The Midwife of Hope River

I sometimes feel silly having a blog name “What a Novel Thought” because I haven’t been posting a book reviews lately.  I still love to read but my reading time is drastically lower than I would like it to be meaning it takes longer than it did before kids.

Funny thing is I have been reading and finishing books but haven’t felt anything worth reviewing, which is in itself, silly.  That is what reviews are for, but I still feel bad bashing a book.  I hope that my book will be out there one day and I would be heartbroken if I came across a bad review.  It is an author’s hard work and dedication put between the two covers so I have a hard time publishing my negative review.  I need to get over that.  No matter if a book is stellar or crap, I need to write about it.  That is what I originally wanted this blog, a review of literature.

Midwife of Hope River
by Patricia Harman

I recently finished The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman.  It is about a midwife –go figure- of Hope River -really?- and year in her life just at the start of the Depression.  Right off the bat you can guess some deliveries will get complicated, others easy and that is exactly the case.  Sadly, the variances in deliveries are some of the only intense moments of the story.

If you have EVER wasted time watching Lifetime Movie Network or a movie produced by the Hallmark Channel you could figure out the ENTIRE storyline of this book.  Everything was so cliché and predictable.

– The narrator, being a barren, single female, needs a veterinarian for her sick cow.  The vet happens to be a single man. Can you guess what happens?  They deny their chemistry but have a one night fling later in the story after a she has a bad day and miraculously becomes pregnant.

– Her assistant/housekeeper, who happens to be black, becomes more like family than employee and when the KKK comes to terrorize the two women fight them back and save their house all while wearing flour sacks over their heads so the bad guys don’t know they’re being outsmarted by women.

– Nearly ALL the deliveries are successful, with no tearing.  Not one of complicated pregnancies/deliveries are the midwife’s fault but she is able to save the day no matter what is presented to her.

– It ends with everyone happy and all loose ends tied with a rainbow printed bow.

Every page I turned I could predict what would happen next and I was NEVER wrong.   There were no sharp turns, no cliffhangers, no gasps!  Every manufactured word was expected.  I found myself rolling my eyes which, coincidentally, was a great break from what I was reading.

When it came time to write this review I went to Amazon.com to get some of the book’s basic information and was FLOORED to find reviewers gave it 4.7 out of 5 stars!  I read some of the reviews and most said exactly what I am saying but with more of a positive spin.  That got me thinking.  Yes, it was well written.  Ms. Harman’s writing style is mostly enjoyable.  The characters, although cliché, were likeable.  The setting was interesting and not too overused by other authors.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading this book.  It is okay but just not my cup of tea.  The predictable storyline bothered me but I am not the type to like Lifetime-type movies.  There is a reason Lifetime and Hallmark are successful stations, people like them; just not me.

I don’t typically don’t give my books away but this is one I have no plans of reading again.  If anyone would like to read The Midwife of Hope River I will mail it to you, just let me know what you think of it when you’re done.

To give credit where credit is due, image stolen from Amazon.com.