What do you think?
Rate this book
The Forgotten Midwife
Not yet published
Expected 12 May 26
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.
New Jersey, 2023. Riley Carmichael is getting married and finally joining a huge, loving family but can’t help but feel the emptiness of her own side of the church. For most of Riley’s life it’s just been her and her wonderful grandmother, Betty, but as late-stage dementia overtakes her grandmother’s mind, Riley knows she’s losing her, too. On one of Riley’s visits to Betty’s nursing home, she encounters her grandmother in one of her increasingly rare moments of lucidity as Betty desperately hands Riley a tatty birth certificate for an unknown baby born in Ireland in the 1950s. Full of questions about her heritage, Riley embarks on a trip to Ireland to find that elusive sense of home.
Tipperary, Ireland, 1954. Margaret Lannigan’s life is made up of weekly dances and spending time with the love of her life, Joseph. But when Margaret’s older sister suddenly passes away, it falls to Margaret to fulfill the family’s commitment to the church. The eldest daughter of the Lannigan family has joined the Sisters of Mercy nuns for generations. Forced to part with Joseph and take the veil, Margaret is sent to a Home for Fallen Girls to care for expectant mothers who fell pregnant outside of marriage. With no training or midwifery skills, she must fight to provide compassionate care she feels these women deserve amid the cruelty and abuse they face.
When Margaret meets a young and terrified Delia O’Rourke, the sister of her childhood best friend, she must find the strength she needs to protect this young woman and her baby in the face of a system built to ensure they disappear.
Based on true historical events, The Forgotten Midwife is a powerful and emotional story of the women lost to Ireland’s “mother and baby homes,” as well as the young women forced to join the orders that ran the establishments. Told with courage and heart, it’s a haunting, hopeful novel of feminine strength, found family, and love that transcends oppression.
New Jersey, 2023. Riley Carmichael is getting married and finally joining a huge, loving family but can’t help but feel the emptiness of her own side of the church. For most of Riley’s life it’s just been her and her wonderful grandmother, Betty, but as late-stage dementia overtakes her grandmother’s mind, Riley knows she’s losing her, too. On one of Riley’s visits to Betty’s nursing home, she encounters her grandmother in one of her increasingly rare moments of lucidity as Betty desperately hands Riley a tatty birth certificate for an unknown baby born in Ireland in the 1950s. Full of questions about her heritage, Riley embarks on a trip to Ireland to find that elusive sense of home.
Tipperary, Ireland, 1954. Margaret Lannigan’s life is made up of weekly dances and spending time with the love of her life, Joseph. But when Margaret’s older sister suddenly passes away, it falls to Margaret to fulfill the family’s commitment to the church. The eldest daughter of the Lannigan family has joined the Sisters of Mercy nuns for generations. Forced to part with Joseph and take the veil, Margaret is sent to a Home for Fallen Girls to care for expectant mothers who fell pregnant outside of marriage. With no training or midwifery skills, she must fight to provide compassionate care she feels these women deserve amid the cruelty and abuse they face.
When Margaret meets a young and terrified Delia O’Rourke, the sister of her childhood best friend, she must find the strength she needs to protect this young woman and her baby in the face of a system built to ensure they disappear.
Based on true historical events, The Forgotten Midwife is a powerful and emotional story of the women lost to Ireland’s “mother and baby homes,” as well as the young women forced to join the orders that ran the establishments. Told with courage and heart, it’s a haunting, hopeful novel of feminine strength, found family, and love that transcends oppression.
368 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 12, 2026
9 people are currently reading
10370 people want to read
About the author
Laura Anthony
2 books335 followersLaura Anthony is the author of THE WOMEN ON PLATFORM TWO, and the forthcoming novel THE FORGOTTEN MIDWIFE (May 2026). Laura lives in Kildare, Ireland, with her husband, children, and their exceptionally fluffy dog who insists on supervising all writing sessions!
Learn more (or say hi!) at www.laura-anthony.com
Learn more (or say hi!) at www.laura-anthony.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
There are books you read comfortably, and there are books you endure.
Laura Anthony’s *The Forgotten Midwife* is the latter.
It is not a gentle story. It is not meant to be. Rooted in the historical reality of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and mother-and-baby homes, this novel enters a place many would prefer to leave sealed. It opens doors that were closed deliberately—by institutions, by families, and by frightened young women who had no safe place to put their grief.
