Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jeannepathfinder's review against another edition
4.0
A solid historical fiction story of Depression era West Virginia. Very interesting, I enjoyed it.
britbloom's review against another edition
3.0
Birth is a mystical experience--life from life. The art of midwifery and women coming together for a birth: this was what I did enjoy about this novel. While I didn't mind reading about the midwife's day to day life in the Appalachia and Great Depression setting, I found the birth sequences more intriguing and never felt like I really connected with any of the main characters. Some say they felt the book bisected and I would agree. Will perhaps return to Hope River in book two at another date.
warrentr8340's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Great read! Different than my usual!
wvalice's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting depiction of life in WV in the depression era as seen through the eyes of a midwife.
slnrreads's review against another edition
5.0
Although simply written, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey this book took me on and am sad to have just finished it. I was pleased to learn the author had 30+ years as a midwife, which validated many of the incidents in the book for me (albeit after the fact). I loved the portrayal of a Depression-era rural community which wove together people, both fictional and actual events, medicine, and politics. It wasn't entirely predictable in that many of the relationships were complex and ultimately this was a story about choices, trust, life and death, community, friendship, politics (race relations), that which we can and can't control, and learning to make the most of things. The author did a wonderful job creating characters and a community that I cared about, while portraying a strong themes of the cycle of life (birth and death) and how each of us deals with struggle (since we all have our share of them). The glimpse into the lives of so many members of the community painted a vivid picture of a midwife's life in a difficult time in our history and was essential in giving the reader a larger picture of the community and their dependence on each other for survival. Many of Patience's observations about relationships resonated with me and I think I will have this book in my head for quite some time.
moeeyc's review against another edition
4.0
This was really a nice story that had been on my kindle forever. The best part is that nothing terrible happens. I really like reading about midwives, but there are some books out there where something awful is a major part of the plot and I take a pass on those. Race relations, the labor movement and poverty are prominent features. I look forward to reading the sequel.
ajunkel's review against another edition
3.0
The best parts of this book were the birth stories, far and away. (Maybe I should just read the author's memoirs?) The current plotline was interesting enough, too, but I have two major complaints. One, the whole semi-criminal background haunting Patience was unnecessary and felt forced. Two, the first-person narration came off really modern - not just her acceptance of issues that have become mainstream in the last 75 years, but her patterns of speaking and thinking. Overall, fine but not great.
dawndigsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Everything was very convenient in this book. Would've liked more depth to the writing and characters.
emdebell's review against another edition
2.0
I should have enjoyed this book - I love stories of midwifery, of the 1920-30s, of small mountain towns, of women and history etc. Unfortunately the writing quality was so poor I almost didn't finish reading it. Not only was it saturated with cliches, but some of the phrases she used weren't anywhere near accurate for the time it was set in (once Patience says "that pisses me off" ...really? in the 30s?) and the conflict/growth was contrived. History was added in a way that spoke more of the author's research than being true to the characters, with the phrase "not many people knew that" used on more than one occasion. The author's choice to write in present tense posed some problems as well. However, if you are mainly interested in reading vivid birth scenes and don't care about writing quality, you may enjoy the book, although even those are rushed and out of place. Overall it was quite shallow and poorly done, failing to evoke any connection with the characters, the setting, the era, or the story.