Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Harvest House Publishers (2011), 324 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Romance. Christian Fiction. HTML:A dusty carved box containing two locks of hair and a century-old letter regarding property in Switzerland, and a burning desire to learn about her biological family lead nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. There she meets Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who desperately needs help after an Amish client and her baby die. Lexie steps in to assume Marta's patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demut, which means "to let be" as she changes from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God. A compelling story about a search for identity and the ability to trust that God securely holds our whole life—past, present, and future.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member wearylibrarian
Lexie knows she was adopted as a baby, but that is all she knows. After her father dies she decides to travel to Pennsylvania to find the truth about her adoption-something no one is willing to talk about.
A great story with a surprise twist.
A great story with a surprise twist.
LibraryThing member BeckyFitz
Good, Amish/Christian romance novel. A good window into the Amish community.
LibraryThing member Quiltinfun06
The Amish Midwife was a pleasant surprise. I expected a nice book with a nice little story something enjoyable to read. What I found was the story of a personal journey taken by Lexie a child that was adopted by a family in Oregon. Now at the time of her Dad's passing, Lexie is even more interested
She goes to Lancaster in search of her story but what she finds is more than family. She discovers the meaning of family, the importance of faith and the power of love. While I didn't always agree with how Lexie went about getting the answers she wanted; I appreciated the fact that she desperately need to get to the truth.
I enjoy reading about the Amish culture. The Amish Midwife encompassed so much more than just Amish culture. It brings awareness to adoption and adoptees and how the process changes so many lives.
I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been affected by a secret, kept a secret or told a secret.
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in finding her "story".She goes to Lancaster in search of her story but what she finds is more than family. She discovers the meaning of family, the importance of faith and the power of love. While I didn't always agree with how Lexie went about getting the answers she wanted; I appreciated the fact that she desperately need to get to the truth.
I enjoy reading about the Amish culture. The Amish Midwife encompassed so much more than just Amish culture. It brings awareness to adoption and adoptees and how the process changes so many lives.
I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been affected by a secret, kept a secret or told a secret.
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LibraryThing member mrsjason
I shouldn't have been surprised at how much I enjoy this book. Every Mindy Starns Clark book that I've read includes such a good mystery story that I find myself completely sucked in as I try to solve it along with the characters. Lexie's search to find out what happened to her birth mother is
Interestingly this is the second book recently that I have read that deals with the practice of being a midwife. I don't have any desire to be one and I will probably end up going to the hospital if/when my time comes but I do find learning about the practice to be fascinating. Unlike a previous book that I read that didn't really talk about the practice even though the main character was a midwife, this book goes into a lot of detail about the hardships and joys of helping women in labor. While much is spent on the characters being happy to help the women, there are also the legal ramifications that come into play and also that those who do go to hospitals are not shown in a bad light.
I only had two qualms while reading. One is that there were times I felt Lexie to be a bit ignorant or just not very socially adapt. The beginning of her story found me annoyed with her by her actions of lack of not knowing things that I would have thought, by her heritage, she should have known. However as the story progressed her character began to change and therefore became more likable for me. The other is the title of this book and I how I feel it's being marketed. The title implies that Lexie is a midwife that is Amish. However she is Mennonite and most of the people who she has direct contact with are Mennonite. Yes, she does go out to the Amish and is a midwife to some of them but that are not all that she helps. However neither the summary nor the cover gives this distinction and along with the title, a reader would think that the book is just another Amish story. I'm just hear to tell you that it is not. For those of you who are worried that the Amish lifestyle is romanticized or idealized, Clark and Gould do not do this. The mystery and the midwife practicing are more of the focus of the story and just happen to have it set in Amish country.
Other than this, the story is an absolute gem. It's a lot of fun to read and very informative about midwifery and adoption practices as well. Clark's mystery/suspense is top notch and Gould's characterizations work well. Even if you're not an Amish fan, I still think that this book can be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with the lifestyle. I'll be looking forward to future books in the series.
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intriguing as she discovers all sorts of secrets about her birth family. There's a lot of digging deep and bringing up hurt, lies and jealously. It doesn't end up happily but I actually really enjoyed that a lot more than if everyone ended up with hugs and kisses. I felt as frustrated as Lexie did with reading at all the road blocks she kept coming across during her search due the adoption process. I realize that there are legal issues but it seems that it's not fair for an adult to not be able to just find their birth parents even though the information is there.Interestingly this is the second book recently that I have read that deals with the practice of being a midwife. I don't have any desire to be one and I will probably end up going to the hospital if/when my time comes but I do find learning about the practice to be fascinating. Unlike a previous book that I read that didn't really talk about the practice even though the main character was a midwife, this book goes into a lot of detail about the hardships and joys of helping women in labor. While much is spent on the characters being happy to help the women, there are also the legal ramifications that come into play and also that those who do go to hospitals are not shown in a bad light.
