This book can be a very uncomfortable read; it's a story about two women, a nurse and the pregnant woman she is helping through labor. There's a lot going on in each of these women's minds, and they don't share with each other but it informs their actions. It's a really well-crafted novel, I've not read much like it and I am eager to seek out more Pamela Erens novels. They were something lyrical about the book by its closing, and it made me cry and that might be because eight months ago I, too, was in the labor & delivery ward in a hospital.

A note: I would not recommend if you are squeamish at all about birth or you plan on giving birth in the near future. Seriously, I was shielding my eyes at some points because it's like I could see it, the descriptions were so clear. And I was shocked by how it suddenly felt like a horror story at one point, my mouth agape as I read. It's a wonderful piece of writing, though. Just might stir a lot of anxiety with its visceral depiction of labor and common fears surrounding it.