And yet, it is not a book of despair.
It is a book about women who refused to let love die, even when everything around them seemed arranged to extinguish it.
Told in dual timelines, the novel follows Riley Carmichael in present-day America as she uncovers a hidden piece of her family’s past, and Margaret Lannigan, a young Irish woman in the 1950s compelled by family obligation to enter the Sisters of Mercy after her sister’s death. Margaret does not enter religious life through personal calling, but through duty—a generational promise she inherits without consent. She is sent to a home for “fallen girls,” where her instinct for compassion collides with a system structured around shame, silence, and control.
Margaret is not a rebel by nature. She is a young woman who wanted an ordinary life: love, marriage, and children of her own. Her suffering is not chosen heroism. It is an imposed loss.
And yet, in quiet and costly ways, she resists.
She sees the girls not as sinners to be corrected, but as frightened daughters and mothers. She sees their babies as human beings worthy of tenderness. She refuses—not dramatically, but persistently—to surrender her humanity.
This is what makes the novel so difficult to read, and so necessary.
The cruelty depicted here is not theatrical villainy. It is institutional coldness justified by fear—fear of scandal, fear of sin, fear of social collapse. Families surrender their daughters not because they do not love them, but because they believe there is no other way. The Church, which should have been a refuge, becomes an instrument of concealment instead. And the girls themselves absorb the devastating message that their very existence has become a problem to be solved.
It is gut-wrenching.
There were moments when I wanted to stop reading. Moments when the suffering felt unbearable. Moments when anger rose unbidden. And yet I could not look away. I want to put it down and not finish. But I wanted to know what happened more.
Because woven into the darkness is something stronger than cruelty: fidelity.
Margaret’s quiet courage. The fragile bonds between the women. The instinct to protect life, even at great personal cost. These acts do not dismantle the system, but they testify to something deeper than the system ever could: the irreducible dignity of the human person.
For readers of faith—particularly Catholic readers—this book may be especially painful. It is painful to see the Church, which is meant to be the mother, depicted as a source of suffering. It is painful because the historical failures were real. To pretend otherwise would be dishonest.
But Anthony’s novel also reveals something essential: the distinction between faith itself and the human failures carried out in its name.
Margaret’s compassion is not separate from her faith—it flows from it. Her conscience, her reverence for life, her refusal to abandon these women—all emerge from the same moral soil. The tragedy here is not belief, but what happens when fear eclipses mercy, when institutions protect themselves instead of the vulnerable they were meant to serve.
The present-day storyline offers resolution without erasing sorrow, underscoring how deeply these hidden histories continue to shape families generations later.
Laura Anthony writes with restraint and reverence for the truth. She does not sensationalize suffering. She allows it to stand plainly, trusting the reader to bear witness.
This is not an easy book to recommend. It is raw. It is unsettling. It exposes injustice that cannot be undone. And yet, it is profoundly worth reading.
Because it honors the women who endured. Because it tells the truth without surrendering hope. Because it reminds us that even in systems marked by human failure, individual acts of courage and love still shine.
Some books comfort us.
Others break our hearts open.
The Forgotten Midwife does both.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Laura Anthony’s *The Forgotten Midwife* is the latter.
It is not a gentle story. It is not meant to be. Rooted in the historical reality of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and mother-and-baby homes, this novel enters a place many would prefer to leave sealed. It opens doors that were closed deliberately—by institutions, by families, and by frightened young women who had no safe place to put their grief.
And yet, it is not a book of despair.
It is a book about women who refused to let love die, even when everything around them seemed arranged to extinguish it.
Told in dual timelines, the novel follows Riley Carmichael in present-day America as she uncovers a hidden piece of her family’s past, and Margaret Lannigan, a young Irish woman in the 1950s compelled by family obligation to enter the Sisters of Mercy after her sister’s death. Margaret does not enter religious life through personal calling, but through duty—a generational promise she inherits without consent. She is sent to a home for “fallen girls,” where her instinct for compassion collides with a system structured around shame, silence, and control.
Margaret is not a rebel by nature. She is a young woman who wanted an ordinary life: love, marriage, and children of her own. Her suffering is not chosen heroism. It is an imposed loss.
And yet, in quiet and costly ways, she resists.
She sees the girls not as sinners to be corrected, but as frightened daughters and mothers. She sees their babies as human beings worthy of tenderness. She refuses—not dramatically, but persistently—to surrender her humanity.
