Rating: 
Summary: Best trial law fiction book.
Review: May be the best legal trial book I've ever read. No psychos, no shocking twists and turns. I learned something of midwifery, law, and effective story-telling. Dramatic tension is gained by realism
Rating:
Summary: Midwives-A Novel is a must read
Review: Midwives
A novel
aglae02@yahoo.com This novel is a must read that narrates the case of Sybil Danfoth, a midwife by heart, that attends the childbirth of Charlotte Bedford a cold and stormy winter night in Charlotte's Vermont home. Charlotte is a fragile woman that, although she tries very hard to push, cannot make the baby crown. After hours of trying, Charlotte doesn't have any pulse nor heart bit and Sybil, understanding she is death, performs a cesarean section with a kitchen knife and saves the baby. However, before she does so, she tries to call her backup doctor and an ambulance, but she couldn't get through them. Sybil also tries to get to her station wagon, however the climate doesn't allow her to start it. Here commences the story. The state prosecutes Sibyl Danforth for "involuntary manslaughter", that could send her to jail for one to fifteen years and no more midwifery, do to what the prosecution calls extraordinary negligence of the Midwife and because the prosecution suspects the mother was not death prior to the cesarean section.
So a trial begins and all the prosecution witnesses declare an so do the defense ones. The narrationn in general and specifically of the trial is excellent. However, when Sibyl is cross questioned she gives out a clue that can be horrendous for her defense...and so it goes. The narration of all that happens is done by Sybil's daughter, Connie, a fourteen year old adolescent, in the first person singular, fact that gives an excellent narrative prose. I give 5 stars for believable and credible story.
I give 5 stars for excellent narration.
I give 5 stars cause I couldn't stop reading till the end.
And, above all, I give 5stars to the author, Chris Bohjalian since he must have made a lot of research on trials, midwifery, doctors, obstetrics, among others
Rating: 
Summary: Midwife Insight
Review: Set in rural Vermont in the early 1980s, this book captures events and memories of a period in the narrator's life in which she watched her mother, a midwife, suffer the double-blow of the death of one of her mothers during a birth, and the subsequent trial for which she stands on charges of murder. Sibyl Danforth is a very experience midwife, but the combination of a winter storm that ices the roads and cuts phone service, and a mother in a labor that goes suddenly wrong leads Sibyl to make a very difficult choice. Sure that the mother has died, Sibyl performs an emergency CSection, and in doing so, saves the baby. However, it doesn't take long for questions to arise. Was the mother truly dead? The husband and Sibyl's apprentice think not. The medical community would like nothing better than to discredit the practice of home birth once and for all, and the Danforth family soon find themselves struggling to deal with the possibility that Sibyl will be sent to prison. This is a very emotionally charged subject and was a fascinating look at the somewhat mysterious occupation of midwifery. The author, Chris Bohjahlian, develops the plot and characters with a great deal of careful insight and sensitivity. The perspective of the narrator, in her early teens, is a well chosen aspect from which to deliver this tale, and the closure given at the end of the book was realistic and well written. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Surprise
Review: I picked up this book for something to read while on a ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo during my recent honeymoon (in fact we got back just a few days ago). I *loved!* this book. I kept having to remind myself that it was 1)not about a real person and 2)written by a man! I found another of his books in the airport as we were leaving to come home called Trans-Sister Radio which is also really really good but not as good as Midwives. He captures the souls of his characters and the complexity of their lives. He doesn't tell you, he *shows* you. Totally amazing. I kept it "nice" (I even used a bookmark!) so I could lend it to my close (girl)friends. I even had one friend in mind who I knew would love it before I was even finished with it. Chris Bohjalian is an adept writer who is graceful with words the way ballerinas are with their feet. In a word: Amazing.
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Summary: Quick Read
Review: This book was a fast read, very interesting and thought-provoking. I learned a lot about mid-wives and the birthing process. This isn't the best book I've ever read, but it was definately worth reading. The author has a nice writing style and can tell a story well. I enjoyed all the characters and thought they were interesting/entertaining/heartwarming. Overall, a good book.
Rating:
Summary: A Pageturner
Review: This is a wonderfully written book that kept me engrossed until the final page. Chris Bohjalian was able to introduce the reader to a world most unfamiliar---that of midwifery in a small rural area. That he was able to describe the beauty of childbirth and the sensations that surround it is a credit to him as a writer. I noticed prior to starting the book that he was a man, but while reading it actually forgot and was startled when I took a second look at his picture.
