From Booklist
Alternating chapters tell the stories of 14-year-old Bess Poor, the daughter of the Kiss River lighthouse keeper on North Carolina's Outer Banks during World War II, and Gina Higgins, a contemporary schoolteacher who has traveled to Kiss River on a mysterious quest. When Gina arrives, she discovers that the lighthouse she has come so far to see was nearly knocked down in a storm and that its lens lies at the bottom of the sea. She's taken in by Lacey and Clay, a sister and brother saddled with some serious issues, and as Gina and Clay develop a complicated relationship, the narrative is broken by Bess' 1942 diary entries detailing her romance with a young Coast Guardsman. Taking a job at a local gathering spot, Gina begins to join the community, but she is harboring a secret related to her obsession with recovering the sunken Kiss River light. When all the secrets are revealed, they don't seem all that earth shattering, but Chamberlain does tie the two disparate stories together in a charming manner. Diana Tixier Herald
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Review
Alternating chapters tell the stories of 14-year-old Bess Poor, the daughter of the Kiss River lighthouse keeper on North Carolina's Outer Banks during World War II, and Gina Higgins, a contemporary schoolteacher who has traveled to Kiss River on a mysterious quest. When Gina arrives, she discovers that the lighthouse she has come so far to see was nearly knocked down in a storm and that its lens lies at the bottom of the sea. She's taken in by Lacey and Clay, a sister and brother saddled with some serious issues, and as Gina and Clay develop a complicated relationship, the narrative is broken by Bess' 1942 diary entries detailing her romance with a young Coast Guardsman. Taking a job at a local gathering spot, Gina begins to join the community, but she is harboring a secret related to her obsession with recovering the sunken Kiss River light. ...Chamberlain [ties] the two disparate stories together in a charming manner.-Booklist
"Diane Chamberlain's characters are so realistic that you feel you know them in person, and when you get to the end of the book, you miss them."
-Tatiana de Rosnay, New York Times bestselling author of Sarah's Key on The Midwife's Confession
"Diane Chamberlain's The Midwife's Confession is a compelling tale of friendship and motherhood told with compassion and vivid honesty. Chamberlain takes the reader on a taut journey filled with secrets, heartbreak and the power of hope. Impossible to put down The Midwife's Confession will break your heart and then mend it tenderly back together."
-Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence
"The Midwife's Confession is an engrossing tale, one that keeps you guessing to the end, with all its twists and turns. This is a novel you won't want to miss!"
-Eileen Goudge, New York Times bestselling author of Once in a Blue Moon
"Chamberlain weaves an intensely engaging story of three people with a tragic past, complicated present, and unknown future who must struggle with trust, betrayal, and forgiveness."
-Booklist on The Lies We Told
"The writing is at all times sure and polished, carrying the reader through a gauntlet of twists and complications."
-Raleigh News and Observer on The Lies We Told