The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth

The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 320

Publisher - Pan

Source - possibly a gift?

Blurb from Goodreads

A novel about three generations of midwives (a woman, her mother, and her grandmother) and the secrets they keep that push them apart and ultimately bind them together

THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES tells the story of three generations of women devoted to delivering new life into the world—and the secrets they keep that threaten to change their own lives forever. 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, finds it impossible to let this secret rest. 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. Will these women reveal their secrets and deal with the inevitable consequences? Or are some secrets best kept hidden?


My Review

Meet Neva, Grace (Neva's mum) and Floss (Grace's mum) three generations and all of them are midwives. They could not be more different, in personality, in their approach to their job, in their lives and how they interact with each other. Neva is private, contained, calls Grace Grace instead of mum, closer to her dad. Grace is very much loud, about and in among everything and Floss, Floss is 80 and goes with the flow. Family is everything, we all have secrets and some secrets threaten everything we have, know and love.

When Neva announces her pregnancy but states there is no father Grace will stop at nothing to know who is the dad and make sure Neva's baby has a father. Floss finds her granddaughter facing some of the issues she did and bringing back some memories she would much rather leave in the past.

In among all of that we have some glimpses of the actual job of midwives and at least one scene was really heart wrenching, I held my breath whilst reading it. The author creates a fabulous story with family dynamics, friendship, love, secrets, relationships, work ethics and actions and consequences. The women in the story are so different but have similarities and have a strong family unit despite being at arms length. I sank into the story pretty much from the first chapter and couldn't wait to see where it was going. 4/5 for me this time, this is my first time reading this author but it won't be my last!

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