The Last Midwife

By: Sandra Dallas

Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

Colorado, 1880. Gracy Brookens has delivered hundreds, maybe thousands of babies in her lifetime. The only midwife in a small mining town tucked in the Tenmile Range, Gracy is a gifted and important resource for the women of her hardscrabble community. For years she has advised expectant mothers through their pregnancies, guided them through the tortures of labor, and then helped them heal.

To Gracy, every baby who survived its birth in the Colorado mountains was a miracle, though of course not all of them did, nor did the mothers. Those losses were an ache in her soul, so it was the ones who lived that she always kept in her mind as she set out to coach yet another woman in her delivery. Hers was a position earned through wisdom and trust, and most women in Swandyke wouldn't even think of lying in without Gracy by their sides. But everything changes when a baby is found dead - and the evidence points to Gracy as the killer.

The midwife knows she didn't commit the crime. Swandyke's most influential citizen may be claiming that Gracy strangled his baby boy shortly after birth with a piece of the linen thread she used to tie off the umbilical cord - but of course she'd never do something so ghastly. Ever. But her innocence isn't quite that simple, either.

Gracy knows things, and that's dangerous. Invited into her neighbors' homes during their most intimate times, she couldn't help what she saw or what she heard. A woman sometimes said things in the birthing bed, when life and death seemed suspended within the same moment. Gracy had always tucked those revelations away, even the confessions that had cast shadows on her heart. When a woman paid for Eve's sin through the pain of childbirth, any confession made during the suffering was meant for God's ears, not hers.

With her friends taking sides and a trial looming, Gracy must decide whether it's worth risking everything to prove her innocence. And she knows that her years of discretion may simply demand too high a price now.

©2015 Sandra Dallas (P)2015 Recorded Books

Sandra Dallas Never Fails

Another excellent book by Sandra Dallas. Her characters are always well drawn and plot has just enough of a twist to provide a few surprises.

If you've enjoyed Ms. Dallas' other books, this one will not disappoint. If you've never read her books, this one will be the first of many because you'll want more!

A Good Surprise

You would think by the title this would be a book that women would enjoy and yes, it is. But this is also a book that my husband enjoyed too, and he's a mans man! I loved the time period in history that the story took place the late 1800's. I had no idea how much detail the author would use when talking about delivering babies. Another surprise, it was a story that a family with young teenage kids could listen too (although I don't think they would be interested) and yet I didn't feel cheated by the descriptions and tales of childbirth. The story had a few twists and turns that the listener didn't anticipate. I truly enjoyed this audio book and will look for another by this author. The reader was excellent!! I wear two hearing aids and oft miss the beginnings and endings of words but not in the case of this reader! Even though the changes of voice were subtle between characters it proved to be enough and just right.

Needed a good editor

What disappointed you about The Last Midwife?

the story was painfully redundant

What could Sandra Dallas have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

the author did a great job of describing the characters but it seemed like in order to increase the size of the book, she returned to the same themes repeatedly. if she had said one more time that the protagonist was an important man in town I was going to scream.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed reading about the plights of the women in the town during that time period

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

frustration at its reptitiveness

Another great read!

this marks the finish of my 3rd Sandra Dallas book and I'm just as captivated by these characters as I was with my used copy of The Diary of Mattie Spenser. Anxious to get to the end and see it all put together, I still lingered thru as slowly as I could so as not to come to the end. Ms Dallas has a special gift and I have been blessed to share in it with each book. My only regret is I have to choose one book at a time!

The last midwife

I loved this book. and all the cricks and turns, but the final was a eye opener. how long the suppleness


.

loved it

I am a fan of Sandra Dallas and this book doesn't disappoint. right to the last word... I was hooked

Loved it.

Story was engaging and narrator was a pleasure to listen to. Very pleased with this purchase.

Abortion rationalized.

I would have loved the story if it hadn’t included rationalizing the killing of unwanted babies - over and over! It ruined the story for me.😢

Wow what a great story

I loved the way the story unfolded. The is and down in the life of a family in the community they live in. I would imagine packed in this here would been a story that could have been true.

Slow but decent

I love a good book about a midwife. I had high hopes for this one. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t gripping either. It was very repetitive and predictable. Some places were filled with rich details that ended up being irrelevant. It was just okay, in my opinion.