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I went back and forth with this book. At times I thought it was quite a good read and then other times I was bored for several pages before we got back on topic. Told through the 14 year old daughter's point of view, this is a story about a midwife on trial for manslaughter after performing an "emergency" c-section on what we are to presume is a dead woman. There was a huge sense of mystery in the story of course and at the end a huge lead up to the final jury decision. Was she guilty of performing a c-section on a woman still alive. Alas, the verdict is not that surprising however one missing page from her journal does take us by surprise.
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This "surprise" last chapter somewhat ruined the book for me. If we are to believe that the midwife thought for a moment that the mother was indeed alive when she began the c-section, seriously, shouldn't she have stopped cutting and went in another direction? I have no idea what but I'm not a doctor. But then again, I guess that's the whole point of the story then isn't it? Bottom line IMHO: she should have had the woman go the hospital when the reports of bad weather were out. They live in Vermont. It snows. The roads get icy. Driving in it is dangerous. Why take that chance (of not being able to get to the hospital in an emergency)? So actually, maybe the last chapter didn't ruin it. The whole thing could have been avoided (yes, I realize, no book then) and the woman would probably still been alive.
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This "surprise" last chapter somewhat ruined the book for me. If we are to believe that the midwife thought for a moment that the mother was indeed alive when she began the c-section, seriously, shouldn't she have stopped cutting and went in another direction? I have no idea what but I'm not a doctor. But then again, I guess that's the whole point of the story then isn't it? Bottom line IMHO: she should have had the woman go the hospital when the reports of bad weather were out. They live in Vermont. It snows. The roads get icy. Driving in it is dangerous. Why take that chance (of not being able to get to the hospital in an emergency)? So actually, maybe the last chapter didn't ruin it. The whole thing could have been avoided (yes, I realize, no book then) and the woman would probably still been alive.
