The Midwife's Confession

Chamberlain (The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes) unravels a heartbreaking mystery about a midwife whose suicide opens the door to her dark past. Noelle Downie was an unconventional beauty whose calling as a midwife defined her among her friends, Tara and Emerson. Because Noelle's career was one of embracing life, her suicide left her friends largely puzzled. More shocking, though, is an unfinished letter discovered among Noelle's belongings that reveals a secret so horrifying that Tara and Emerson embark on a mission to find the woman the letter is addressed to. As they struggle to reconcile new revelations with the Noelle they thought they knew, Chamberlain's hold on the multiperspective narrative weakens, and the hopping back and forth between characters creates a narrative jumble. Chamberlain does pull it together in time for the wrapup, finally giving readers willing to stick through some choppiness a bittersweet story about regret and hope. (May)