The Secret Midwife

By: Soraya M. Lane

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

From the bestselling author of The London Girls comes a story of courage and resilience amidst the horror of Auschwitz—and one woman’s last chance to share it with the world.

London, 1995: When on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz a news broadcast runs an appeal for information on the identity of a midwife who saved hundreds of lives, Emilia knows it is time to finally tell her story.

Occupied Poland, 1942: Despite the constant presence of German soldiers in her village, Emilia is allowed certain freedoms as a midwife—the most precious is innocently cycling past Nazi checkpoints to the homes of expectant mothers on her rounds. But Emilia has a secret: for years she’s also been visiting the hidden Jewish mothers and working for the resistance…until she is betrayed.

Suddenly a prisoner of Auschwitz, Emilia is surrounded by horror and despair. When she is put to work as a midwife in the camp, she realises that she has a chance to bring a small glimmer of hope to the pregnant women of Auschwitz. Alongside a brave imprisoned doctor, Aleksy, and an innocent outcast, Lena, she comes up with a dangerous plan. A plan that if discovered could mean a fate far worse than death, but if they act undetected, they could save countless lives…

The Secret Midwife is a work of fiction, but inspired by many real-life accounts of the Polish resistance, the brave doctors, nurses and midwives imprisoned in the camps and those who fought to save as many lives as possible in Poland during World War II.

©2023 Soraya M. Lane (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A guy-punching portrayal of Auschwitz

This book puts brutality and hope side-by-side in a way I won’t soon forget. The narrator does an adequate job, but I would have like to hear more variance with the different characters.

Wow what a story!

This book does a wonderful job of teaching the listener of exactly what people went through during the war to try and maintain a morsel of humanity during extreme barbarism. I appreciate that very much lest we forget all we owe to our forebears.

Historical

Story kept my interest. It reminds us that there are always good people even in difficult times.

The bravery of the Nurses²

The reader was excellent. The story itself was fiction but true to the dedication of nurses to their work and patients. i would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

A Heartbreaking Story

The most well written and important story that I've ever had to force myself to continue listening to. A large part of me did not want to understand the holocaust that intimately, I am ashamed of that. If they could endure it and some survive it and learn to live as good and kind people, then the very, very least I could do is to listen to what they had to teach me. In an extremely painful way I leaned several important lessons that i know have changed some of my previous thinking. I will never forget.

Tragic story

Hard story to read about. Lots of tragic circumstances during WW ll. There were some incredible people that survived the Holocaust.

Amazing story of survival

This was very interesting. I had no idea about the midwife work during that time.

More Than 5 Stars

This was a beautiful yet tragic story. It was good to know at the end that there were real people on whose lives these characters & their actions were based. The characters in this book were beautifully written. In the midst of man’s inhumanity to man there was hope & light. That hope & light survived the most horrible circumstances & the author wrote it well. The narration was perfect. This is a book to listen to a second time just to catch all the nuances missed the first time.

There’s always hope

Wow. So powerful. Was afraid it would be depressing, but it was inspiring to the deepest places. This one gets at ur gut. So wonderfully written, as always is w Soraya Lane. Love her books, the history is packed in there. So many rabbit holes to follow when I finish the story to learn more. How strong these characters- but they feel so real. Felt like I was there. And I get when all else is stripped away, where and how one holds on. Or chooses to let go. We must remember what they went thru, never forget.

Heartbreaking Historical Fiction

I listened to and read this one. usually I just listen in the car, but found myself wanting to know more even though there was very little that wasn't tragic and heartbreaking about this book. The fictional doctors, nurses, and midwives were based on the real life heroes of Auschwitz. The absolute horror that people went through
during this time is so tragic and sad. It is so powerful that despite the horror, so many tried to continue to make the lives of others better.