The Midwife's Confession

This is a powerful read which had me glued to my chair. I did not expect all the twists and turns of the plot, but they were amazing and kept my anticipation levels soaring. Well done, Ms. Chamberlain! IMHO, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who can rival Diane Chamberlain when it comes to writing women's fiction. Her storylines are always intriguing and pull you in from the very beginning. Her character development is top notch and you feel intimately acquainted and invested in their live [...]

I don't even know how to write this without spoilers so consider this your big spoiler alert.Ugh. My apologies to Diane Chamberlain, who I'm sure is a nice woman with lots of ideas and talent, but The Midwife's Confession gives fiction a bad name. I feel rather strongly that fiction has a lot more to offer than escapism or entertainment. I feel its medium is especially suited to teach - namely empathy and understanding for the multitude of life experiences we'll most likely never have as individ [...]

4.5 stars What a nail-biter! An absolute labyrinth of twists, turns and just when you think you've got it all figured out bam another shocking revelation! Ok not all were the unexpected, knock-your-socks-off type revelation, some where the damn I knew it, kind, but still, quite a gut-wrenching rollercoaster ride. I loved the seamlessly woven alternating narration from key characters and the flashbacks to past events. I loved the complexities of the mother-daughter relationships, I loved the b [...]

Nem Confissão Nem ParteiraComo sei que muitos leitores chumbaram de imediato este livro, logo que deram de caras com as palavras "confissão" e "parteira", quero começar por dizer que esta escolha de título não foi das mais felizes.Isto porque "parteira" cheira a maternidade, partos, recém-nascidose de facto este livro pouco tem a ver com isso.Quanto a mim, faria mais sentido intitulá-lo "O segredo da carta inacabada", pois foi esse o catalisador de toda a intriga.Bemndo este preâmbulo qu [...]

There’s a small handful of authors who you know can be relied upon to hook you in from page one, take you swooping through twists and turns of story, with well-written and likeable characters and the feeling (when you come out of the wringer at the other end ) that you’ve thoroughly enjoyed a really, really good book and can’t wait for her next. Jodi Picoult’s one. Heather Gudenkauf is another. And then there’s Diane Chamberlain. This was everything I want in a book – secrets, love, [...]

I have to stop reading Chamberlain's books. I have to. I read the reviews on here and thought it would be better than the last one I read, but it was not. Stop reading now if you don't want spoilers.In this story Noelle is a midwife and she has a lot of secrets. She also has two best friends, Emerson and Tara. One night, for reasons that no one knows Noelle ends her own life. This leads Emerson and Tara on a quest to find out what was going on with their good friend. Noelle was hiding a lot. The [...]

I have read many Diane Chamberlain books, and this was one of my favorites thus far.

Gostei muito deste livro. Uma história emocionante, com muitas reviravoltas, que nos prende do principio ao fim. E se pensam que vão ler muitas descrições de partos e nascimentos de bebés desenganem-se, é de facto em torno da profissão de parteira que gira a história mas tem muito mais que se lhe diga. Só não digo que é perfeito porque achei o final abrupto, penso que merecia ter sido tratado com um pouco mais de cuidado, mesmo que isso implicasse mais umas quantas folhas para ler. Re [...]

Loved it, easy read with many new twists and turns. Yes, at times unbelievable but a page turner for sure! I love her style.

The first book I ever read by Diane Chamberlain was Necessary Lies and I loved it! To this day, I remain impacted by its story and the historical issues I learned about. So needless to say, I jumped at the chance to read another one of Ms. Chamberlain's women's fiction novels! I know it's unfair to compare an author's books, but as a reader with a fair amount of natural expectation, I can't help it. My reading experience with The Midwife's Confession was good but I was hoping for awesome. I'm no [...]

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this novel but once I did I was hooked! The chapters are written from the point of view of the five main characters giving the reader a number of different perspectives on the events as the story unfold. Every time you think you've guessed the big secret it moves to another level and you realise what you think you've guessed is only a tiny piece of the puzzle. This is a fabulous novel. It is extremely well-written with an emotional and moving story. I [...]

