Mondovi WI & The Midwife's Legacy (win it!)

Photo Credit: Betty Christenberry, "Mondovi Hills"

Mondovi, Wisconsin is my home town. Nestled in the rolling hills of the western part of the state, only 100 miles east of Minneapolis, 2000 residents serve the local farming region and provide home port for one of the country's larger trucking firms. I see their blue vehicles right here in Oregon with "Mondovi, Wisconsin" printed on the side while driving down I-84. A little blast from home. Our dairy farm sat three miles from town and in the summer my friend Julie and I would walk to Mondovi past green fields, Holstein cows ripping at grass. We were watched over by shadows of hardwoods...maples, oaks and elm, dozens of song birds, a few pheasants now and then and deer eyeing us warily. We'd have lunch with one of our grandmothers then walk back home, a great adventurous day! What freedom we had!

Photo Credit: Betty Christenberry "Mondovi Lake"

I decided to set my Midwife's novella "A Mother's Cry" in Mondovi in the 1860s. Mondovi didn't have much going for it then, just a village with a grist mill and good German, Norwegian and Swedish stock to clear fields and operate general mercantile stores. Churches, banks, and of course the post office gave it the sturdiness that promised a long village life. I kept Mirror Pond (it's a lake now) and even included a few local names from my childhood that I hope will be fun for local readers to see.


My protagonist is a widow, a midwife, who also has raised an infant that Adele delivered ...but the mother died. She's pretty happy with her life on the farm and the joy of Polly, now sixteen...until a banker comes into her life. Can she change her ways for him? After all, Polly will one day move on to a life of her own, trained as a midwife by her "Mamadele" as she calls her. Or will Adele discover secrets about her banker suitor she wished had been left in his safety deposit box!

Meanwhile, as Adele does her work of bringing babies into the world, she keeps a journal. That journal will appear -with additions- throughout three other author pieces. Rhonda Gibson brings you to the Oregon Trail for her midwife work. Pamela Griffin introduces you to the challenges of a midwife in early Oregon and the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905. Trish Perry finishes the legacy in fine style in contemporary Portland. Each of these midwives has a romantic challenge and a professional one. The legacy handed down through generations proves to be a blessing for each of the midwife's as they pursue their calling.

I'm being inducted into my High School Hall of Fame in September so this story coming out this year with the Mondovi connection is just added frosting on a truly wonderful childhood cake. I'll be speaking at the local library too, a place that gave me a library card before I started school. Thank you for that! I hope you enjoy the story and the entire Midwife's Legacy collection!

Read an excerpt of The Midwife's Legacy at the end of the post.

As noted above, the journal travels throughout a few other stories.  Journals are treasures that are passed down through generations.  With today's technology, keeping a journal has taken on a new meaning.  Do you journal? How do you keep it? Or maybe you have been impacted by a journal given to you.  Please share!

If The Midwife's Legacy is of any interest to you, it might be worth your while to check out the blog site which features books of the entire Romancing America series.  A great place to get the low-down on all the books you can win as well.

Would you like a copy of The Midwife's Legacy?  Leave a comment below and fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter to win.  The more you share & connect, the greater the chance to win.  Have fun!

fine print: Contest ends Sunday, June 17th 11:59pm. USA Winner will win a signed copy (Jane Kirkpatrick). Non-USA winner will receive an unsigned copy.

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Midwife's Legacy


To read more about Midwife's Legacy, visit Barbour Books