The Midwife

Occasionally a book will come along that pulls you in from the very first line and has shaken you by the shoulders before you close the back cover on the last page. Jolina Petersheim has pulled together a story of hope and redemption that tells two stories at the same time. One story is about Beth in the 1990's and the other story is about Rhoda in the current times. Side stories include Amelia, Lyddie, Thom and Meredith, Looper, and Sarah. The trick (not so much a trick, but it is intriguing until the reveal is made) in the two main stories is that Beth and Rhoda are the same person--and there is so much to tell of their stories.

Beth was hired by Thom and Meredith to be a surrogate for their child, a job she was happy to do until the possibility of genetic malformations occurred. Then Meredith especially wanted to terminate the pregnancy for a child she never wanted in the first place. Beth's first instinct is to run to Dry Hollow, Tennessee, to a home for unwed mothers run by Old Order Mennonites. She hides there and becomes the new midwife in the house.

Fast forward eighteen years to when Amelia ends up at the Hopen Haus and all the pieces of the story fall into place and all the parts make a whole. FOR ME, the story seemed disjointed until all the loose ends are tied up, but once everything is revealed, it all makes sense. Jolina has taken the reader on a real roller coaster ride with loops and turns and climbs and dives, and with each element, The Midwife picks up speed and keeps the reader enthralled.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a midwife to deliver your babies.