I only had two qualms while reading. One is that there were times I felt Lexie to be a bit ignorant or just not very socially adapt. The beginning of her story found me annoyed with her by her actions of lack of not knowing things that I would have thought, by her heritage, she should have known. However as the story progressed her character began to change and therefore became more likable for me. The other is the title of this book and I how I feel it's being marketed. The title implies that Lexie is a midwife that is Amish. However she is Mennonite and most of the people who she has direct contact with are Mennonite. Yes, she does go out to the Amish and is a midwife to some of them but that are not all that she helps. However neither the summary nor the cover gives this distinction and along with the title, a reader would think that the book is just another Amish story. I'm just hear to tell you that it is not. For those of you who are worried that the Amish lifestyle is romanticized or idealized, Clark and Gould do not do this. The mystery and the midwife practicing are more of the focus of the story and just happen to have it set in Amish country.
Other than this, the story is an absolute gem. It's a lot of fun to read and very informative about midwifery and adoption practices as well. Clark's mystery/suspense is top notch and Gould's characterizations work well. Even if you're not an Amish fan, I still think that this book can be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with the lifestyle. I'll be looking forward to future books in the series.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
This book was in a genre that I usually don't read, but I quite enjoyed the story. The book has a keen insight into the Amish lifestyle, and into the people from that very intriguing sect. The book centres around Lexie, an adopted Mennonite girl who has lived in Oregon with her Plain living mother
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and father. After her father dies, Lexie finds she wants to find out more about her birth mother and family, and tracks her history back to Lancaster County, right smack in the middle of Amish country. Lexie is a trained midwife, and she finds work working with a non-Amish midwife, who can't practice for the moment because of an ongoing legal battle. As Lexie digs in, she finds out more and more about her birth parents, and at the same time she becomes ingrained in the Amish way of life. Lexie is determined at all costs to discover her history, and she ends up digging up some very old family secrets in the process. I liked the people in the book. The Amish were wonderfully portrayed, and their way of life handled with a deft hand by this writer. I learned a lot about the Amish culture and their real sense of family. A very good first book in what looks to be a compelling series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lindz2012
This was about Lexie finding her biological family. She is searching for her Identity. Her father died and told her about a box that came and when she finds it set her on mission to find her birth parents. She goes to Pennsylvania to help a midwife in trouble. Though she was to start working in
She learns some Amish words though her patients that she learns with some true meaning. People in her family are hiding information about her. She arrives at Marta Bayer home and Marta get angry at her. If you want to read more about the surprise or not for she finds a surprise that will be quite suprising to find out. Does Lexie get her Story. You need to read to find out.
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Philly.She learns some Amish words though her patients that she learns with some true meaning. People in her family are hiding information about her. She arrives at Marta Bayer home and Marta get angry at her. If you want to read more about the surprise or not for she finds a surprise that will be quite suprising to find out. Does Lexie get her Story. You need to read to find out.
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LibraryThing member stephanieloves
I got up to Chapter 9 of The Amish Midwife—about 100 pages of teeth gritting and eyelid drooping—before I had to put it down. While there are some interesting aspects to midwifery I enjoyed discovering and some issues regarding Lexie's coming-to-terms with her discarded Mennonite faith,
I knew I couldn't like the main character the moment she first referred herself (emphasis on first, meaning she does it more than once) as the "handsome counterpart" to her "handsome boyfriend." Do people really talk about themselves like that? Not to mention the way she treats her so-called boyfriend, leaving him without closure just so she can aimlessly tread murky waters on the other side of the country on a matter on which she is entirely clueless. She can't seem to think of anyone but herself, and doesn't have a compassionate bone in her body. This all annoyed me; it's one thing for me not to be able to relate to Lexie, but to actually not like her is an entirely different story.
This book is classified as "romance," but let me tell you: if the romantic interest does not show his face by page 100, something is terribly wrong. I admit I haven't tried my hand at Amish romances before, but even for a religious storyline, I'd expect faster action or at least proper character introduction 1/4th of the way through. I didn't even get to the romance part of this story and I was still sick of it... big red flag.
There isn't much else I can say about this one. Nothing worth mentioning that I enjoyed; nothing interesting enough to keep me reading. I actually had to fight from falling asleep in more than one sitting while reading, which means there's a large problem beyond my sleep deprivation that made it really difficult for me to read The Amish Midwife, and that problem would be The Amish Midwife itself.
