The Forgotten Midwife by Laura Anthony ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Set in the dual timelines of present-day and 1950s Ireland and based on real historical events, a powerful, poignant novel of feminism and resilience that follows the life of a young woman consigned to work in a home for “fallen girls” who quickly realizes she must risk everything to protect them.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2026; Gallery Books; 978-1668047415
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); historical fiction

This beautifully written emotional novel is the second novel by Laura Anthony that I have loved.  Her first was The Women on Platform Two. (See my review) These two novels have put her on my automatic buy list, and I'm already looking forward to what she writes next.

This novel is told in two timelines - Riley in New Jersey in 2023 and Margaret in Tipperary, Ireland in 1954.  The story concentrates mainly on the 1954 timeline, and the later 2023 timeline is mostly a way to find out information about Riley's grandmother.

2023 - Riley's grandmother, Betty, has dementia, and on most days she doesn't recognize her granddaughter. Riley had been raised by her grandmother, and it was very difficult to deal with her disease.  On one of her trips to visit her grandmother, Betty knows who Riley is and gives her an old birth certificate for an unknown baby born in Ireland in the 1950s.  Since Riley knew so little about her ancestors, she and her fiancé travel to Ireland to try to find out why Betty had the birth certificate and if there is a connection to Riley.  

1954 - Margaret loves life, and she loves her boyfriend Joseph and plans to marry him.  When her oldest sister dies, she is forced to become a nun because her father had promised the parish priest that his oldest daughter would be dedicated to the church, and once the oldest daughter dies, it is Margaret who is forced to replace her.  As a nun, she is sent to a home for girls who have gotten pregnant outside of marriage.  The church considered this a major sin, and the girls were treated terribly.  Once their babies are born, the babies are given/sold to couples.  The home for girls is a Magdalene Laundry where the girls are forced to work long hours under cruel conditions, laundering clothes for local businesses.  Margaret is appalled at the treatment that is given to the young pregnant girls and does what she can to help them.  However, her hands are tied by the woman who cruelly runs the laundry and the parish priest, both of whom feel that the girls should be severely punished for getting pregnant.

Based on true historical events, this is an emotional look at the homes where girls were sent to have their babies.  I have read other books about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland and the US, and this one is different because it's told from a nun's point of view - an empathetic nun who wanted to help the girls instead of punishing them.  I will admit to some tears while I was reading this book, but overall, it's a story about the strength of women even in the worst of circumstances.  

Be sure to read the Author's Notes at the end of the book, where she gives additional information about why she wrote the novel and gives more history about the Magdalene Laundries.

Buy The Forgotten Midwife at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

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