Bookshelf: The Runaway Midwife

Meet Patricia Harman at Modern Homestead, Saturday, May 6.

Midwife Clara Perry is accustomed to comforting her pregnant patients, calming fathers-to-be as they anxiously await the birth of their children, and ensuring the babies she delivers come safely into this world. But in THE RUNAWAY MIDWIFE, Clara’s mental health has been dangling by a thread since she discovered her husband’s infidelity. Now, as she reels from her best friend’s suicide and the sudden, tragic death of a patient in childbirth, that thread snaps.
Clara does the only thing she can think of: she runs. Leaving without a word to anyone, she crosses the border into Canada and heads for a small, remote island in Lake Erie. On Sea Gull Island, she reinvents herself as Sara Livingston, a writer seeking solitude and peace—but there’s no avoiding the outside world. The residents are friendly and draw “Sara” into their lives and confidences. She volunteers at the local medical clinic using her midwifery skills, and slowly forms a tentative relationship with an enigmatic local police officer. But what will happen if she lets her guard down and reveals her secret?

Amid all the revelations and heartbreaks in store, one lesson becomes clear in THE RUNAWAY MIDWIFE: that the life you never imagined can sometimes prove to be exactly the one you need.