Book description
As a midwife working in rural poverty during the Depression,
Patience Murphy's only solace is her gift: the chance to escort
mothers through the challenges of childbirth. Just beginning, she
takes on the jobs no one else wants: those most in need-and least
likely to pay. Patience is willing to do what it takes to fulfil her
mentor's wishes, but starting a midwife practice means gaining trust,
and Patience's secrets won't allow her to let anyone in. The Midwife
of Hope River beats with authenticity as Patience faces seemingly
insurmountable conditions: disease, poverty, and prejudices threaten
at every turn. From the dangerous mines of West Virginia to the
terrifying attentions of the Ku Klux Klan, Patience must strive to
bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world.
Patricia Harman, CNM, is a regular presenter at national
midwifery conferences. Harman got her start as a lay-midwife on the
rural communes where she lived in the '60s and '70s, going on to
become a nurse-midwife on the faculty of Ohio State University, Case
Western Reserve University, and West Virginia University. She lives
and works near Morgantown, West Virginia, and has three sons. A debut
novelist, she has published two acclaimed memoirs.
