Book: The Midwife’s Revolt by Jodi Daynard
Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Midwife’s Revolt, by Jodi Daynard, takes the reader on a journey to the founding days of America. It follows one woman’s path, Lizzie Boylston, from her grieving days of widowhood after Bunker Hill, to her deepening friendship with Abigail Adams and midwifery, and finally to her dangerous work as a spy for the Cause. Much has been written about our founding men. But The Midwife’s Revolt is unique in that it opens a window onto the lives of our founding women as well.

This book was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. It was certainly unique, as the summary suggests. When I requested it as an ARC from Netgalley, I kind of expected a romance-y historical fiction novel, but that was not the case at all, much to my delight. It had a small amount of romance but, unlike other historical fiction novels that are from a woman’s perspective, it was not the focus of the novel, which was great.

The main character, Lizzie Boylston, was brilliant. She was clever and useful, but she messed up sometimes. She was rude to her mother-in-law (with plenty of good reason!) and got things wrong about her friends and neighbors. She was true to her cause, and tried her best not to be bitter about the loss of her husband around her happily married friend, Abigail Adams. I also loved that she was so attached to Star.

The other characters were equally as well written and enjoyable. I loved figuring out who actually was a spy in the end, and who worked for whom.

It was great getting to see a different perspective on the Revolutionary War, especially considering that the events that took place could actually have taken place during the time period, both in the social sphere as well as in her work.

I definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys Revolutionary America. It’s a great read, sure to keep you reading.