The Secrets of Midwives

Starred review from December 8, 2014
Hepworth dazzles in this smart and engaging tale of three generations of midwives in Providence, R.I. Telling the story from three points of view—those of her grandmother, Floss; her well-meaning but often overbearing daughter, Grace; and Grace’s reticent daughter, Neva—Hepworth effortlessly switches from the past to the present, moving the story forward while skillfully providing just the right amount of backstory. As the story opens, Neva has just delivered a child at the birthing center she runs—and upon arriving at her grandmother’s home, she spills a pitcher of water, revealing the secret beneath her baggy scrubs: she’s 30 weeks pregnant. Hepworth uses this as a jumping-off point for the many secrets that follow—including one of Floss’s that could tear the family apart. Grace is determined to find out who fathered Neva’s baby, and her insistence makes Neva all the more determined not to tell. Grace herself never had a father, and Floss has never been open with her daughter about the subject. As Neva’s due date approaches, glimpses of Floss’s and Grace’s pasts are interwoven, allowing the reader to empathize with each woman and her decisions. This intelligent, well-plotted debut will draw readers in from the very first word and keep them engaged until the end. First printing: 75,000 copies.

December 15, 2014
Three generations of midwives-daughter, mother and grandmother-harbor the sort of secrets that rearrange the idea of family. Although Neva dines frequently at her grandmother Floss' cottage, both Floss and Neva's mother, Grace, are shocked to discover Neva is seven months pregnant when a spilled pitcher of water reveals her belly. Distress increases when Neva tells them the baby has no father. Floss knows Neva will eventually divulge the truth, but Grace, needy and intrusive, spends much of the novel spying and prodding. There are a few father options: Neva works in a Providence, Rhode Island, birthing center attended by womanizing pediatrician Patrick and a kind (but very married) obstetrician, Sean. There was even a one-night stand with the boring, now engaged, Mark. None are ideal candidates for fatherhood, but Grace can't bear the thought that Neva's baby will grow up fatherless, as she did. And about that-Floss has some secrets of her own. Now living as a lesbian with her partner, Lil, Floss has always told Grace that they left their native England to start anew shortly after Grace's father died. This bears little resemblance to the truth, which nicely unfolds parallel to Neva's story. Meanwhile, Grace, who has a hearty disdain for hospitals and doctors, is being unfairly investigated for negligence, straining her already fragile marriage. Hepworth makes some interesting, though not always successful, choices in her narratives (chapters alternate among Neva, Grace and Floss), painting an irksome portrait of Grace and a rather opaque picture of Neva, whose secret is kept from the reader until the finale. Fans of Call the Midwife will enjoy the vignettes of childbirth and the multigenerational female saga.

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December 1, 2014
Hepworth's promising debut is a chorus in three voices not so much about the consequences of keeping secrets as it is about the cathartic effect of finally airing them. British ex-pat and retired midwife Floss has literally been carrying a dark secret in the front pocket of her purse for 60 years. Granddaughter Neva has been keeping one that's likely to burst upon the scene any time, but she is still playing her cards close to her vest as far as other critical information is concerned. Finally there is Grace, Neva's mother and Floss' daughter, who has her own secret. Tensions build as the future of both the family and Neva's baby depend upon surviving a horrific New England storm. Ah, families, their conflicts made all the more poignant here by the shared profession of the three midwives. One might expect values that include natural childbirth, motherhood, and mother/child bonding would mean something to these women. But Hepworth credibly paints them no less complexly human and contradictory than anybody else in a not altogether estrogen-drenched tale of redemption via truth.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015

Secrets new and old create drama for a family with three generations of midwives. Grace, a second-generation midwife, can't stand secrets--perhaps because unbeknownst to her, one has been haunting her for her entire life. The woman guarding that information is her mother, Floss, also a midwife and now retired. And then there's Grace's daughter, Neva, who has secrets of her own. She is pregnant and although she's getting past the point of being able to hide it, she's determined not to disclose the father's identity. The mystery surrounding Neva's pregnancy prompts Floss to revisit the past and start to consider coming clean. Meanwhile, unforeseen circumstances cause Grace to try her hand at deception. In a family with a talent for concealment as well as midwifery, could it turn out that the truth is as welcome as a newborn? VERDICT Australian Hepworth's debut is deftly told with some historical elements mixed in. This thoughtful intergenerational story will delight readers--especially those who enjoy works exploring the topic of midwifery as in Chris Bohjalian's Midwives and the BBC series Call the Midwife. [See Prepub Alert, 8/18/14.]--Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014

Big in-house excitement will help along this tale of three generations of midwives by Australian author Hepworth. Midwife Neva Bradley refuses to reveal the details of her own pregnancy, which unsettles her mother, Grace, while reminding grandmother Floss of her own situation 60 years previously. And Floss has her own secret that she doesn't want revealed.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.