A Midwife's Song of Freedom: Oh Freedom! (Hope River Novel #4) by Patricia Harman

A Midwife’s Song of Freedom: Oh Freedom! (Hope River Novel #4) by Patricia Harman. Flying Squirrel Publishing. November 2019. pb, 478 pp.; ISBN-13: 978-1702575003.

In 1956 the Civil Rights movement is beginning to pick up steam as well as the threats from America’s Cold War with Russia.  Patience and her dear friend Bitsy share the unfolding events, both decrying their ancestral memories of slavery and freedom as well as current events that threaten the stability they have come to know.  Their work as midwives has slowed but is now gaining prominence as the new “painless” childbirth methods often are nothing but drugs and more forceful ways of helping mothers give birth such as the use of forceps to rush delivery of newborn infants.  Women are learning that childbirth may be better when occurring naturally, but the fear of things going wrong gives some expectant mothers trepidation and fear to try the natural method.

While sharing their story, someone drops off on Patience’s porch some journals of Grace Potts, a “white slave” who chronicles her realization that she is owned chattel and her journey to freedom through the Underground Railroad throughout America and into Canada.  It’s an emotionally devastating tale and some of the scenes are sure to haunt readers, but the scenes that she and Bitsy read are real and remind them of the cost of freedom that only fuels their Civil Rights protests and fervor.

However, their children have new problems for the new century.  Patience’s daughter becomes pregnant outside of marriage and her son drinks too much.  Bitsy’s son comes home from the Korean War emotionally hurting.  Both mothers have to and will learn to let their children go to a new freedom where things heal beyond parental patterns and dominance.

So what does one do when freedom is looming on the horizon?  One sings and many of the Civil Rights freedom songs are written, sung and shared by all who yearn for the change of true freedom.  Freedom began in the 19^th century but still has fulfillment to attain. Patricia Harman has deftly and ably presented that journey in a way that is readable, exciting, emotionally riveting and memorable!  Enjoy and look forward to more novels in the Hope River series – both past and those to come soon!  Recommended historical fiction books!!!

The Reluctant Midwife: A Hope River Novel by Patricia Harman

The Reluctant Midwife: A Hope River Novel.  Patricia Harman. Harper Collins Publishers. March 2015. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 978006235824.

Nurse Becky Myers and her former employer, Dr. Isaac Blum, travel back to their origins in a small West Virginia town.  They are almost penniless and Blum bears the appearance of a mentally challenged individual who just stares and is totally dependent on Becky to feed, dress and change him on a daily basis.  Her own marriage has fallen apart as her husband was obviously suffering from what we now know is PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, a violent aftermath of his war experiences.  Later he finds comfort elsewhere and Becky is left with nothing.

Add to this stark scenario the fact that it is the 1930s and the Great Depression in America is at its height when there are no jobs to be had and no food for daily sustenance.  The people in Becky’s world survive by sharing the little they have and the bond that establishes is deeper than even family in many instances.  Becky and Blum find a home in an old home abandoned by Becky’s friend Patience, who is now married and a practicing midwife.  Becky herself is a nurse but dreads practicing childbirth outside of the accepted venue of a hospital and even then she’s not so fond of that part of nursing.  She’s more comfortable assisting Patience as she used to do with Blum.  But necessity will draw out her skills and her ability to do what she hated. 

This is the story of Becky and Blum, who represented a wounded America struggling to survive disaster on a daily basis.  She will deliver children, medicate an asthmatic boy in crisis, set fractured bones and more.  Every scene is exciting, tension-ridden, and laced with first uncertainty and then care and compassion.  Healing is mental and emotional for all involved and even Blum occasionally comes out of his almost catatonic state.

The government, in this devastating time, is providing jobs through the CCC or Civilian Conservation Corps.  They establish camps to which the destitute draw, a motley lot whom Beverly will eventually nurse out of several disasters, including an horrific fire that almost destroys the camp’s buildings and homes of its employees.

The Reluctant Midwife is another Hope River Mystery which immediately engages the reader and is almost impossible to put down.  The town gives more than physical shelter to its residents, including some unsavory characters, and is more about opportunities for more than survival and includes some riveting secrets laced throughout the overriding medical plot.  Very nicely crafted, Patricia Harman and strongly recommended!

