The Last Midwife

By: Sandra Dallas

Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon

Colorado, 1880. Gracy Brookens has delivered hundreds, maybe thousands of babies in her lifetime. The only midwife in a small mining town tucked in the Tenmile Range, Gracy is a gifted and important resource for the women of her hardscrabble community. For years she has advised expectant mothers through their pregnancies, guided them through the tortures of labor, and then helped them heal.

To Gracy, every baby who survived its birth in the Colorado mountains was a miracle, though of course not all of them did, nor did the mothers. Those losses were an ache in her soul, so it was the ones who lived that she always kept in her mind as she set out to coach yet another woman in her delivery. Hers was a position earned through wisdom and trust, and most women in Swandyke wouldn't even think of lying in without Gracy by their sides. But everything changes when a baby is found dead - and the evidence points to Gracy as the killer.

The midwife knows she didn't commit the crime. Swandyke's most influential citizen may be claiming that Gracy strangled his baby boy shortly after birth with a piece of the linen thread she used to tie off the umbilical cord - but of course she'd never do something so ghastly. Ever. But her innocence isn't quite that simple, either.

Gracy knows things, and that's dangerous. Invited into her neighbors' homes during their most intimate times, she couldn't help what she saw or what she heard. A woman sometimes said things in the birthing bed, when life and death seemed suspended within the same moment. Gracy had always tucked those revelations away, even the confessions that had cast shadows on her heart. When a woman paid for Eve's sin through the pain of childbirth, any confession made during the suffering was meant for God's ears, not hers.

With her friends taking sides and a trial looming, Gracy must decide whether it's worth risking everything to prove her innocence. And she knows that her years of discretion may simply demand too high a price now.

©2015 Sandra Dallas (P)2015 Recorded Books

Well worth your time.

Well written and performed by the reader. Held my interest through out and had an unexpected twist at the end.

Excellent story

Wonderful book, well written, well read. I usually listen to audible books in the car and there were times that I didn’t want to turn the car off.

Great book!

Lists of twists and turns. Could hardly stop listening!!
Well done! The characters are awesome and this is a must listen/read.

Interesting to the last paragraph.

Enjoyed the story and the characters. Each chapter added to the revelations of the character of each story role.

Great Story

I loved every minute of this book!! Good all the way around. I will look for more of this author's work.1

Great Book - Well written and Performed

I loved the storyline. I didn’t like how long it took to “get to the point” throughout the book. Both my husband and I listened to this book together. I was amused at how much he loved the last two chapters and ending. The person who read the book was excellent and we highly recommend books by Sandra Dallas.

The last midwife

I loved this book. and all the cricks and turns, but the final was a eye opener. how long the suppleness


.

Sandra Dallas Always Delivers

Sandra Dallas provides a glimpse of the past, while spinning tales of bygone people and the hardships they faced. Her books are always engaging and hard to put down.

Delightful!

As always this book is one I don’t want to put down. The narrative is exciting and the descriptions on the seasons in the
Mountains draw beautiful pictures. I try to read all of her books and I am never disappointed

A riveting story

The last Midwife depicted the challenges of being a midwife in the 1800’s and showed the dedication, courage and love midwives have for the women and the babies they help. It also showed the challenges women faced when treated as second class citizens.