The Midwife of Hope River (37 page)

Praise for Patricia Harman's amazing new novel

the
MIDWIFE
of
HOPE RIVER

 

 

 

“
The Midwife of Hope River,
set in Depression-era West Virginia, is still on my mind days after finishing. From start to satisfying conclusion, it is a beautifully imagined novel, a marvel of a debut, rich with fully realized characters and events. This is one I'll read again, more slowly next time.”

—Johanna Moran, author of
The Wives of Henry Oades

“As always when writing of birth, the bleakest of times can be transformed by the power and beauty of birth. Despite the desperate times and the bleak setting of this novel, the moments of joy between new parents and their babies, between the mothers and the midwife, and between the midwife and her young assistant light up the pages. Amen, baby!”

—Penny Armstrong, CNM, author of
A Midwife's Story
and
A Wise Birth

“
The Midwife of Hope River
is a rich and deeply moving book that will pleasantly linger in your thoughts long after you've finished reading it. Smart about the medical details of birth, the book is equally smart about the sustaining power of community, human connectedness, and love. Patricia Harman has created such a striking and original heroine that pregnant women everywhere will be wanting Patience Murphy to deliver
their
babies, while the rest of us would consider ourselves lucky to call her friend.”

—Theresa Brown, author of
Critical Care:
A New Nurse Faces Death, Life and
Everything in Between
and
New York Times
opinion columnist

“Patricia Harman brings her own real-life experience as a midwife in Appalachia to the pages of
The Midwife of Hope River,
set in 1929–1930 West Virginia. I learned, I laughed, I cried, but most of all I was deeply impressed by the artistry of the midwife and her central role in women's lives prior to the advent of commercialized, institutionalized medicine. This novel will live in my heart for years to come.”

—Amy Hill Hearth, author of
Miss Dreamsville
and the Collier County Women's Literary Society

“
The Midwife of Hope River
is a luminous novel of new beginnings, loss, love . . . and yes, hope! Patricia Harman's all-too-human stories of birth mingle with the harsh realities of rural life in the 1930s. As an added bonus, there's plenty here for those who loved
All Creatures Great and Small
! A thoroughly satisfying read by a talented storyteller.”

—Gay Courter, author of the
New York Times
bestsellers
The Midwife
and
The Midwife's Advice

Credits

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover photographs: woman © by David Ridley/Arcangel Images; water © by Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

P.S.
™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE MIDWIFE OF HOPE RIVER.
Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Harman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-219889-1

Epub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062198907

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