The Midwife of Hope River: a Novel of an American Midwife by Patricia Harman

The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel of an American Midwife. Patricia Harman. William Morrow Paperbacks: An Imprint of Harper Collins. August 2012. 400 pages. ISBN #: 9780062198891.

Patience Murphy lives an isolated but adrenaline-kicking lifestyle.  At any time of the day or night, a person might knock on her door or a car pull up into her yard, seeking her very new skills as a midwife to help deliver a baby.  Sometimes everything goes oh so smoothly and yet there's always tension even until that last second when a baby emerges from his or her mother and is found to be healthy and whole when there is equal joy! But frequently, for various reasons, the baby has turned in utero and Patience has a huge challenge to deliver the baby, saving both the baby and its mother's life.  Pay comes in very, very small bills but more likely in the form of food or wood for a fire.  

For the Depression is looming over the entire nation and even the mines in West Virginia have closed or are very close to closing. Patience has wound up in this little country town because she fears the cops are after her, a story that gradually emerges throughout the entire novel.  

A neighboring veterinarian is the first to help Patience albeit after quite a bit of gruffness. But he later turns out to be more than a rough character and becomes a caring friend.  So what's the drama herein?  Could it be the delivering of animal young 'uns as well as human babies?  Could it be when a fierce ice storm glazes the area through which Patience must travel for another birth? Perhaps it's the husband who violently abuses his wife or anyone close enough to his rage?

There are several stories within this obvious surface story.  But the reader finds Patience to be an honest, straight-forward, caring woman who has picked the perfect profession for her and luckily for her patients. Unions and racism are volatile subjects to discuss or be a part of.  Patience, however, is a rebel for the most sincere reasons one would be a viable rebel; she cares more for people, their families, their finances that help them survive, etc. more than greed for more material possessions and more than the hate that turns cowards (KKK) into would-be killers!

The Midwife of Hope River is about second chances and rising above the smallness of those locked in "old time" ways and means! It's about sticking together and needing each other in a truly whole, community style. Nicely done, Ms. Harman!

Arms Wide Open: A Midwife's Journey by Patricia Harman

Arms Wide Open: A Midwife's Journey. Patricia Harman. Beacon Press. April 2011. 324 pp. ISBN #: 9780807001387.

Patricia Harman's second memoir tells the story of her hippie years and later her years as a married woman developing and practicing the science and art of midwifery. For those old enough to remember, we recognize in her character a true hippie who protests the Vietnam war, rejects everything about living a wealthy lifestyle that destroys the environment, and protests any forum that would be considered traditional or conservative. It's a time when draft-dodgers are running to Canada or sticking around to protest not only war but the development of nuclear arms or projects. Yes, the lifestyle is free and the possibilities seem endless!


Patricia Harman performs a wonderful balancing act within this well-crafted memoir! Pages fly by in which the reader seems to be right there with Patricia, Stacy, and her son, Mica, in the wilds of a Minnesota farm, hating and loving the vicious cold and snow in one moment and treasuring the rich colors, flowers, and animals seen in a place far from civilization. Or one is there singing community songs while sharing work and play in good and bad times. It's risky business, however, and the onset of illness and running out of money can turn one's Utopia into a fearful nightmare!

As time passes, the causes' force seems to lose potency, and their commune friends are leaving for other livelier places. But after a painful break with Stacy, Patricia meets Tom, a man who seems more level-headed and whose passion for medicine is equally shared. They both study in their respective fields, with financial help, get married, and begin careers in ob/gyn and midwifery often fraught with problems that could destroy them in the blink of an eye. It's the early days of wanting natural childbirth and many aspiring mothers lack the medical care or intelligence to know both the risks and the benefits of giving birth in such a way. Add to that the obvious opposition of the accepted medical world!

Arms Wide Open...is a well-written, wonderful read that deserves a large audience both for its excellent writing style and for the historical development of an unknown medical phenomenon depicted so intelligently, scientifically, and naturally! Truly Superb, Ms. Harman!