Chris Bohjalian has opened up the world of midwives and the battle that went on in the 1970s between doctors who believed it was better for births to occur in a hospital, midwives and number of women who preferred giving birth in their homes.

This is a story of when the unimaginable happens: a woman goes into long and horrible labor during a terrible snow storm. The woman is in trouble but the midwife is unable to rouse a rescue ambulance or drive her to the hospital. The woman apparently dies — or did she? That is the crux on which this story pivots.

How is it for the woman's family, the community and the midwife's family? How do their lives change, particularly for the midwives 14-year-old daughter?

Imagine my conundrum when I completed this excellently written book and had to decide on how to rank it. This was a hard book to read, because of the emotions of the characters and those I felt. How I reacted to the situation made it at once difficult to stop reading and difficult to continue. Now that I have finished it, I still feel as if I can't explain how I was affected by the story, only that it is important to read and to come to grips about how you would feel in any of the major character's shoes — even how you feel just to read it. I think for each reader approaching this book there will be a moment where you ask why you would read this book, and as you read, how would you respond to the situation. I believe that is why it is so powerful. Because in all of us, there has been a time when we have nearly or perhaps had to face a similar situation.

Really a supergreat book. I got sucked in as if by a vaccuum, and spent many nights up later than I should have trying to finish. The suspense was superb, and some of the passages were so well written it was impossible to tell that it was a man trying to write from the point of view of a woman.

Perhaps some of the birthing language was a give-away as far as the author being male - I just don't hear females discussing it the way it was handled in this book, but I can see how men might think women use those phrases..if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about!

Anyway, really great book, awesome how parts of the plot are revealed a little at a time like a multi-course meal at a very ritzy restaurant. I love the flashback POV as well - neat to see it from both the adult and teenager sides. It's a really moving book, and it made me truly think about whether I would like to deliver my hypothetical babies at home (I wouldn't) with a midwife. Not something I'd given much thought to previously, that's for sure!

Complaint corner: I think that the "hippie jargon" in some of Sybil's journal entries were just too much...a bit overdone, if you will. I mean, I get that he was trying to make her seem like an earth mother hippie goddess woman, but she was obviously intelligent and I'm sure she did NOT sound like a stoned teenager when she was speaking....

The end packed quite the punch as well!! Well worth the read.

I hate when I try to rely on Oprah's sense of literary excellence in deciding to read a book. My second favorite book of all time was an Oprah Book Club selection (although the author of "The Corrections", Jonathan Frantzen, tried to avoid that "stigma" as it was the Scarlet Letter of Literary Criticism). If I see another book with that designation, I keep trying to give Oprah a chance to see if Oprah the arbiter's opinion coincides with my idea of what a "goodread" is. And 9 times out of ten, I am usually terribly disappointed. Such is the case with "Midwives", a "story" primarily about a midwife who has a birth go terribly wrong for her, and the subsequent court trial that ensued. The actual description of the problem delivery, and the ensuing trial was, well, meh, okay, I suppose....but the problem with the book was the "backstory" behind the story, which was so convoluted, so lame, that it practically undermined whatever compelling things the novel had to offer.

Absolutely no doubt about this 5-star rating!

The story of a midwife in rural Vermont who goes on trial for causing the death of one of her patients while the patient is delivering a baby sounded interesting on the face of it, but what makes the book truly outstanding is structure in which the book is narrated by the midwife's daughter, who was 14 at the time of her mother's trial. In addition each chapter is prefaced by a short excerpt from the midwife's personal diary. This narration seems so true-to-life that from time to time I had the feeling I was reading nonfiction!

Considered a contemporary classic at 20+ years old, I'm so glad I stumbled upon this one.
A thought provoking read exploring medical, moral, and ethical questions, and the law and order process of a criminal trial. I thought it was excellent, beautifully crafted.
Until I googled the author after finishing the book, I was convinced Chris Bohjalian must be a female author. He is not. I was impressed that he does the narrative voice of 14 year old Connie so well, that he does all things child birth, maternity and midwifery so well. I appreciate how he handled women's issues.

I might warn though, that there is a fair amount of talk of blood, which may not be for everyone.

