The Gossips’ Choice by Sara Read

Release: May 6th 2020
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wild Pressed Books
Source: Love Books Tours
Find it at: Amazon , Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Book Depository

Respected midwife Lucie Smith is the wife of Jasper, the town apothecary. They’ve lived happily together at the shop with the sign of the three doves for almost three decades. But 1665 is proving a troublesome year. Moreover, Lucie gets a call for birth at the local Manor, and Jasper is uneasy at her involvement with their former opponents in the English Civil War. Their only surviving son Simon flees plague-ridden London for his country hometown, only to argue with his father. A secret withheld by her loyal maid shocks her. However, she knows when Jasper finds out this, he will be furious. How could she have missed the signs?

As the year draws to a close, a case of serious negligence in her care of one of her mothers falls on her. This could see her not only lose her licence but face excommunication.

About the Author:

Dr Sara Read is a lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Her research is in the cultural representations of women, bodies and health in the early modern era.

She has published widely in this area with her first book Menstruation and the Female Body in Early Modern England . Also, Palgrave Macmillan published the same in 2013.

She is a member of the organising committee of the Women’s Studies Group, 1558-1837. She recently co-edited a special collection produced to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary.

Sara regularly writes for history magazines such as Discover Your Ancestors and History Today. In 2017 she published an article ‘My Ancestor was a Midwife’ tracing the history of the midwifery profession for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine in 2017. She has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s Freethinking programme and you can often hear her on BBC Radio Leicester and BBC Radio WM.

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The Gossips’ Choice Review:

The Gossips’ Choice is a wonderful story that surprised me. I am not even a fan of medical themed stories, but I was glued to the story-line and Lucie’s work.

Firstly, I loved the level of details the author put into the story. I have never read a historical fiction novel where I felt I learnt so much. The author has done thorough research and beautifully incorporated her findings into the story. To be honest, I feel like a lot of these herbal treatments would be more effective than what the hospital prescribes today.

Moreover, Lucie is wonderful as the main character. I was completed engrossed in the first half of the story. I loved reading of the various ailments she uses to treat her patients. The author mentions a variety of cases, from miscarriage, having twins, false labor and much more. It is so interesting to see the different procedures that were practiced during that time.

However, I felt like the focus shifted halfway into the book. In the first half, I loved the medical aspect of Lucie’s treatments with her patients. Yet, in the second half, the story became a family drama between Lucie, Simon and Jasper. Even though I enjoyed the second half of the book, I wish the author had blended both these elements in an organic way. At times, I also felt like the author was trying to cover a lot of issues, like abortion, suicide and being gay. While this was interesting, I didn’t feel it was necessary.

Overall, this is a wonderful book of the insights of a midwife’s life in the 1600s. I really enjoyed reading it, and hope the author writes more stories in this genre.