My first choice for reading is never contemporary, but every now and then I am willing to branch out and give a book or a new author a try. I recently was sent
The Mountain Midwife by Laurie Alice Eakes through the Fiction Guild to review and though hesitant about the contemporary setting, I was willing to give it a try.
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About the Book
The Mountain Midwife was released at the end of 2015 into the Inspirational Fiction market as another novel for Laurie Alice Eakes. The Mountain Midwife is a midwife serving her small Appalachian community just as the women in her family have done before her. But she wants something more--she feels she can do them even MORE good if she earns a medical degree! But everything changes one night when a young woman gives birth at Ashley's home and is abducted, right as Ashley is preparing to take the dangerously bleeding woman to the hospital.
Hunter McDermott is a businessman who was thrust into the media thanks to a simple act of kindness that instantly got him world recognition--and a mysterious phone call from a woman claiming to be his mother. Now he's on a question to track down this woman--and it leads him to a midwife in a mountain town.
Ashley and Hunter are thrust together--each trying to solve their own mysteries and at the same time questioning what their dreams truly are for the future.
My Thoughts
First off--the cover! Oh how beautiful! And even more so to me because I have DRIVEN through those gorgeous Appalachian mountains oh so many times since living here in Kentucky. That is exactly what the mountains look like at sunset as you drive through West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee.
The story was very lovely. Both Ashley and Hunter were very developed characters and I liked the way that their storylines came together. I adored the midwife aspect as I have a few friends who are midwives. It was fascinating to see how much Ashley battled even as a midwife when it came to medical treatment for the members of this community.
I think that I can appreciate this story and especially the dialogue between the residents of the community because of where I live. We have hollows just like the area Ashley lives and works in not too far from where I am. People who have only visited a medical doctor of ANY kind a handful of times. The Appalachian mountains runs deep and there are communities just like the the one in the book hidden everywhere. At times, the challenges that Ashley faced might seem unrealistic to anyone who doesn't live in this area--but it really is true. People are very closed minded in many areas around here. Family ties come before anything else. And yes, even some old wives tales.
The book kept my attention throughout and I was eager to see how it would end. I think the story was very well written, and it truly gives people a beautiful glimpse of the area near where I live.
While it's not my favorite book, nor even a top 10 for the year, I think The Mountain Midwife definitely deserves a solid 4 stars for being very well written and interesting. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys inspirational fiction, and especially those interested in the Appalachian area and midwifery.
by Laurie Alice Eakes
ISBN#978-0310333449
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