The Reluctant Midwife: A Hope River Novel

A wholesome and hopeful story. I was a nurse for 46 years which is why this book appealed to me. My parents were from a Wisconsin farming community and I spent many summer's on my grandparents farm. They lived a simple beautiful life. The house had only electricity, a wood stove and a pump for water. Church and community was palpable. In these times I wish people could see that we all are equal and love, care and help each other. This story was so heart warming.

...how to heal from the great hurts that come to all of us in this life. The brain reacts to emotional pain in various ways. We just don't know what way that will be.During the great depression, many people starved to death, committed suicide, or went crazy. But in this story, people took care of each other. This is the best way to survive.This review is short. Hope you are encouraged to read this book! I am very glad I did!!

Set during the Great Depression in West Virginia the story turns from Patience Hester in the first book to Nurse Becky who is the reluctant midwife of the title. I learned about the Civilian Conservation Corps. This story was less about midwifery and race, and more about healing deep emotional wounds.

The Reluctant Midwife is a heartwarming and engaging novel by Patricia Harman, set in the same location and era as her fiction debut, The Midwife of Hope River.Penniless, homeless and the sole carer of her inexplicably catatonic ex-employer, Dr Isaac Blum, nurse Becky Myers is in desperate straits by the time she arrives in Hope River, rural West Virgina. It is the 1930's, times are tough for everyone, and with few options, Becky is forced to figure out a way to support herself and Blum.Harman effortlessly evokes the era in which The Reluctant Midwife is set. The focus is on the challenges of the Great Depression, in rural areas unemployment rose to around 80% leaving hundreds of thousands of people struggling to survive.With a little luck and hard work, Becky finds a way to eke out a living as the Depression ravages the country. Though initially forced to rely on the generosity of friends and neighbours, she delivers groceries, reluctantly assists the local midwife Patience Murphy, and becomes a part time staff nurse at a nearby Civilian Conservation Corps camp.Characterisation is a real strength of Harman's writing. Becky is not a saint, she can be uptight and prideful, she is often frustrated by Blum's non responsiveness and resents having to work as a midwife when the whole notion of childbirth horrifies her, however it is difficult to fault her drive to better her circumstances. I really enjoyed the way her hard edges softened over the course of the novel.Readers familiar with The Midwife of Hope River may remember Dr Blum as an arrogant and cold man. His unexplained catonia was precipitated by the death of his wife, and he is now a pitiful man but his silence also hides a secret.I loved reconnecting with Patience Murphy, Hope River's sole midwife, now married to the 'new' vet, Daniel Hester and the mother of a young son, but even more minor characters, like Nico and Captain Wolfe are well drawn and believable.The Reluctant Midwife is a captivating story of hardship, loss, friendship, and hope. Though its not necessary to have read The Midwife of Hope River to enjoy The Reluctant Midwife, I would recommend it, simply because it too is a wonderful story.

This was such a good book I enjoyed reading it over again. Set in the tiny town of Hope River in West Virginia during the Great Depression. Nurse Becky Myers and the physician for whom she worked, Isaac Blum, are in desperate straits. He's catatonic from psychological trauma and has lost his home and his practice. His family has abandoned him, so Becky is stuck with him. He's a good man, but she's only taking care of him because what else does a decent woman do? But the man can't even brush his own teeth. They barely make it back to Hope River on their last tank of gas, in the car that represents all their worldly belongings. All around her is poverty and destitution. She finds a little work assisting her friend Patience, a midwife, while caring for Isaac. There are improvements and setbacks, and the kindness of people in a small town looking out for each other, although there is nothing saccharine about this story.The challenges she and the local people face are formidable. Death, poverty, starvation...and yet, there's so much goodness, and a happy ending, too. A lovely story by a gifted author.

Great

The Reluctant Midwife is an engaging and utterly fascinating historical fiction novel that takes place in West Virginia, during the Great Depression.Nurse Becky Myers had worked with Dr. Isaac Blum for seven years before she ended up becoming his caregiver. Instead of continuing with his life’s work, Dr. Blum withdrew into a catatonic state, when his wife suffered a tragic death. Becky’s anger and frustration with the catatonic doctor mushroomed after she ran out of money and became homeless. Thankfully an old friend, Patience Hester, the Midwife for Hope River and her husband Daniel, a Veterinarian, took Becky, and Isaac under their wing.I first met Becky Myers and Dr. Isaac Blum in The Midwife of Hope River, Patricia Harman’s first book in this series. They were secondary characters in that book, and not very nice ones at that. Isaac Blum was an arrogant doctor and Becky was a prideful nurse. In this second book of the series, The Reluctant Midwife, Becky shows her courage by putting on a brave front and helping Patience with her Midwifery practice. She also begins to develop genuine empathy for women in labor. Both Dr. Blum and Becky are humbled, during this dark time in their life; and as a result, they develop a deep compassion for others. I didn’t think that the two would ever win me over, but they did.I found The Reluctant Midwife to be a compelling and engaging read. The book is crafted, with so many vivid and authentic details, that I couldn’t help but feel part of the story.I loved this book and highly recommend giving it a read.

Love this book and the rest of the midwife series. The history of those days puts this novel into perspective. Not only suffering for many different ethnicities but how they worked together to make someone elses hardships a little easier.

I found this book very entertaining could not have put it down till it was finished I enjoyed stories about medical issues and this one kept me entertained and wanting more

Another great book by Patricia Harman. I have been looking forward to reading the whole series again before each new book.

Interesting story, great characters, From a pregnancy/delivery/birth experience point of view very interesting too. The old ways are the best and we are very lucky to have the modern technology when we need it but childirth is about the woman's experience, the beautiful babies and the women who support them (and of course the Dads, hot water fetchers and tea makers!) The author is a trained midwife too so really has the accuracy angle that made these stories so real. TOP READ!!

In these days of recession it is nice to read abt the Great Depression. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another book by the same author