The Secrets of Midwives

By: Sally Hepworth

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister and The Mother-in-Law with new novel Darling Girls out soon.

In a family of midwives, some secrets are too big to keep hidden ...

Neva Bradley, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy - including the identity of the baby's father - hidden from her family and co-workers for as long as possible.
Her mother, Grace, cannot let this secret rest, even while her own life begins to crumble around her.

For Floss, Neva's grandmother and a retired midwife, Neva's situation thrusts her back 60 years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter's - a secret which, if revealed, will have life-changing consequences for them all.

©2018 Sally Hepworth (P)2018 Macmillan Australia Audio

Critic reviews

"This is women's fiction at its finest...a wonderfully satisfying story...touching, tender, and meticulously researched." (Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies and The Husband's Secret)

"Enchanting...Hepworth's skilful storytelling means past and present flow seamlessly...it's easy to lose yourself in the lives of the three, strong female protagonists." (Daily Telegraph)

"Hepworth illuminates one of the most important moments in a woman's life - when she becomes a mother - and spins a story that will hold you captivated until the end." (Emily Giffin, author of The One and Only)

My favourite book this year.

Beautifully written and read. Three generations of women each with a story to unfold and each character interesting, flawed and perfect.
Wonderful stories of the agony and wonder of childbirth. Life and death. Mother and daughter.
Brilliant narration.

Uterus not stomach!

This is the third book by Sally Hepworth and the other two were great. This really missed the mark for me.
The premise and writing of the book are very simple: of 3 generations of midwives, grandmother and granddaughter, two have secrets.

The granddaughter either doesn’t know much about biology, or is a moron. She’s apparently not heard of birth control, because she finds herself preggers and can’t pinpoint the daddy. Although she is 6 months along and sees her mother and grandmother often, the two older women do not recognize the pregnancy! They all repeatedly call a fetus a baby, but worst of all is the absence of the word “uterus.” Instead, we have babies in stomachs. By page 66 I nearly put the book down because of so many references to the “baby in the stomach” over and over. Stomach. Stomach. Stomach.

The stomach is an organ of digestion. It is not part of the reproductive tract. A fetus is in the uterus. The midwives use other technical terms – cervix, placenta, Braxton-Hicks contractions, vernix, vagina – so why the stomach?

The plot devolves into a protracted “who’s the daddy?” The grandmother’s story is interesting, but I wonder how she can recall, verbatim, conversations from the 1950s? I can’t recall what I said yesterday.

The idea for the book is intriguing, the cover beautiful, but the major flaw is the inconsistency in the level of expertise of the characters. Their ignorance makes the plot fall apart.

I found Alison Larkin annoying with the delivery of the story