MIDWIFE'S TALE

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - 3:00pm to 4:30pm

Author Sam Thomas and CWRU professor Mary Grimm will discuss Sam's novel The Midwife's Tale on Wednesday, April 3rd at 7 p.m at the Coventry Library, 1925 Coventry Rd. This event is part of the Cedar/Coventry Reading Series sponsored by Mac's Backs, Appletree Books and the CH-UH Public Library.

The evening will be a back and forth discussion about The Midwife's Tale and the historical mystery genre.

In the tradition of Arianna Franklin and C. J. Sansom comes Samuel Thomas’s remarkable debut, The Midwife’s Tale. It is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.

“Thomas' York teems with filthy streets and bawdy wine-soaked revelries. But nothing is more drenched in bloody, breathing realism than Bridget's life, and career. . . . Thomas does an admirable job keeping all of these balls aloft. He concludes with a satisfying twist that few readers will see coming. But as pleasurable as his mystery is, the true thrill here is Thomas' lively portrait of 1644 York and his unique heroine.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sam Thomas teaches history at University School and The Midwife's Tale is his first novel. Mary Grimm is a novelist, avid mystery reader and chair of the English Department at CWRU.

Event address: 
1820 Coventry Rd
44118 Cleveland Heights
us