Dear Anna,What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry-The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle - her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family - described a woman who embraced life.Diane Chamberlain has become an author I like and want to read all her books. She is tale [...]

My thoughts:I had read so many great reviews of this title that I just had to get my hands on a copy. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I finally realized that I was approved to download a copy of this to my Kindle months ago from NetGalley.I just was too lazy to figure out how to do it. Well, thanks to my fellow book lovers and their awesome reviews, I was motivated to learn how to get that ebook on my lovely Kindle. And I'm so happy that I did because this was a fantastic read!! I was drawn in f [...]

Oh dear, regrettably this novel reads like a cheap soap opera. Here's my quick run-down of the plot in note form. I will include a spoiler here for the uninitiated and call the women A, B and C. (view spoiler)[Women A, B and C are best friends. C kills herself, A and B find out that C has known she is B's half-sister since they met at college but has kept the knowledge to herself. C is a midwife; she has helped deliver A's baby and after a terrible accident, A's baby is killed. C swaps A's dead [...]

I like some drama in my books. It's always interesting to read. However Diane Chamberlain certainly knows how to overdo it. This was SO dramatic. There were so many twists and a lot of them were unnecessary. A few of the dramatic elements didn't actually add a single thing to the book. The book reminded me of Desperate Housewives or Devious Maids, it was THAT dramatic. The characters were okay. I felt like Ermerson, Noelle and Tara were done the best. The rest of the characters all felt a little [...]

I love giving five stars, and the latest novel by Diane Chamberlain earns them all. The Midwife’s Confession is a tangled story of friendship and love, secrets and betrayal, and realistic characters that will make you cry while you see their story unfold. Tara, Emerson, and Noelle have been friends for years, but when Noelle commits suicide, leaving behind only an unfinished note, Tara and Emerson find out they might not have truly known their friend. The complex mystery that surrounds not onl [...]

Este livro foi-me recomendado pela minha filha mais velha, que como já tive oportunidade de dizer é uma leitora tão ou mais ávida que eu! Também já tinha lido críticas muito boas… depois disto, meia dúzia de páginas foi o suficiente para confirmar que tinha nas mãos um verdadeiro turn-page.Há já algum tempo que não lia um livro assim! Impossível largar sem uma grande batalha interior, tinha literalmente de me “obrigar” a pousá-lo!Após o suicídio de Noelle (a parteira que d [...]

I feel like this review is best read like Stefon from Saturday Night Live…This book has everything: Suicide, babies switched at birth, extra marital affairs, secrets and lies, kids with Cancer, unrequited teenage love, a car accident, dead husbands, broken engagements…Seriously. Take every clichéd tragedy and plop it into one narrative and that’s what this book is. I thought it was too long and didn’t get to the point fast enough. I wasn’t sure why she threw in the love triangle, eith [...]

UN-PUT-DOWN-ABLE!A story of friends, families, betrayals and an unimaginable shocker of a secret that will break your heart.Just after Sam's automobile accident and death,Tara and her daughter Grace are having a difficult time trying to cope when Tara and her friend Emerson's closest friend Noelle commits suicide. The two friends decide to solve the mystery of her death and find many surprises along the way with personal consequences.Although the secret is pretty hard to take, this book is now o [...]

Cada vez mais gosto da autora, e sem dúvida uma das minhas preferidas. As suas histórias são emocionantes, intensas e profundas que nos agarram e entranham e não nos conseguem largar. Esta é propriamente uma historia imprevisível de perdas e cheia de segredos aterradores,que abalam certamente os mais fortes, mas também predomina um grande sentimento de amizade que unia as famílias das protagonistas que se mostrou delicioso de ler, e no fim resta-nos a esperança que as nuvens negras se a [...]

