BLOG TOUR: The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain + Giveaway!

Welcome back readers!

Thanks for tuning in for post number two of the day here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.  Yes, yes...I know.  Two posts in one day?  What is the world coming too!  Well, in fact....it's busy; busy as ever and while the winners needed announcing earlier, we have a special guest today that definitely needs a bit of a spotlight.

Today we play host to a special blog tour courtesy of Tricia at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.  (THANKS!)  The featured title falls under the Fiction category quite well but could certainly be fit into the Women's Fiction sub category with its cast of strong female leads, mystifying secrets and ultimate conclusion.  If you've yet to experience this author's remarkable writing, I'd say this is the perfect time to correct that situation...just as I did.  Today's book of choice is.... 

The Midwife's Confession

by

Diane Chamberlain

From Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc:

When Noelle Downie is found dead of an apparent overdose, her best friends Tara and Emerson are left blindsided by her death and struggling with burning questions. Everything they knew about their longtime friend—her natural calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—portrayed a woman who completely embraced life, not someone suicidal.

Clearing out Noelle’s small home, Tara and Emerson encounter old photos, handwritten birth records, and sincere thank you notes from Noelle’s former patients—no hint that Noelle had been unstable during the years leading to her suicide. But among Noelle’s belongings, an unfinished letter is discovered—a clue to a disturbing past and an unbearable secret. With just one piece to the puzzle, Tara and Emerson commit to digging deeper for clues, slowly peeling back years of hidden deception that had been silently tearing apart their best friend.


Bestselling author of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and The Lies We Told, Diane Chamberlain returns with her twentieth and most gripping novel to date, THE MIDWIFE’S CONFESSION (Mira Books; May 2011...), about two women who embark on a investigation of their best friend’s untimely death, ultimately revealing a powerful secret that threatens to destroy everything they thought they knew about her.

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Sounds good, right?  Oh you have NO IDEA.  My reading adventure with this title was long and sordid.  How so?  Well, let's just say that I was doing great on my reading list versus obligations until "the-event-that-shall-not-be-named" occurred.  After that....chaosis has been my traveling companion and BOY do I wish I could send it packing like yesterday's garbage.  *shakes head*  Anywho, my point, my point, what tis my point.....basically my reading of this book was complete as of about an hour ago.  Yup, just finished and while my eyelids are threatening to reach each other and put me into a nice deep sleep, I simply HAD to tell you about this book.  Some of you may not be as surprised as I was regarding the quality of this story.  The author has in fact been around the block a time or two, this being her 20th novel and all.  That's right....20TH.  How I've missed her work up until this point, I can only fathom but rest assured my eyes are now open and eager for more. 

As the synopsis alludes to, this is the story of three women.  Their lives are explored through ups and downs, happiness and sadness, truths and lies.  Friendships are strained (though unknowingly to the other party), bonds broken (secrets kept from friends and family, never a good idea) and boundaries crossed (naughty behavior now and then) and yet in each case the actions taken were done with the utmost love for those they felt they were protecting.  It was amazing to watch the story unfold.  The author has a unique way of writing the characters to life and despite the close knit nature of their relationships, you're treated as a member of the family.  You feel for them; their pain is your pain, their confusion your confusion. 

As the story progresses secrets are revealed little by little, never too much at once; just enough to allow you to piece together a vague idea of what may have happened or what might be uncovered next.  It was refreshing not to have it laid out point blank for you.  It added a bit of mystery to it all without taking away from the emotional side of the story.  The slow reveal is aided in part by the variety of voices through which the story is shared.  A change in narrator can be hard for some readers (myself included) to absorb.  You get use to one voice only to have to adjust to another and sometimes that change can interupt the stories progression in your mind.  Here...it works, and rather well. 

You get to know each of the characters on a more personal level thus creating that reader/character bond and what's more you get to see the situation through another set of eyes without repeating it all again.  Noelle, though one of the main characters to some aspect, reaches out to us from her journals and memories as her present state no longer leaves her able to participate more actively.  Her life was a kaleidoscope of sorts, twisting and turning this way and that all with the purpose of reaching one final pattern of beauty but with those unfortunate combinations of brokeness reached in-between.  Tara and Emerson, friends for life since their days in college and pillars of strength much needed for supporting one another through the coming times.  Sam, Ted, and Ian....the male voices leaving their mark in a more subtle way yet still equally important to the overall story.  The shifts between there narration are subtle and to keep you from having to guess who is whom, they are marked by a new chapter each time they change, but they are distinctive nonetheless  I for one appreciated that because keeping track of the connections throughout the story was occupying my mind more greatly.  Note to readers, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a pen and paper handy to jot a note or two....just in case. 

In short, it's a novel about women.  How we live.  How we love.  How we connect with one another and how we will protect our loved ones til the end.  From the quiet strength yet to be uncovered to the voice that is raised to help the multitudes, we are all different and yet share a common bond.  Here, the range of those bonds are shown with a moving story that is sure to leave you contemplating life and all its mysterious ways.  If you are a fan of women's fiction, or simply stories about friends, family, and the secrets they keep for better or worse, this is definitely one book you don't want to miss.

This book was released earlier this month so it should be available at a retail store near you from MIRA Books.  For more information on this title including an excerpt from this book, be sure to check out the publisher's site.  To connect with the author, check out her website...which happens to include a contest of its own (pretty cool one too if I do say so myself.)  No back to "not wanting to miss this", here's your chance to ensure just that!

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Thanks to the great folks at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc, you have the opportunity to win a copy of this book for your own reading pleasure.  Here's how....

The prize....

(1) copy of The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

 

How to enter...

...just fill ot the form below!

 

The rules....

*Open to US/Canada mailing addresses only! No P. O. Boxes please.
* Entries will be accepted from Monday, May 23rd, 2011 through Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at midnight CST. The entries will be tallied and entered into the random.org randomizer, after which a random number will be picked by their number generator. (This way all the entries are mixed up nicely.)
* All entries must be submitted using the form accessible through this post. You MUST include your email address in order to be counted as well as contacted should you be chosen as the winner!
* The winner will be announced and contacted via email by Thurday, June 2nd, 2011 and will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address. Should they fail to respond in the given time frame, a new winner will be chosen. If you choose to include your full name and mailing address in your contest entry, no worries....the time frame issue is erased.
*Winner's name and address will be forwarded for prize send out only and then discarded.


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Until next time...happy reading!