The Midwife of Hope River
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A remarkable new voice in American fiction enchants readers with a moving and uplifting novel that celebrates the miracle of life. In The Midwife of Hope River, first-time novelist Patricia Harmon transports us to poverty stricken Appalachia during the Great Depression years of the 1930s and introduces us to a truly unforgettable heroine. Patience Murphy, a midwife struggling against disease, poverty, and prejudice—and her own haunting past—is a strong and endearing character that fans of the books of Ami McKay and Diane Chamberlain will take into their hearts, as she courageously attempts to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world.
Featured Series
3 primary booksHope River is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2012 with contributions by Patricia Harman.
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So I'm writing this review after finishing the fourth and final book of the series. It is by far my favorite book series, surpassing even my childhood love of Harry Potter.
I come from a small town in WV (and still live in WV) and, as I'm sure many know, the stereotypes and tropes about WV are abundant in nature and that type of thing never gets any easier to read. So when I saw this and learned that it did not paint us in such a negative light, I had to read it!
It was easy to imagine Patience helping deliver someone who could have been my grandmother. My grandmother was born in this same time period to a very poor family and would have traded something in return for a midwife's services. Or the baby could have been my grandfather, one child out of ten, born to a woman who could afford a midwife's services (though barely and probably reluctantly).
Patience's back story was probably a little far fetched, but having grown up in a town actually involved in the Battle of Blair Mountain, I think I was a little more forgiving of such an improbable turn of events.
Is it unreasonable to read a series twice in the same year? Because I'm going to. 2020 has been a rough year, y'all.
