Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

I found this book to be quite the nail biter. It was amazingly written, in the sense that the author would make me think the trial would go one way, then in the next paragraph, have me CONVINCED the trial would take a different turn. Generally speaking, I tend not to prefer books with trials for that reason, because I get consumed with having to know what the verdict is, and I speed through the description of the trial itself, basically not even reading the opening or closing statements. And even though I desperately wanted to know how the trial turned out, the way it was written had me not having the desire to speed read through it.

I really responded to the writing style. Originally, from the way the summary on the back of the book is written, I had assumed the book would start at the scene in question, the home birth gone horribly wrong, and have the whole story just be about the trial, but it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, it was told from the midwife’s daughter’s point of view many years after the trial. So not only was it told from an outsider’s perspective, it also had flashbacks and flash-forwards that really keep you in a close relationship with the characters. By the time the trial rolled around, I had very clear pictures of the characters, their homes, and Vermont in general. I felt like I was in the courtroom with everyone…I could see where everyone was sitting, I could picture the supporting midwives in the back rows of the courtroom, breastfeeding their little ones.

This book also had me thinking about motherhood…as well as the terrifying business of going through labor. There was one quote that really resonated with me, especially in the last year or so. I know a handful of women who are pregnant right now and, along with the birth of my nephew, have really had me thinking about being a mom. Not for at least a few years, but nonetheless. The quote: “Some girls got the nurture bug back when they began puberty, and used baby-sitting as a substitute. Others didn’t discover the desire to mother until they were adults themselves.” I hated babysitting. And I felt very uncomfortable around kids. Which is unfortunate because I worked in a day camp, interned at an elementary school and a preschool, and did babysit. But I’m dying to be around kids and babies now. Yes, it still scares me…kids are so…truthful. It’s amazing how things change, though. No, I have no desire to have my babies at my house…it is all hospital and epidurals for me. But I learned a lot from this book, including the reasons mothers do choose to have their babies without any medical intervention. Power to them, that is the definition of strength.

The next book on my list is East of Eden by John Steinbeck, recommended by my friend Sharon. I have read a book by him before, Of Mice and Men, back in my freshman year of high school. Choosing this novel was also a way to prepare for the book after that, which will be one of the books I was forced to read in high school. I hope this novel will remind me to keep an open mind and not judge a book by a previous grudge.