The Forgotten Midwife

Set in present-day New Jersey and 1950s Ireland, and inspired by real historical events, The Forgotten Midwife is a powerful dual-timeline novel of sisterhood, family secrets, and resilience from the author of the “profound, moving, and memorable” (Fresh Fiction) The Women on Platform Two.

New Jersey, present day. Riley Carmichael is getting married and joining a huge, loving family, yet she can’t ignore the emptiness on her side of the church. For most of her life, it’s been just Riley and her grandmother, Betty, but as late-stage dementia overtakes her grandmother’s mind, Riley knows she’s losing her. During a rare moment of lucidity, Betty gives Riley a tattered, long-hidden birth certificate for an unknown baby born in Ireland in the 1950s. Searching for answers about her family history, Riley travels to Ireland in hopes of finding a sense of heritage.

Tipperary, Ireland, 1954. Margaret Lannigan dreams of a life with her beloved Joseph. But when her older sister dies suddenly, Margaret must fulfill her family’s generations-old commitment to the Catholic Church. Forced to take the veil, she is sent to Ballyvale Home for Fallen Girls, where unmarried expectant mothers endure terrible cruelty. Despite having no training as a midwife, Margaret fights to give these women the care they deserve.

When Margaret encounters Delia O’Rourke, the terrified younger sister of her childhood best friend, she risks everything to protect Delia and her baby from a system designed to make them disappear.

The Forgotten Midwife is a haunting, hopeful novel about women’s strength and resilience, the meaning of family, and the lifesaving power of friendship.