OR
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Audible sample Sample
The Midwife's Revolt Kindle Edition
On a dark night in 1775, Lizzie Boylston is awakened by the sound of cannons. From a hill south of Boston, she watches as fires burn in Charlestown, in a battle that she soon discovers has claimed her husband’s life.
Alone in a new town, Lizzie grieves privately but takes comfort in her deepening friendship with Abigail Adams. Soon, word spreads of Lizzie’s extraordinary midwifery and healing skills, and she begins to channel her grief into caring for those who need her. But when two traveling patriots are poisoned, Lizzie finds herself with far more complicated matters on her hands—she suspects a political plot intended to harm Abigail and her family. Determined to uncover the truth, Lizzie becomes entangled in a conspiracy that could not only destroy her livelihood—and her chance at finding love again—but also lead to the downfall of a new nation.
Revised edition: This edition of The Midwife's Revolt includes editorial revisions.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLake Union Publishing
- Publication dateApril 7, 2015
- File size4362 KB
Editorial Reviews
Review
From the Inside Flap
About the Author
Jodi Daynard is a writer of fiction, essays, and criticism. Her work has appeared in numerous periodicals, including the New York Times Book Review, the Village Voice, the Paris Review, AGNI, and the New England Review, as well as several anthologies. She is the author of The Place Within: Portraits of the American Landscape by 20 Contemporary Writers and the translator and editor of Gaito Gazdanov’s An Evening with Claire. Daynard’s work has received notable mentions in Best American Essays as well as Pushcart Prize nominations. She has taught writing at Harvard University, at MIT, and in the MFA program at Emerson College.
Jodi Daynard is a writer of fiction, essays, and criticism. Her work has appeared in numerous periodicals, including the New York Times Book Review, the Village Voice, the Paris Review, AGNI, and the New England Review, as well as several anthologies. She is the author of The Place Within: Portraits of the American Landscape by 20 Contemporary Writers and the translator and editor of Gaito Gazdanov’s An Evening with Claire. Daynard’s work has received notable mentions in Best American Essays as well as Pushcart Prize nominations. She has taught writing at Harvard University, at MIT, and in the MFA program at Emerson College.
Product details
- ASIN : B00O4FK87C
- Publisher : Lake Union Publishing (April 7, 2015)
- Publication date : April 7, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 4362 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 427 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #76,554 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #572 in Historical Literary Fiction
- #3,302 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #5,007 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Jodi Daynard is the author of the bestselling trilogy that includes The Midwife’s Revolt, Our Own Country, and A More Perfect Union. Her latest novel, A Transcontinental Affair, was published in November, 2019. She is currently working on her fifth novel.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Midwife is a framed story–starting in the days of the early republic and going back as main character Lizzie Boylston recounts her story to the reader, as if writing a diary. As an aside, this stylistic choice of breaking the 4th wall was sometimes distracting and other times endearing. I’ve read a fair number of diaries by 18th century women, specifically women who experienced the Revolution, and I believe this novel is true to those lives. Friendship and fellowship among women when most of the men were gone was key to their survival and their parts (however small or large) in the Revolution. Daynard excels in portraying these friendships as sisterhoods–Lizzie even counts Abigail Adams as one of her greatest friends and confidants, and it is around her death in which Lizzie frames her tale.
Although these women may seem quite modern to some readers, Daynard, in my opinion, accurately portrays what life was like in that women sometimes acted out of their place, sometimes (perhaps more than people realize, actually!) had pre-marital sex and babies born out of wedlock, sometimes knew a little more about politics than men wanted them to. Often people think of women in this time as obedient and demure, but that was most certainly not the case in all women–just look at Abigail Adams, for starters. Even the diaries of Hannah Callendar Samson and Martha Ballad demonstrate streaks of independence. Speaking of Martha Ballard–it wasn’t until I read the author’s note that I confirmed my inkling that Daynard had indeed read this diary, too. I could tell she had because of the detail she’d injected into Lizzie’s story–for example, if the father of a woman’s baby was unknown, the woman would be asked during her labor (“while in great travail”) as it was thought a woman could not lie while in such great pain. Overall, I greatly appreciated Daynard’s accurate portrayal of women–complex women, during the 18th century.
The narrative was fast-paced; as the novel encompasses 5 years (not counting the framed pieces). The novel was so fast paced, however, that I often found myself wishing it would slow down and expand on a certain scene or characters’ emotion rather than paragraphs of summarization. I’ve had this same qualm with other novels, and I think it really just comes down to stylistic tastes. I greatly prefer living in a scene for a great period of time, to really see and feel everything around me rather than chunks that gloss over events. However, I will say that I think Midwife and the second book in the series, Our Own Country, might have been one novel at one point? I could be wrong about that, but from the description it seems as if these books take place concurrently? Book 2 seems to delve deeper into the summarization of events in Book 1 concerning the character of Eliza. I do intend to read book 2, by the way, and I hope it fills in the gaps of Midwife.
A vivid portrayal of the American Revolution from a unique POV, the author’s research shines through in its extent and wealth of details. The novel portrays the Revolution from the point of view of a local midwife and wannabe spy, giving us an insight into how the regular Joe dealt with this momentous historical event. The role of women in this timeframe, the hardships of civilians just trying to survive, and the roles that well placed spies played all shine through in this novel. This area of the novel will be a treat to any lover of historical fiction.
Believable and well-developed, Lizzie and her family/friends made me feel like I knew them. The author took the time to make the people that inhabit her world have personalities and quirks all their own. I enjoyed the main character Lizzie for the most part; she’s a strong and practical individual who takes life as it comes and tries her best in a harsh world.
However, there were times where she came off as almost stupid and bone-headed in her actions. The main debacle that comes to mind when getting this impression is her inept tries at spying. Her disguises are see-through, her choice of locale for information gathering seemed to come out of the blue, and she’s recognized more than she is not by her targets. She even gets drunk while spying! I mean, really?!? Let’s lose our senses while gathering information on the enemy and trying to disguise our incompetent efforts, sure!
Still, I enjoyed the other portions of the book that showed a seldom seen POV for the Revolution, that of a regular citizen just trying to survive it and make their own small contribution. The author took her time to get the details right, making this a treat for any lover of historical fiction. The characters were strong and vivid; yet, the main character did tend to slide into stupid territory with her spying. Overall, though, still a treat of a book.
Note: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.