Once a Midwife by Patricia Harman

Once a Midwife by Patricia Harman

William Morrow

November 2018

512 Pages

From the Publisher: 

Welcome back to Hope River in USA Today bestselling author Patricia Harman’s newest novel as midwife Patience Hester, along with her family and friends, face the challenges of the home front during World War II.

The women of Hope River trust midwife Patience Hester, whose skill in delivering babies is known for miles around. But though the Great Depression is behind them, troubles are not, for Europe is at war…and it can only be a matter of time before the U.S. enters the fray.

And while some are eager to join the fight, Patience’s husband, Daniel, is not. Daniel is a patriot—but he saw too much bloodshed during the First World War, and has vowed never to take up arms again.

His stance leaves Patience and their four children vulnerable—to the neighbors who might judge them, and to the government, that imprisons Daniel for his beliefs.

Patience must support their family and fight for her husband’s release despite her own misgivings. And with need greater than ever, she must also keep her practice running during this tumultuous time…relying on generous friends, like Bitsy, who has returned to Hope River, stalwart neighbors, and her own indomitable strength to see them all through.

My Review of Once a Midwife:

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to read as much this year as I normally do. This sad situation is due to my work that entails much technical reading and editing. My TBR pile is outrageous. However, I was glad to be offered the chance to review this book. I previously reviewed a book entitled The Runaway Midwife by Ms. Harman. Once a Midwife was just what I needed to chill out and enjoy something I was reading.

The book is a very sweet novel about family, what makes up a family, and how true that there is no way to avoid suffering and loss in this life, but how important our reactions are to circumstances beyond our control. I knew this book was part of a series, but I really did not look to see if it was a prequel or a sequel or how many books were in this series. After reading Once a Midwife, I realize this is a non-issue. This novel stands well on its own.

Patience and Daniel Hester are married and have their own children, but they have also adopted some young, vulnerable children whose parents died in a terrible fire. The setting of the book is small town West Virginia and the time is just before World War II. Plenty of references to what is going on in Europe and to specifically Nazism and fascism are included. Not only are some of the historical issues faced by America during the late 1930s and early 1940s included, but the book forces one to reflect on current issues. If people would educate themselves on what has happened previously in our nation’s short history, perhaps we could be better able to weather today’s issues more easily. Sadly though, history often repeats itself again and again. 

Aspects of this book that I appreciated were the second marriages of Patience and Daniel and issues with their blended family. Both had been previously happily married and I found their unique relationship refreshing. As the war continued, I thought Ms. Harman’s addition of German POWs in America and these prisoners being put to work something you do not read much about. Even where I live (Dallas, Texas), a POW camp was in an adjacent county during WWII. Ms. Harman also addressed the issue of race. One of Patience’s best friends and co-midwife was a single, African-American younger woman. She had just returned from living in Paris (where life for a black woman was much easier to live versus the US at the time), but then left due to the advances of Hitler and then Germany’s occupation of France. 

Once a Midwife, although set in a rough time in the history of our country, was a delight to read and I appreciate how Ms. Harman addressed a plethora of issues that definitely relate to today’s issues. I felt good after reading this book, as if following your conscience and persevering can result in positive outcomes.

After choosing to receive this book from a list of tours, I received a free copy of this book in paperback in exchange for my honest review.

Important Links for Patricia Harman and Once a Midwife:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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About Patricia Harman:

–author Patricia Harman

Patricia Harman, CNM, got her start as a lay midwife on rural communes and went on to become a nurse-midwife on the faculties of Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University, and West Virginia University. She is the author of two acclaimed memoirs and three novels: the bestselling The Midwife of Hope River, The Reluctant Midwife and The Runaway Midwife. She has three sons and lives near Morgantown, West Virginia.