Midwives: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian

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Stars: *****

Read for the Unread Authors Challenge

Wow! Midwives is the story of a midwife whose patient dies during childbirth and so she performs and emergency C-section to save the baby. After the fact, suspicions are raised as to if the mother really was dead when the C-section was performed or if the procedure actually killed her. The trial follows.

I had a hard time believing that this book wasn’t a memoir. At least 10 times while I was reading I kept thinking it was real and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s listed as fiction and the author’s name is not the narrator’s name, I would honestly believe this was a memoir. It’s even written as a memoir:

“Some of my mother’s midwife friends are aware that i have been writing this book, and they fear now that my recollections will be tinged by my profession. In their eyes, I am not the one who should tell my mother’s story, and they want me to leave it alone.”


I also had a hard time believing that the author is a male. There is such exact detail of labour and childbirth that you would think only a woman would know but Chris does an excellent job of making everything sound real.

I most definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in midwifery, labour and childbirth and trials. Even though it’s fiction, it still has a lot of information.

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About Kathleen

I've been a nonfiction lover for as long as I can remember. I love children's nonfiction as well and love to share my knowledge and the books I gained them from, with the world. I wish more people would give nonfiction a chance.