The Reluctant Midwife - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

In The Reluctant Midwife, author Patricia Harman tells the story of a nurse during the Great Depression. As I followed the character's struggle to survive in severely depressed West Virginia and care for her ailing former employer (Dr. Blum), I wondered how we would cope if a similar economic catastrophe struck today. I'm afraid we wouldn't have the skills to fare as well people did in the 1930s.

The Reluctant Midwife is divided into five sections: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again. It is Book #2 in the Hope River series and it stands alone. I'm looking forward to reading Book #1 too.

Book Beginning:
Highwayman
"Holy hell, what's this?" I say to Dr. Blum, who doesn't seem to notice the beat-up black DeSoto with a table tied to the top that's pulled over on the side of the road. A young man, wearing a wool plaid jacket, stands on the berm, waving his hat. "Help. Stop!"
     The newspapers warn us about highwaymen out to do no good, robbers who pose as distressed travelers in these hard times, lure do-gooders to help them, and then at gunpoint take all their money and valuables. Slowing, I see a women in the front seat, her feet on the dashboard and her face wild with pain. It's only that face that compels me to stop.

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
"We all have hard lives, Becky. Don't you know that? Sometimes you just have to take your wounded heart out, stitch it up, stuff it back in your chest, and go on ...."

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Amazon Link: The Reluctant Midwife
Length: 432 pages
Author Website: Patricia Harman

Synopsis: The USA Today bestselling author of The Midwife of Hope River returns with a heartfelt sequel, a novel teeming with life and full of humor and warmth, one that celebrates the human spirit.
The Great Depression has hit West Virginia hard. Men are out of work; women struggle to feed hungry children. Luckily, Nurse Becky Myers has returned to care for them. While she can handle most situations, Becky is still uneasy helping women deliver their babies. For these mothers-to-be, she relies on an experienced midwife, her dear friend Patience Murphy.Though she is happy to be back in Hope River, time and experience have tempered Becky’s cheerfulness-as tragedy has destroyed the vibrant spirit of her former employer Dr Isaac Blum, who has accompanied her. Patience too has changed. Married and expecting a baby herself, she is relying on Becky to keep the mothers of Hope River safe.But becoming a midwife and ushering precious new life into the world is not Becky’s only challenge. Her skills and courage will be tested when a calamitous forest fire blazes through a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. And she must find a way to bring Isaac back to life and rediscover the hope they both need to go on.Full of humor and compassion, The Reluctant Midwife is a moving tribute to the power of optimism and love to overcome the most trying circumstances and times, and is sure to please fans of the poignant Call the Midwife series.

                 
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