The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman

Patience has a much richer history than at first meets the eye, and Harman slowly leads readers into the dark corners of the past that has had her on the run. Patience's frequent calls to attend at births keep up the pace of a book to brisk clip, but in between Harman is hard at work drawing out a complex character in Patience herself. Patience assists with all kinds of births, hurrying off to places unknown at any hour of the day or night, often receiving nothing but gratitude in return for her services during the hard times of the Depression. Some scream and fight against it, others dance with their husbands, nearly carefree until the last moment. Seeing the many ways women cope with the impending birth is fascinating. Patience's adventures as a country midwife give us a cross-section of the population: black, white, rich, poor, young, old, and even Amish. The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman takes us into the 1930s world of Patience Murphy, recently certified midwife, as she attends to a growing number of mothers around her West Virginia home. Overall, 'The Midwife of Hope River' was a gentle, touching story of community, courage, hope and love. Patience found it difficult to survive, often not receiving payment for her work, but I enjoyed learning about how she coped on her property without electricity and other mod cons, her reliance on the seasons, her garden and animals for food, and her battles with social injustice.The growing friendship between Patience and Bitsy, a young Negro woman, was heartwarming as was the blossoming romance between her and Hester, the local vet. The various birthing stories, whether good or bad were, for me, the highlights of this book.I also enjoyed the depiction of life during the Great Depression, especially for a single woman on her own. It didn't matter if the women were rich or poor, black or white, she helped them all, but also knew when to step back and allow the mothers-to-be to labour in the way they wanted to, despite conventions. Patience Murphy was an interesting character and I felt I was there at each birth she attended - the author certainly went into realistic detail! Patience's life was not an easy one as she struggled to bring babies into the world without the help of a doctor or modern technology. Although rather slow in places, I quite enjoyed 'The Midwife of Hope River'.