I don’t often begin a review with tear-filled eyes but The Midwife’s Promise left me in a huge puddle. Gripped, devastated and heartbroken are just a few words I felt after completing this novel. But I must add, I also was full of hope and uplifted by the release of truth at the end.
Eliza Graham has this way of presenting a story that gently builds inside you and then she suddenly rips that entire world of security out from under your feet in one giant sweep of masterful words! It appears, she is not afraid to share shocking outcomes from traumatising events. True, that is life, and although this is fiction, these horrifying things would have happened in WWII. We get an authentic account of what it could have and would have been like when so many lives were threatened in France by the Nazis. This honest portrayal also seen in her characters— means they feel very real and personal. We feel great sadness for the victims. And tremble at the Nazis’s hate for the Jews and those who tried to help them. The suffering, the fear, the sacrifices, the difficult choices many had to make to survive make us wince. The pull and ties of love between a mother and child and a grandmother and her grandchild are painted in full colour across these pages. What would any mother/grandmother do if we were in the situation of Camille and Sophie? To what lengths would we go to protect our children?
Sophie is a dedicated midwife with an admirable passion to deliver babies safely. Her selfless drive to help others, shines like a beacon in this novel. You can easily put your full trust in her abilities as her movements and knowledge are clearly visible in the tasks she undertakes. She also puts herself at risk many times during the Nazis rule in WWII. Especially to help her daughter whose pregnancy has presented some challenges.
After being in hiding and receiving a note from her daughter, Sophie decides to go to her. This decision leads to good and bad consequences. To be reunited with her daughter and to help her with her delivery brings her great joy but the potential trouble her presence could unleash leaves her in a quandary. A mother’s heart though sometimes overrules reason and Sophie makes the perilous journey. But there are some delays along the way because she meets some people she cannot resist helping. This makes her trip a bit longer but the new friendships she develops will prove beneficial. She eventually reaches her daughter but danger lurks behind closed doors and she must make another difficult decision. I cannot say more or risk revealing the plot. But I will shout the praises of this woman who has such a fierce heart of love that her actions and thoughts made me cry. I was deeply moved by this character. She is not perfect, of course, but as a mother I can relate to her desire to protect, nurture and charge forward with little thought of her own safety to keep her child/grandchildren and any child free from harm.
Besides Sophie’s viewpoint, we also get Camille’s. I like her daughter very much, too. She seems sweet and devoted to her husband who appears to adore her. But the war has created complications in their lives. And it is hard to watch her walk through those moments of uncertainty and fear. She married what seems to be a good French man in the silk industry. But he is involved in some things she has no knowledge of which can mean he is either trying to protect her from the enemy or keep his less than favourable activities under wraps. Is he sympathetic to the Nazis or not? When his family are in danger, we truly discover whose side he is on.
There are two timelines 1944 (France) and 1992 (New England) mostly so Sophie can tell her story. We start with Sophie celebrating her 90th birthday but she has a gift she must give her son. The truth. She cannot hold on any longer to her secrets that she has carried since the war. And these revelations prove powerful and purging. She is advanced in years and needs to unload her burden. Although she has written everything down for him, she feels it is cowardice if she does not tell him in person. Speak the truth and it will set her free. But how will this affect her son?
This is a haunting novel on the unyielding bonds of motherhood. I mean this sincerely, I was deeply affected by this story. There are places in it that made me wince, gasp and tremble. But I think the word that echoes throughout The Midwife’s Promise for me is LOVE. Love that is fierce, unconditional, gripping and eternal. How far will a woman go to hold on to and protect her children and grandchildren? Some will cross rivers, fight demons (or anything evil) and risk everything—even their own safety. This novel represents a powerful statement – that there is an unbreakable thread that binds a parent to their offspring. I highly recommend The Midwife’s Promise but be prepared as this story will make you weep. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for a review copy.