This story covered the range of emotions for me. At times I was uncomfortable reading certain excerpts and felt kind of "itchy." Other times, it brought me joy and warmth. I rate books on my personal feelings when I have finished, not so much on the story. Books for me are personal. What I like may not be to your liking or maybe it will. That is the glory of reading.

Initially, I had a hard time connecting with the narrator, so the book started off a bit slowly for me. Later on, I really came to enjoy witnessing the complexities of the relationships between all of the adults- Sybil, Rand, Stephen, Asa, and Anne. Seeing it all from Connie's perspective- as someone old enough to make inference from her intuition as a witness to the many exchanges- but not old enough to fully participate, brought a nice twist to the story.

I have to say that I truly was enthralled until the very last page!

This book was all right. The story seemed intriguing at first, but I found myself bored and it didn't keep me motivated to read it. The trial went on and on. Here is a brief synopsis of the book:

On an icy winter night of 1981 in the rustic community of Reddington, Vermont, seasoned midwife Sibyl Danforth is forced to make a life-or-death decision that will change her world forever. Trapped by the weather in an isolated farmhouse, cut off from the hospital or even the emergency squad, she takes desperate measures to save the life of a baby, performing a cesarean section on a woman she believes has died of a stroke during a long and painful labor. But what if the woman was still alive during the surgery? What if Sibyl herself inadvertently killed her? The hair-raising story of Charlotte Bedford's death and of the subsequent trial of Sibyl Danforth is hauntingly told by Sibyl's fourteen-year-old daughter Connie, now an obstetrician. She is remembering, and it is through her intelligent and watchful eyes that we witness the tragic effects of Charlotte's death and Sibyl's trial. And as Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of the medical establishment, and the nagging accusations of her own conscience, we are compelled to confront questions of human responsibility that are fundamental to our society. As with all of the very best novels, Midwives provides no easy answers; rather, it consistently engages, moves, and challenges our ways of thinking.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian is a novel that explored the complexities of moral and ethical decisions, the power of community judgment, and the emotional decisions of life and death decisions. The story is set 1980s around Sibyl Danforth, a midwife performs a delivery that goes wrong. An ice storm, electricity goes out, no phone, in the middle of nowhere rural Vermont. Sibyl is met with a decision that could cost her everything including her freedom. Bohjalian explores issues around midwifery, medical ethics, and the conflict between traditional practices and modern medicine. This well written novel is a fast but emotional read.

Much of this book was about the trial of a midwife who was accused of involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license. I enjoyed reading about the trial and the midwife's thoughts throughout the process. The story was told by the midwife's daughter. I didn't really care for much of the "side" stuff she (well, he if you are talking about the author) had in there. I didn't find her pot smoking and very close relationship with her boyfriend (she was only 13 & 14 through most of the story) appropriate or pertinent to the story.

I read this for a church book group, and I'm very interested to see how other's felt about the story. It probably wasn't an appropriate choice for a church group, but I did find the overall story intriguing.

Throughout the whole story I was hoping that Sybil would be acquitted of the involuntary manslaughter charge. I truly felt that she had preformed the C-section as a noble act to save the baby. I believed that Charlotte was dead when she did the "surgery". Though I would never opt to have children at home, I felt for the midwives and women who were being persecuted for their decision to do so. I thought about how cruel the lawyers seemed, but then decided that the prosecutor truly felt that Sybil had killed Charlotte. Much of what he said came off as an attack on Sybil, but maybe that wasn't wrong as he was just trying to convince the jury that she had killed Charlotte.

I was morally torn by Connie's act to protect her mother, and by the last notebook entry from Sybil. Had Charlotte still been alive? If Sybil noticed anything when she began the C-section, why didn't she stop? Had she stopped, would the baby have also died?

So many unanswered questions--hopefully there will be good discussion at our group this week.

Thought-provoking, intelligent, and honest, this book was a fantastic, fast-paced novel from start to finish. With the right mix of thriller, suspense, and mystery, the intriguing issue of home births and midwifes was dissected at length, and considering Chris Bohjalian is, well, a man, he did an amazing job of understanding the complexities of childbirth and motherhood from a woman's perspective. Unlike Nicholas Sparks' work, none of it felt forced or cliched. This was truly an excellent book.

Onvan : Midwives - Nevisande : Chris Bohjalian - ISBN : 375706771 - ISBN13 : 9780375706776 - Dar 374 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 1997