Midwife of the Blue Ridge, by Christine Blevins

Midwife of the Blue Ridge, by Christine Blevins

Maggie Duncan is the sole survivor when her Scottish village is ransacked.  She is adopted by a midwife, who teaches her everything she knows.  When the midwife dies, Maggie goes as an indentured servant to Virginia and the American colonies.  Her contract is bought by another Scotts man, Seth Martin, to help with the chores as his wife is ill with child.

Maggie learns about new plants and medical techniques in the new world, and her and her new family deal with the uncertain life on the frontier.

I really liked this.  Blevins has another novel out this year, The Tory Widow, and I read this first as it's her first novel.  It's light, it's quick, and I liked reading about Kenta-ke and some of the other "funny" names that gave us the names we still call our states and cities.  It was nice to read historical fiction about my own continent too, even if the characters were fictitious.  And her second book (obviously) is from this time period or just later so that makes me happy too.

The book is divided into three parts, and really I flew through the thing.  The beginning two parts were better than the last, but I liked the characters, and while the plotline was predictable, it was enjoyable.

Parts are graphic (I skipped those) and she spends a lot of time on plants and herbs and medicine.  And the accent took some getting used to (Scottish).  But it was great.

Worth a read.  I'll definitely be picking up her second book.