The Midwife's Choice

Delia Parr is the author of sixteen historical and inspirational historical romance novels, including The Midwife's Tale, Hearts Awakening, Love's First Bloom, and Hidden Affections.  The mother of three grown children, she was a longtime high school teacher in southern New Jersey before retiring to Florida's sunny west coast.  In between visits to her grandchildren in several different states she spends her time writing and volunteering alongside other women who share a bond of sisterhood as sisters of faith.

In a time when the traditional ways of medicine are constantly bein questioned by new doctors fresh from medical school, midwife Martha Cade tries to balance her life's calling with the demands of her family.  Recently reunited with her estranged seventeen-year-old daughter.  Martha finds herself torn between guiding her child and allowing her to be an adult.  At the same time, she must decide whether she'll risk reopening the heart she'd long closed off to love.

Though a small town, Trinity, Pennsylvania, is fraught with secrets, and as a midwife, Martha moves among its people.  She knows which homes are filled with light and live, which families have slipped into grief which wives are unhappy, and which husbands dare to cross lines...As Martha struggles with the conflicts of being a mother, a midwife, and a woman, she learns the greatest lessons of all - that hope can shine even in the darkest hours, and that faith has a way of making the impossible possible.

My Thoughts:
The Midwife's Choice continues the story of midwife Martha Cade which began in the first At Home in Trinity book, The Midwife's Tale.  Both books are the first I have read by Delia Parr.  Parr's character Martha is based on real life heroine Martha Ballard (1785-1812).
Parr writes in such a way that I felt a part of the small town of Trinity.  I especially related to Martha's character as the author skillfully portrays a mother's heart.  The tension within Martha as she wrestles with her calling as a midwife, her role in the small community of Trinity and her role as a mother is palpable throughout the story.  Parr portrays the time period through description and characters so vividly that readers are transported to another time and place.
In The Midwife's Choice, Parr opens up the reader's thinking about midwifery and alternative medicine.  Martha's story will continue in The Midwife's Dilemma releasing March 29, 2016.

*I was given a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennifer