Review 644: The Midwife's Revolt

The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This historical fiction book takes place during the American Revolution. The midwife is a newly widowed woman, yet still quite young, lost her very young husband in one of the first battles of the revolution. She now has taken over their farm trying to manage and is a midwife as well.

Lizzie soon has help by Martha and has a dear friend of Abigail Adams. As the war continues, the women are mostly on their own, but not entirely. Lizzie finds herself trying to find out secrets and who is the spy in their community that has claimed two lives already. She dresses as a young man, but the brother of Martha spots her right away. Lizzie already suspected him as being a spy, or at least sympathetic to the British and not the American cause. Tension mounts, and also become romantic.

This is where the book falters a bit for me. Martha already has too much to do with keeping the farm and birthing the multitudes of babies. Funny how many there are with all the men away fighting a war. But adding the spy stuff and a budding romance does add to the plot.

The book takes place over several years and also mentions other of the important early men in American history such as John Quincy Adams, although it is the women that mostly take center stage in this book.

I had bought this and the sequel on a sale many years ago, so may as well continue. There is a third, which I do not own and will have to see how book two goes. If it gets too deep into romance I many have to ditch it.

The author's note is worthwhile to read as it explains what was invented and not. The main character here is the author's creation, but many other aspects of the book is not.