Pros: Realistic tone // Struggles with faith are well-captured
Cons: Painfully slow pace // Lexie is incredibly dislikable // Character interactions are detached and flat
Verdict: With an entirely self-absorbed and socially oblivious main character, a troubling so-called "romance" story structure, and a HUGE (read: not huge) family secret that lacks all of suspense, action, and intrigue, Clark and Gould's first installment in The Women of Lancaster County was a major letdown for me. Regulars to the genre may enjoy this one better because it does have its individual aspects, such as matters of Lexie's misplaced faith and her vocation, so if you've tried Amish romances before and have liked them, please don't let my review discourage you. As for me, The Amish Midwife has turned me away from all Amish fiction; I now know to stay away from this genre.
Rating: 2 out of 10 hearts (1 star): Not completely a lost cause, but could not finish; I did not enjoy this book.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!).
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everything else about the actual story, the writing style, and the characters, was unsatisfactory.I knew I couldn't like the main character the moment she first referred herself (emphasis on first, meaning she does it more than once) as the "handsome counterpart" to her "handsome boyfriend." Do people really talk about themselves like that? Not to mention the way she treats her so-called boyfriend, leaving him without closure just so she can aimlessly tread murky waters on the other side of the country on a matter on which she is entirely clueless. She can't seem to think of anyone but herself, and doesn't have a compassionate bone in her body. This all annoyed me; it's one thing for me not to be able to relate to Lexie, but to actually not like her is an entirely different story.
This book is classified as "romance," but let me tell you: if the romantic interest does not show his face by page 100, something is terribly wrong. I admit I haven't tried my hand at Amish romances before, but even for a religious storyline, I'd expect faster action or at least proper character introduction 1/4th of the way through. I didn't even get to the romance part of this story and I was still sick of it... big red flag.
There isn't much else I can say about this one. Nothing worth mentioning that I enjoyed; nothing interesting enough to keep me reading. I actually had to fight from falling asleep in more than one sitting while reading, which means there's a large problem beyond my sleep deprivation that made it really difficult for me to read The Amish Midwife, and that problem would be The Amish Midwife itself.
Pros: Realistic tone // Struggles with faith are well-captured
Cons: Painfully slow pace // Lexie is incredibly dislikable // Character interactions are detached and flat
Verdict: With an entirely self-absorbed and socially oblivious main character, a troubling so-called "romance" story structure, and a HUGE (read: not huge) family secret that lacks all of suspense, action, and intrigue, Clark and Gould's first installment in The Women of Lancaster County was a major letdown for me. Regulars to the genre may enjoy this one better because it does have its individual aspects, such as matters of Lexie's misplaced faith and her vocation, so if you've tried Amish romances before and have liked them, please don't let my review discourage you. As for me, The Amish Midwife has turned me away from all Amish fiction; I now know to stay away from this genre.
Rating: 2 out of 10 hearts (1 star): Not completely a lost cause, but could not finish; I did not enjoy this book.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you!).
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LibraryThing member SABC
Lexie, a nurse-midwife, is on a personal journey to find her biological family. The journey takes her from Oregon to the heart of Pennsyslvania Amish country. This is a compelling story, searching for identity and the ability to trust that God holds our whole life in his hands.
LibraryThing member Lindz2012
This was about Lexie finding her biological family. She is searching for her Identity. Her father died and told her about a box that came and when she finds it set her on mission to find her birth parents. She goes to Pennsylvania to help a midwife in trouble. Though she was to start working in
She learns some Amish words though her patients that she learns with some true meaning. People in her family are hiding information about her. She arrives at Marta Bayer home and Marta get angry at her. If you want to read more about the surprise or not for she finds a surprise that will be quite suprising to find out. Does Lexie get her Story. You need to read to find out.
Show More
Philly.She learns some Amish words though her patients that she learns with some true meaning. People in her family are hiding information about her. She arrives at Marta Bayer home and Marta get angry at her. If you want to read more about the surprise or not for she finds a surprise that will be quite suprising to find out. Does Lexie get her Story. You need to read to find out.
Show Less
LibraryThing member khiemstra631
Not your typical "Amish novel". The main character is not sure she believes much of anything, and many of the characters are Mennonite. It's mainly Amish women who give birth, however. The main thing is the very surprising twist in the book's conclusion. All in all, a very entertaining read and
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also a good one for church book discussion groups. Show Less
Awards
Christy Awards (Nominee — 2012)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.5 inches
ISBN
0736937986 / 9780736937986