- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Pocket Books (3 Sep 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 184739339X
- ISBN-13: 978-1847393395
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 19.9 x 2.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (245 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 32,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Midwives, Chris Bohjalian's fifth novel, is the story of Sibyl Danforth, a lay midwife in rural Vermont, and her daughter, Connie. The nexus of this cautionary tale is an emergency Caesarean section Sibyl performs during a home birth that goes disastrously wrong. Believing the mother is already dead from a stroke, Sibyl operates and later finds herself on trial for killing the woman. The compelling story of her trial and its aftermath comes to us from Connie, who believes "this is my story, too." In fact, Connie's reaction to her mother's ordeal is to go to medical school and become an obstetrician. The book raises provocative issues about medical ethics and the limits of risk.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
On an icy winter night in an isolated house in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency caesarean section on a mother she believes has died of a stroke. But what if Sibyl's patient wasn't dead - and Sibyl inadvertently killed her? As Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This beautifully crafted novel is set in 1981 when a midwife, leading an otherwise uncomplicated and simple life with her husband and daughter in rural Vermont, is thrust into a legal, moral, political, and ethical nightmare. It evolves around a split second decision made in a life and death situation and the aftermath of that decision.
An experienced and respected midwife, Sibyl Danforth, attends a woman during a home birth. When she realizes that dangerous complications have set in, she tries to call for help in vain, as a severe ice storm has knocked out the phone lines. An attempt to drive the expectant mother to a hospital only results in the car being wedged into an icy snowbank, as travel conditions were impossible.
Trapped in this isolated home with a physically fragile, expectant mother in the throes of a labor that will not bear fruit, Sybil struggles to do the best that she can. Unfortunately, her best is just not good enough, given the complications that had set in, and the expectant mother appears to succumb to the ravages of a laborious childbirth.
Under the belief that the expectant mother had died, Sibyl performs an emergency caesarean section in an effort to save the unborn child. She successfully does so, presenting the stricken husband with an infant son. Yet, the next day, her assistant, Anne, who had been present throughout the ordeal, denounces Sibyl to the authorities, claiming that the expectant mother had, in fact, been alive, when Sibyl had commenced the caesarean. Consequently, Sibyl is charged with manslaughter, and the political winds blown by the traditional medical establishment, as well as that of the legal system, threaten to tear asunder all that she holds dear.
The story of this event, its aftermath, and the impact it had on many lives, is told through the eyes of Sibyl's daughter who had been a young teenager at the time of the incident, and through the pages of Sibyl's journal. The book takes the reader through a number of moral dilemmas for Sibyl, as well as for her daughter who is forced to come of age during this time of trial and tribulation for her family. Absorbing and often surprising, this sensitively wrought novel is a well nuanced literary gem from a gifted writer.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the best books I have read in years. Gripping throughout, accessible, and well written. reasonably short, so you do not need to invest a month of your life finding out what happens. Unexpected ending, but perfect. Read and enjoy!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thought this was a thought-provoking, exciting story - couldn't put it down. At the risk of sounding sexist, I was impressed that a man had written this. This is the first book I have read by this author and I am now about to search for his others.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Too much court room action
I enjoyed the central precept of this book - what if a midwife were to perform a ceasarian on a mother, thinking her dead at the time, but then discover that there may be some... Read more
Published 2 months ago by DubaiReader
Amazing
This book is amazing, it is impossible to put it down once you have started reading it. I read this over 18 months ago but still remember the story and the characters vividly and... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Daniella
A Fabulous Fable
A brilliant book. Delivered in that same cool, compelling New England tone that made 'The Secret History' such a page-turner, this novel tells the story of a midwife on trial for... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Frootle
Amazing
A brilliant book, Mr Bohjailin has really done his homework. The characters are very tenderly drawn, the scenes are beautifully described, the plot is absorbing and exciting : i... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Snail
Good holiday read
I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I bathed in the glorious Turkish sunshine. Had I read it at home I might have picked holes in some of the plot but being totally relaxed made me... Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. Liveing
One of the most moving stories I can remember
Whilst this is fiction I believe the prejudice in America against "non qualified" midwives by the recognised medical profession is founded. Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by LadyJ
Enjoyable but lacks an authenitc voice
I enjoyed this story and unlike others did not find it dull. I thought it well paced and although the reader knows at the beginning what happens (the mother's death in childbirth)... Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by Julie Fisher
Nowhere near 'To Kill A Mockingbird'
If you say something is akin to 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (which the cover of this did) then it had better be an awesome book, because you can't compare to that lightly. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2009 by NB
Boring!
Too long winded and poor narrative. It just kept going on and on. The first third was fabulous and I was so pleased I picked it up then once the trial started I simply lost... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2007 by SJSmith
What would you have done in Sibyl's place?
A very entertaining book, speaking of a series of difficult decisions to be taken in a split second and against a further series of negative circumstances surrounding the... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2007 by I LOVE BOOKS
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