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A review by jessdone
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison
4.0
I never wrote a review for "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife" because after completing the book I was worn out and conflicted. I'm back a year later after reading the sequel to attempt justice to my thoughts on this work.
First, I recommend the read. There are many concepts to explore that are worth a read. There are several stories and all of them engage. Characters, tension, and plot all work in this book. The style adds to the overall story.
I'm not sure I buy how men are portrayed in these novels and the Mormon community was done a severe disservice with their extended portrayal that discounts many elements of their faith and family bonds. I took exception to a large part of the book because this part was offensive and cliche in all the worst ways. The Book of Etta transforms some of these elements in a way that makes the second book better and highlights how offensive this part is in the first book.
There were a few coincidences that were too much for me. I won't go into detail because it causes spoilers, but I understood that some of them created tragic irony, which I may have felt if I'd liked one of characters involved. As it is, most male characters are so riddled with weakness and lacking will, it's hard to identify with them, a weakness in the book itself as it makes men less human in ways I didn't appreciate.
Despite all else, I identified with the main character and her struggles to be independent and free. How she clings to her past even as she tries to accept her new reality. How she deals with constant abandonment and betrayal but keeps going. She has an indomitable spirit, and I was rooting for her. I understood how she became a lesser God to the community she settled into. It was interesting to see how her life was interpreted a few hundred years later.
First, I recommend the read. There are many concepts to explore that are worth a read. There are several stories and all of them engage. Characters, tension, and plot all work in this book. The style adds to the overall story.
I'm not sure I buy how men are portrayed in these novels and the Mormon community was done a severe disservice with their extended portrayal that discounts many elements of their faith and family bonds. I took exception to a large part of the book because this part was offensive and cliche in all the worst ways. The Book of Etta transforms some of these elements in a way that makes the second book better and highlights how offensive this part is in the first book.
There were a few coincidences that were too much for me. I won't go into detail because it causes spoilers, but I understood that some of them created tragic irony, which I may have felt if I'd liked one of characters involved. As it is, most male characters are so riddled with weakness and lacking will, it's hard to identify with them, a weakness in the book itself as it makes men less human in ways I didn't appreciate.
Despite all else, I identified with the main character and her struggles to be independent and free. How she clings to her past even as she tries to accept her new reality. How she deals with constant abandonment and betrayal but keeps going. She has an indomitable spirit, and I was rooting for her. I understood how she became a lesser God to the community she settled into. It was interesting to see how her life was interpreted a few hundred years later.