The story is written from the point of view of the midwife's daughter, Connie. Her descriptions of her childhood and her parents and friends made her a very likeable and sympathetic character. She also was very real. Having been a teenage girl at one time myself, I remember the uncertainties felt, the friends that got me through everything. She describes both her parents in a loving way that does not get in the way of the tragedy that occurs when Sybil is delivering a baby and loses the mother. This is a luxury that must have come with her having grown older, certainly she wouldn't have been so mature at 14. While reading about this sad incident, and the storm of controversy that ensues, I found myself very sympathetic for Sybil and her career choice, which she describes as a calling. Here is a woman who clearly does not underestimate the miracle that is childbirth, and has profound love and respect for the women and their bodies as they experience it. It is her attitude towards women and childbirth that make you want her to win against the cold men who obviously must think babies should be delivered on stainless steel gurneys with flourescent lights casting no shadows in a sterile, tiled, faintly green tinged room. The sacrifices Sybil's family make for her are a testament to their love for her. They are treated in kind by a loving group of friends. Almost makes you want to move to the country.
I saw this book compared with "A Map of the World". While the courtroom drama is similar, the overwhelming feeling of sadness that accompanies "A Map of the World" is nonexistent here. Just tension throughout, as I madly turned pages to find out how it would all end.
Rating:
Summary: The art of tension
Review: Like "Memoirs of a Geisha" it is hard to believe this book was written by a man; Chris has an intimate understanding of a world only women experience:childbirth. I was first struck by the abslute genius of the writing in this book. It should be used in writing workshops--the use of tension is maintained right from page one to the last page. Also, a masterful use of first person and multiple periods of time, flashbacks that are not confusing as most writers tend to make them. I found myself really caring about all the characters, except maybe the jerk prosecuting attorney. It also is like "House of Sand and Fog", where no one is really a bad guy, things just turn out miserably for everyone. So here is moral dilemma on many levels: do you save the baby or the mother? do you report your mentor when you believe they have done something unethical, or maybe criminal? is destroying evidence really immoral in all cases? how DO you deal with mistakes that may have cost a life--how do you deal with being responsible for Life?
This novel has none of the prdictablilty that writers like Elizabeth Berg fall prey to in otherwise enjoyable stories.
I'm not sure how some of the other reviewers missed the obvious depth and craft of this novel. Perhaps they Should stick to Dick & Jane. I think this is one of the best novels I've read in many years, and will no doubt remain so for some time.
One caution: do not read this if you are pregnant or contemplating becoming so. The description of labor is an antidote for the population explosion.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very enlightening
Review: This novel is a sad story of an experienced, well-meaning, caring midwife and the death of one of her mothers. Did she make a fatal error or is she the victim of the conservative medical profession? The story is told from the point of view of her 14-year-old daughter, and the author does a good job portraying a young girl on the brink of maturity struggling with the terror of losing her mother to jail for a long time. But the author builds up sympathy for the midwife in a way I found somewhat manipulative. Only through testimony late in the case do we discover that an overwhelming percentage of midwives do not handle home births but choose to practice in what seems to be the best of both worlds--in birthing centers made as warm and welcoming as possible but steps away from the latest medical technology. The author also leads the reader to believe he or she has all the facts, and then we are surprised by a double trick ending. And I wondered why the midwife puts her family through this terrible ordeal given the options she is presented with and her ultimate decisions? I don't want to give away the ending other than to say it left me dissatisfied. The approach to the birth process was also somewhat simplistic and sixty-ish--did the author attempt to fix the problem by setting the story in the early '80's? This is a decent quick read if you're stuck at the airport, but otherwise unremarkable.
Rating: 
Summary: "Ever spent a week in a commune?...Slept in a van?" So?
Review: The plot was intriguing and well set up: a birth goes awry--the mother dies--a midwife is blamed for her death. But, as the book progressed, it turned into a major disappointment. None of the characters are believable and the climax seems rushed. Worse, the "facts" of the story, the basis of the intrigue, are cast into doubt at the end--leaving this reader feeling betrayed. Throughout the story, the author tells us what the characters felt--but there is little in the action or dialogue to support those feelings. Sybil, the midwife, and Stephen, her lawyer, have a romantic attraction in spite of the fact she's married, he's a professional, and there's nothing otherwise in their characters, such as they are, to support the attraction. It just happens. The story moves slowly (except the climax). The dialogue is often stilted, the narration awkward. For example,
"Tom didn't have a car of his own, but an advantage of coming from a family that owned an automotive garage and graveyard was that he always had one at his disposal (214)" I read "Midwives" as part of a book club; in it's defense, everyone else seemed to like it. But I found little to recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: See Chris Write. Write, Chris, Write!
Review: I had never ventured into the realm of Oprah's Book Club, but found this well-worn volume on the public library shelves. The topic intrigued me, so I opened the pages. Alas, this book is written at maybe a 4th grade level -- it grieves me to think of the women who found this to be a powerful read, or a worthy literary effort. I would suggest that these readers begin with Hooked on Phonics. Or Dick and Jane.
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