth in time, fitting vital pieces of information about what happened that terrible night like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into its complicated plot. As Connie looks back on the events that changed her mother's entire world and which shaped her own life in significant ways, she is still trying to understand what happened, and why.
I found Midwives to be wonderfully written and powerfully told, in the crime scenes, the courtroom scenes, the family scenes, and in all the rest. In the same way he was able to in Before You Know Kindess (another fabulous and moving novel), in Midwives Bohjalian writes sympathetically and convincingly from the point of view of women and young girls, and at the same time educates the reader about the varying perspectives around highly-charged sociopolitical issues, of which home births and midwifery is one.
I read that film rights to the novel have been bought. I really enjoyed this book, and think it would make a terrific movie. Bohjalian writes very cinematically, with each scene very easy to visualize. I can't wait to see this novel adapted on the screen!
I found Midwives to be wonderfully written and powerfully told, in the crime scenes, the courtroom scenes, the family scenes, and in all the rest. In the same way he was able to in Before You Know Kindess (another fabulous and moving novel), in Midwives Bohjalian writes sympathetically and convincingly from the point of view of women and young girls, and at the same time educates the reader about the varying perspectives around highly-charged sociopolitical issues, of which home births and midwifery is one.
I read that film rights to the novel have been bought. I really enjoyed this book, and think it would make a terrific movie. Bohjalian writes very cinematically, with each scene very easy to visualize. I can't wait to see this novel adapted on the screen!
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
