Midwives

After The Lovely Bones I moved on to Midwives by Chris Bohjalian which was lent to me by Amy. This may actually be the first time that I’ve read an official Oprah’s Book Club selection. I’m not saying that there’s anything the matter with it, but it’s interesting to me. In any case, it was good, not great, but a solidly good and interesting novel.

Midwives is the story of Sibyl Danforth, a midwife who is charged with murder after one of her patients dies in childbirth. It’s told through the eyes of Connie, Sibyl’s now adult daughter, as she looks back at the trial and the events leading up to it and tries to make sense of what happened.

There’s not a tremendous amount to analyze about the story. Like I said it was interesting and solidly written. Whether Sibyl should be held responsible for Charlotte’s death is an interesting question, the evidence is put forth slowly throughout the book giving the reader time to decide. I didn’t and still don’t know a tremendous amount about midwifery and enjoyed getting a peek into the world of women who deliver children at home. I thought that all of the characters were well fleshed out, especially Connie, the bewildered teenager, first watching her family fall apart around her and later performing a very daring act to try and protect her mother.

Spoilers Follow

I can’t claim to be any kind of expert on the subject of childbirth, but it did seem to me that Sibyl’s actions were justified. Even though it does appear that Charlotte was likely still alive when the c-section was performed it seems that it came to a choice between saving the child and letting them both die. I felt that ultimately Sibyl was stuck in a series of very unfortunate circumstances.

I have to say I was truly surprised when Sibyl was acquitted, as I’m sure I was supposed to be considering all the buildup leading me towards the opposite conclusion. The device of having Sibyl’s journal entries scattered throughout the story worked very well and the very last one had the appropriate impact and shock value.

Before finishing this I checked an archive of Oprah’s book club selections and found that I’m wrong. To date I have read 4 other book club books: The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, As I Lay Dying by William Falkner, and White Oleander by Janet Fitch. Again, this is not to say that there is anything inherently wrong with Oprah’s book club, I just found it interesting.

Smilin' Des

Yay More Whales!

Beluga Whale at SeaWorld

The Lovely Bones

While I was on vacation I borrowed The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold from Mom. I was intrigued by the book when it came out and even more interested after reading Sebold’s other book Lucky last year. Mom endorsed The Lovely Bones and I borrowed Lucky from Jenny who had borrowed it from Amy.

The Lovely Bones is about a young woman named Susie Salmon. After Susie is raped and murdered she watches her family and friends from heaven as they grieve and attempt to move on. Her father and sister attempt to catch her killer, her mother withdraws, and her brother is too young to understand what has happened.

For the most part I really enjoyed the story. It’s an intense character study that examines the nature and effects of grief. There’s no mystery, we know who killed Susie, but there is still suspense in wondering whether Mr. Harvey will get caught. I loved how realistically each of the family members was drawn. It was amazing watching each of them react to their loss in different ways. Sebold does a wonderful job of painting each person as a three dimensional character, including Mr. Harvey, he is not simply a monster, but a damaged man who I almost, but not quite, felt sorry for.

Spoiler Warning

The only thing that I did not like about the book was towards the end when Susie possesses the body of her friend Ruth and has sex with her childhood sweetheart. I felt like it didn’t fit well with the rest of the story. The lack of sentimentality is one of the major strengths of the book and this scene was awfully trite. That said, I thought the remainder of the book’s conclusion was perfect. Having Susie “kill” Mr. Harvey with an icicle was an excellent way to close his story. It shows a lot of restraint to allow him to disappear and not tie the loose ends too neatly. It was enough for Mr. Salmon to know that he was right.

The Lovely Bones is yet another book that is being made into a movie and interestingly enough Saoirse Ronan, who is playing Lina in City of Ember, is attached to play Susie. There’s a pretty impressive cast attached to the film including Susan Sarandon, Ryan Gosling, Rachel Weisz, and Stanley Tucci. However, what really make me excited is that Peter Jackson is directing. I trust him to do a good job and not turn this well written character study into a Lifetime movie.

I mentioned earlier that reading Sebold’s memoir Lucky is what made me interested in The Lovely Bones. Lucky details the story of her rape and the aftermath as she attempts to recover and move on. I can’t say that I enjoyed it, but it was incredibly moving and beautifully written. However, I have to warn anyone thinking about picking it up that the first chapter is very graphic and disturbing. I don’t want to talk anyone out or reading it because I thought it was amazing, but the reason that Jenny gave it to me to read is that she couldn’t make it past the first couple of pages.

Anyway, I don’t think that it’s necessary to read both, but I do think that they certainly inform each other. I always enjoy reading about writer’s lives to see where real life and fiction overlap. For example reading My Losing Season by Pat Conroy was fascinating since he writes so much from his own experiences. I saw characters in many of the real life people he described and it was interesting to see the real events that are mirrored in his books. Also I’ve mentioned before that I like to read about the writer’s process.

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

No, I haven't read it yet, but seeing Jenny's comment with the number of books on the list that she's read made me wonder what other people's numbers are. As far as I know Jenny, Stephen, Clay (when I remind him to), and Mom are the only people who read this with any regularity, but I'd still like to know. If anyone has figured out how many of the 1001 he or she has read please leave a comment and share. Maybe you can all make me feel sad and inadequate as Jenny did.

Not A Sunset

Corona Del Mar