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Book Review: The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Book Review: The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain

I received this book for free from Library for review consideration, opinions expressed are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links as indicated by an asterisk. Purchases from these links provides a small commission to me at no extra cost to you.

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
Publication Date: 2011-04-26
Pages: 417
Format: Paperback
Indie Bookstores | Amazon
Goodreads
five-stars

I loved the characters & felt a sense of loss when I finished the book. Excellent read.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“Dear Anna,
What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I’m so sorry-

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle – her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family – described a woman who embraced life.

Yet there was so much they didn’t know.

With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle’s friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives – and the life of a desperate stranger – with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.”

My Thoughts:

This is the 3rd Diane Chamberlain book I have read and my favorite so far (and I loved the others too). Diane is a master of suspense and leaving me at the edge of my seat at the end of each chapter. Although I don’t usually skip ahead or read the end first, I absolutely did have to skip to the “confession” when the chapter suddenly ended and then back track. There were many moments when I had to reread it, where I thought to myself, no way… did I really read that right?

This story is about a midwife with some pretty terrible secrets that’s she’s keeping from her best friends. Only after her suicide do they learn about her past and what drove her to take her life.

Diane develops the characters so well and it makes me feel like I am right there experiencing their joys and sorrows with them. As another reviewer had said, you get so enthralled with the characters and the story that you miss them when you are done reading it. That is what is plaguing me now. The excitement of reading this book (in 2 days, a new speed record for me) and then the sense of loss when it’s done. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and although I usually read just before bed, I found myself trying to steal moments during the day to read. Reading was supposed to be my tool to help me get to sleep, but not Diane’s books…I keep wanting to stay up late to finish it cause I can’t put it down! If I didn’t have to wake up with kids at the crack of dawn (ok, 6:30 am but that’s plenty early), I would have finished it all in one night. This book really had me hooked.

Wow, all I can say is wow. This book had everything, devoted friends, joys and stresses of motherhood, death, childhood illness, longing, betrayal, secrets, oh so many secrets….and the strength of some incredible women. Good thing Diane has plenty of books I have not yet read, she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Favorite Quotes:

“Sometimes it was hard to express how much you loved someone. You said the words, but you could never quite capture the depth of it. You could never quite hold someone tightly enough.”

“If you have a friend, a good friend, a woman you love, and you learn she’s done something abominable, do you stop loving her?”

“The box was beginning to feel like another person in my house, a person with too much power for the space she took up.”

 

What books have you read that you missed the characters when you were done reading? As always, happy reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Diane Chamberlain

From Goodreads: “I’m the author of 22 novels published in more than eleven languages. I like to write complex stories about relationships between men and women, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and friends. Although the thematic focus of my books often revolves around family, love, compassion and forgiveness, my stories usually feature a combination of suspense, mystery and intrigue.

I live in North Carolina with my significant other, photographer John Pagliuca, and my shelties, Keeper and Cole–the only non-reading members of the household!

Please visit my website and blog. I look forward to seeing you there!”

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