Review - The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Title: The Midwife's Confession
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Pub Date: April 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Adult Fiction
ISBN: 9780778329862

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Right away I am completely pulled in by the distinct character stories. The PDF file of this book I am reading is a little messed up because every other sentence is cut off and then uses a hyphen to pull it together. Not easy reading. But each chapter is so wonderfully extraordinary and so detailed that though I am confused, I am so much more intrigued.

I have read a few of Diane Chamberlain books before and I love her writing. It is a bit similar to Jodi Picoult in that she has wonderful portrayals of people's in-depth lives. Makes me feel like I am there. Each emotion is so gut wrenching that I can't let go. I refused to put down this book. I know this will be a very late and very long night. The oil will be burning.

My favorite pull in though is Noelle's story and the way her mother tells her unique Lumbee Indian histories and how they intertwine her own ancestry. For example this one tells about the Spanish-moss hung from the cypress trees lining the roads -

A Lumbee Indian Chief's wife had disobeyed him, so he chopped off her hair and tossed it over the branch of a tree, where it grew and multiplied and soon began covering the branches of all the neighboring trees.

Noelle trying to find her place in the world came about on a night when her mother, a midwife of secrecy needed her help.

It takes about four chapters to figure out where this book is going and the connection to each of the characters. Tara is a close friend of Noelle, the woman who commits suicide (as written in the books jacket/summary) and feels that -

It was the jolt to my solar plexus, the realization that the friendship between Emerson, Noelle and myself had been more lopsided than I'd imagined.

Learning each others secrets may be more than they can handle, even together.

I was absolutely and undeniably riveted by this entire book. I could not put it down. In fact, about three quarters of the way through the book they reveal a huge secret twist AND I DID NOT GUESS IT!!! Shocker. So wonderfully delightful . . . though my boss may be concerned when he looks at my time punches only to see my lunches ended up longer than allowed over the past couple of days. Whoops. It was that good.

ABSOLUTELY A FANTASTIC BOOK

Completely looking forward to catching up on other Diane Chamberlain books I have missed.


Book Summary:

“I don’t know how to tell you what I did.”

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her family—described a woman who embraced life.

But they didn’t know everything.

Because the unaddressed letter reveals a terrible secret...and a legacy of guilt that changes everything they thought they knew about the woman who delivered their children. A legacy that will irrevocably change their own lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—forever.

From the bestselling author of The Lies We Told and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes comes a story of deception that asks “How much is too much to forgive?”