Midwives is a rich and satisfying read- my second taste of Chris Bohjalian, after the excellent The Guest Room. Sibyl Danforth is a warm, sensible midwife assisting women at home births in Vermont in 1981. One homebirth goes horribly wrong and, unable to get the patient to hospital, Sibyl ends up performing what she believes is a post mortem C-section. But was the mother really dead? The charge of involuntary manslaughter and subsequent trial expose Sibyl and her family to incredible stress. Told from the perspective of her grown up daughter, who was fourteen years old at the time of the trial, this remembering of the darkest and most confronting period of their lives is utterly absorbing. Sibyl has a beautiful grace to her and the gathering of friends and midwives around her in her worst moments speaks volumes about the comfort women give to one another. I especially love the reality check; Sibyl’s husband believes those same women often outstay their welcome and become a major irritant. Midwives is a beautiful examination of how trauma can enter into a life so swiftly and unexpectedly and, even after the crisis is over, the horror of it never really leaves.
