Thursday, October 9, 2008

Midwife of the Blue Ridge


by Christine Blevins

Life in colonial times was never easy. There was war, hunger, hard work, untreatable health issues that the inhabitants faced daily. Christine Blevins captures the essence of the difficulties of the eighteenth century in her book "Midwife of the Blue Ridge."

Maggie Duncan comes from Scotland as an indentured servant, to escape the hardships of her homeland. She was trained as a midwife at a young age and is a very capable healer. A poor man buys her contract so that his pregnant, ailing wife will stand a chance of living through pregnancy and childbirth. Maggie quickly becomes part of the Martin family and adapts to her life in the colonies with little problem.

This historical novel is a fun adventure for any reader to embark upon; the characters are very alive and their dialogue is enjoyable. The author captivates the reader with the accurate dialect of each individual persona. For instance, while Maggie is on the auction block after reaching America, a rude young man makes a lewd comment to her. Being a somewhat brassy character herself she responds,

"'Ho there! Laddie! Aye, you...' She pointed. 'You wi' the face like a tinker's spotty arse. Here's a sound bit of advice--- best make friends wi' yer fist'--- the girl punctuated her verbal assault with an explicit hand gesture--- 'for it's bound to be yer one true love.' The crowd roared its approval and the heckler slunk away."

The landscape is beautiful. The reader can see the morning mist in the valleys, can experience the color of the trees and flowers. The smell of smoke and the sound of birds readily plays on the reader's senses.

If you enjoyed the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon (and if you haven't read that yet, do so!), you will love "Midwife of the Blue Ridge" just as much. I can only hope Christine Blevins writes a sequel; if she is as smart as she seems from her writing, she will continue the story of Maggie Duncan.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a wonderful summary of the book. I love how just in this short post we are taken away just as if we were reading the book ourselves. And it allows us to get to know the main character and her "brassy" self by giving us a quote from the book that only makes you want more!
Keep them coming!