I found this book to be full of unexpected twists. It kept me guessing what would happen next, and I just could not put the book down. The Midwife's Confession has some really good, strong characters. It is the story of three friends - Tara, Emerson, and Noelle. Tara, recently widowed and trying to put her life back together, was my favorite. I enjoyed the friend ship between she and Emerson. I also really liked the secondary character of Anna Knightley, a strong woman who has faced the disappea [...]

Compelling characters and plot twist that kept me engaged from the first page. Noelle is a midwife who has carried the burden of heartbreaking secrets for years. As the book opens, she has decided it's time to let go of the weight and kill herself. Her best friends, Emerson and Tara can't believe they missed whatever drove her to this decision. They find a mysterious letter, a confession to a woman named Anna among her belongings. As they dig for answers, they uncover one secret after another. P [...]

A única explicação que encontro para ter andado a adiar a leitura deste livro, foi mesmo o título, que sugere um tema completamente diferente daquilo que se me deparou.E tenho de confessar que adorei, mesmo. Nunca pensei. Parti para esta leitura com um pé atrás, mas ainda bem que me enganei.Com uma escrita fluida, o enredo não cansa e leva-nos a querer ler cada vez mais e mais. Se estão com dúvidas por causa do título, esqueçam. Vale cada hora dispendida com este livro.

It says on the front 'As Good As Jodi Picoult Or Your Money Back', no one will be asking for their money back. This was amazing! I zoomed thought this book of firm friendship and tragic secrets. There were almost so many secrets, that it wasn't realistic. But I don't care, I still loved this. I have no idea how someone would deal with this situation, it would be heart breaking.I would recommend if you are a fan of Picoult, this is actually better than some books I've read by her recently.

One of the best books I have read this year. Diane Chamberlain writes in the same style as Jodi Picoult; however, the twists, turns, and drama are never forced, obvious, or far-fetched. I got this book yesterday afternoon and absolutely devoured it. I couldn't put it down. I found myself sneaking away from the boys to read a chapter and then stayed up far too late finishing it.As with many of her books, just when you think you've got it figured out Chamberlain throws you another curveball. And t [...]

I almost marked it as two stars, as I wanted to like it much more than I did. I don't mind knowing what's going to happen early on in the plot, but when it is so obvious, and the author pounds you over the head with clues, but then leads up to a big "Ta-da!" moment, it just leaves me cold. I also didn't connect with the characters the way you need to when you have such an intimate portrait of people's lives. However, the writing made it readable, despite my lack of emotional connection.** Just m [...]

3,5*Embora a dada altura me tenha sensibilizado com partes da estória achei-a demasiado rocambolesca. Demasiado drama, demasiados dramas individuais que tornam a narrativa um pouco exagerada no seu todo e passível de castrar as emoções. Também por isso, a leitura decorreu, em grande parte, de forma aborrecida. É certo que os gostos são subjectivos, porém não compreendo todo o falatório em torno deste livro.

Tara, Emerson and Noelle have been close friends since college. When Noelle, a former midwife, commits suicide, Tara and Emerson are left wondering why. As they investigate, they learn things that make them question if they ever really knew Noelle at all.I am not sure I have the words to describe how powerfully emotional this story is. Chapter 15 and 16 left me crying and needing a break. I was completely unprepared for the direction the story began to take. The synapsis doesn't even begin to to [...]

This is the first book I have read by Diane Chamberlain and not an easy one to review. The synopsis sounded really interesting so I decided to give it a try. Every chapter is told from the point of view of one of the characters which seemed fine at first but for me became ore and more confusing towards the end of the book. Initially I was intrigued by what was going on and keen to carry on. I try not to bring spoilers into my reviews,so sufficient to say that there are many twists and turns with [...]

How many secrets can one person have, I wonder. At the beginning of this captivating story, we are confronted with the mysterious suicide of a woman – named Noelle, who was single and a midwife by trade.Page after page, and told through the eyes of her best friends, Tara and Emerson, we discover that Noelle kept more than just one secret. Honestly, she had many. I admit I thought that was all a bit much for one woman to withhold from her friends, but then it lends itself to a compelling & [...]