What I’m Reading: The Reluctant Midwife

Since starting childcare and the move I haven’t been able to listen to many books. I can’t with the kiddos here and my evening time is limited. I did get some speakers rigged up in the laundry room where I have my vintage machine so I am hoping I’ll be able to do more listening as I sew on my Pineapple Crazy blocks. Just like everything else since the move I’m sure my book listening will fall into a new routing.

Today’s book is The Reluctant Midwife: A Hope River Novel by Patricia Harman. I rarely pre-order a book but when I saw this book I immediately went to Audible and pre-ordered it. This book is a sequel to The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel of an American Midwife. I LOVED that book and thought about the characters after the book had ended….I wondered “what they were doing now that the book had ended”. I know that’s crazy but that’s how I know I really liked the book.

If you missed my review of the first book, you can find it here. If you haven’t read the first book and want to just jump into this one, this is a series that you would be able to do that with.

This book moves the story along. The Great Depression has hit and the people are all struggling. Nurse Becky is back and the story focuses around her.

Here’s what Amazon had to say, “The Great Depression has hit West Virginia hard. Men are out of work; women struggle to feed hungry children. Luckily, Nurse Becky Myers has returned to care for them. While she can handle most situations, Becky is still uneasy helping women deliver their babies. For these mothers-to-be, she relies on an experienced midwife, her dear friend Patience Murphy.

Though she is happy to be back in Hope River, time and experience have tempered Becky’s cheerfulness-as tragedy has destroyed the vibrant spirit of her former employer Dr Isaac Blum, who has accompanied her. Patience too has changed. Married and expecting a baby herself, she is relying on Becky to keep the mothers of Hope River safe.

But becoming a midwife and ushering precious new life into the world is not Becky’s only challenge. Her skills and courage will be tested when a calamitous forest fire blazes through a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. And she must find a way to bring Isaac back to life and rediscover the hope they both need to go on.

Full of humor and compassion, The Reluctant Midwife is a moving tribute to the power of optimism and love to overcome the most trying circumstances and times, and is sure to please fans of the poignant Call the Midwife series.”

I loved it. That’s not really a surprise as I expected to. It’s historical fiction. Under dog’s are fighting to better the world under adverse circumstances….all things I love.

Amazon readers say 4.6 stars. I’m going with 4.8…I really liked it.

I do have to say, if you’re on a book budget and haven’t read the first one of the series the book is a bargain at $2.99 for the Kindle version at Amazon. I’m off to pick out a new book….now that I only get a few listened to, I’m much more selective.