I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did simply because it was an Oprah pick. I haven't had the best of luck with those for some reason. But having read one other book by Bohjalian I felt it had a better chance at being pretty good. And he did not disappoint he is such a meticulous writer ! It was tough to put this one down ~ I'm glad I've picked up more of his books.

Midwives goes into detail about the practice of midwifery, following Sibyl Danforth as she catches babies. Sibyl's 14 year daughter, Connie tells the story of a home birth gone terribly wrong. What really happened to Charlotte bedford? Did she die on her own, or was still alive when Sibyl tried to save the baby??

This book started out extremely strong for me. I didn't want to put it down and the content was really interesting to me. Each chapter started out with an excerpt from Sibyl's journals, and then the rest of the book was from Connies 14 yr old perspective. Connie is telling the story from present day, which is surprisingly easy to follow and the novel is fluid.

The reason that this is only garnering 3 stars is for the fact that I felt that the middle of the book seemed to drag on too long, and I personally felt like it made the ending less climatic.

A very enjoyable novel. The author obviously did a thorough research on the topic of midwifery. Such a remarkable story.