August 17 Meeting at Sharon's

Responses to The Midwife of Hope River were very positive. We talked about the depression era environment in which Patience lived and worked and how tough it would be to live under those conditions. Several felt that for them the isolation would be the hardest to endure. We felt we learned a lot about midwifery and different approaches used in delivering babies that best fit the individual mother’s needs and comfort level. Some of us have relatives who had their children by midwives and we discussed how the practice is becoming popular again. We were also impressed that the author shared a practice as a nurse-midwife with her ob-gyn husband in Morgantown, WV, until 2003 when the drastic increase in liability insurance forced them to give up deliveries. 

We missed having Drika and Pat join in the discussion with us. Kathy set up a group photo for us to send with a card to Ellen who is recovering from emergency surgery. 
Sharon

Get well soon, Ellen!

 

July 20 Meeting at Pam's

The book for this month was “Woman #17” by Edam Lepucki.  It was about relationships between mothers, daughters and friends.  I think we all agreed the author didn’t really show why the relationship didn’t work.  Lady hires Ester, nickname 5 without really knowing her or checking her qualifications.  I really don’t think most people would do that.  5 has an affair with Lady’s son.  It was hard getting into the characters.  5 and Lady are a bad combination and drink way too much.  I just couldn’t relate to them.  I fixed spaghetti with Italian sausages, hamburger and bacon, tossed salad and fresh baked bread.  Maybe because of all the drinking in the book not much wine was consumed.  We did have a great evening just talking.  It’s a great group of ladies and we always manage to have fun no matter what we’re reading.  
Pam