Annotation
"Superbly crafted and astonishingly powerful. . . . It will thrill readers who cherish their worn copies ofTo Kill A Mockingbird."--People
With a suspense, lyricism, and moral complexity that recallTo Kill a MockingbirdandPresumed Innocent, this compulsively readable novel explores what happens when a woman who has devoted herself to ushering life into the world finds herself charged with responsibility in a patient's tragic death.
The time is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont, for fifteen years. But one treacherous winter night, in a house isolated by icy roads and failed telephone lines, Sibyl takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency Caesarean section on its mother, who appears to have died in labor. But what if--as Sibyl's assistant later charges--the patient wasn't already dead, and it was Sibyl who inadvertently killed her?
As recounted by Sibyl's precocious fourteen-year-old daughter, Connie, the ensuing trial bears the earmarks of a witch hunt except for the fact that all its participants are acting from the highest motives--and the defendant increasingly appears to be guilty. As Sibyl Danforth faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience,Midwivesengages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.
Author Notes
Chris Bohjalian is the author of seven novels, including Trans-Sister Radio, The Law of Similars, Water Witches, and Past the Bleachers. He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.
Characters
| Name | Danforth, Connie |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupations | Midwife |
| Obstetrician/Gynecologist |
| Genre | Legal --Courtroom Domestic Coming of age Fiction |
| Topics | Mothers and daughters First loves Midwifery Childbirth Accidental deaths Medical ethics Murder trials |
| Setting | Vermont |