This is what makes the novel so difficult to read, and so necessary.
The cruelty depicted here is not theatrical villainy. It is institutional coldness justified by fear—fear of scandal, fear of sin, fear of social collapse. Families surrender their daughters not because they do not love them, but because they believe there is no other way. The Church, which should have been a refuge, becomes an instrument of concealment instead. And the girls themselves absorb the devastating message that their very existence has become a problem to be solved.
It is gut-wrenching.
There were moments when I wanted to stop reading. Moments when the suffering felt unbearable. Moments when anger rose unbidden. And yet I could not look away. I want to put it down and not finish. But I wanted to know what happened more.
Because woven into the darkness is something stronger than cruelty: fidelity.
Margaret’s quiet courage. The fragile bonds between the women. The instinct to protect life, even at great personal cost. These acts do not dismantle the system, but they testify to something deeper than the system ever could: the irreducible dignity of the human person.
For readers of faith—particularly Catholic readers—this book may be especially painful. It is painful to see the Church, which is meant to be the mother, depicted as a source of suffering. It is painful because the historical failures were real. To pretend otherwise would be dishonest.
But Anthony’s novel also reveals something essential: the distinction between faith itself and the human failures carried out in its name.
Margaret’s compassion is not separate from her faith—it flows from it. Her conscience, her reverence for life, her refusal to abandon these women—all emerge from the same moral soil. The tragedy here is not belief, but what happens when fear eclipses mercy, when institutions protect themselves instead of the vulnerable they were meant to serve.
The present-day storyline offers resolution without erasing sorrow, underscoring how deeply these hidden histories continue to shape families generations later.
Laura Anthony writes with restraint and reverence for the truth. She does not sensationalize suffering. She allows it to stand plainly, trusting the reader to bear witness.
This is not an easy book to recommend. It is raw. It is unsettling. It exposes injustice that cannot be undone. And yet, it is profoundly worth reading.
Because it honors the women who endured. Because it tells the truth without surrendering hope. Because it reminds us that even in systems marked by human failure, individual acts of courage and love still shine.
Some books comfort us.
Others break our hearts open.
The Forgotten Midwife does both.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
This beautifully written emotional novel is the second novel by Laura Anthony that I have loved. Her first was The Women on Platform Two. These two novels have put her on automatic buy list and I'm already looking forward to what she writes next.
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's very difficult to deal with her disease. On one of her trips to visit her grandmother, Betty knows who Riley is and gives her a 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 are 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 woman even in the worst of circumstances.
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's very difficult to deal with her disease. On one of her trips to visit her grandmother, Betty knows who Riley is and gives her a 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 are 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 woman even in the worst of circumstances.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I can't remember the last book that brought tears...
Thank you for my Advanced Copy from a Goodreads Giveaway.
Much of the book I spent wondering what the connection would be between the women in the dual storylines.
The novel begins with Riley, a modern girl engaged and planning a wedding with little family around. Then her grandmother reveals a secret that sets her on a search.
Then you meet Margaret (in 1956 Ireland) who's life plans are quickly disrupted to be kept captive in a closed-convent to become a nun and then be sent to help at a home for unwed pregnant girls.
Most of the book is following Margaret's story. Based on the true history of forcing young pregnant girls into convent run laundries that continued in Ireland until the 90's.
Both the treatment of the young girls being forced into life as nuns and the emotional and physical abuse in the laundry, range from disturbing to absolute horror. But it is true. Look up "Magdalene laundries" when you are done and you'll realize that Laura Anthony probably spared us from the worst of the horrors that went on.
The novel really allows you to feel the emotions of Margaret - fear, sadness, frustration, disgust,... My only critique is that I wish there was a bit more to Riley's story. But, of course, the focus is on the "fallen girls home"; the people that allowed it, the girls, and the ones that risked everything knowing that things had to change. And the author does a fantastic job engaging the reader into the life of a nun, who is much in turmoil, trying to save the girls without the repercussions increasing the abuse.
Be sure to read the Author's Note.
Thank you for my Advanced Copy from a Goodreads Giveaway.
Much of the book I spent wondering what the connection would be between the women in the dual storylines.
The novel begins with Riley, a modern girl engaged and planning a wedding with little family around. Then her grandmother reveals a secret that sets her on a search.
Then you meet Margaret (in 1956 Ireland) who's life plans are quickly disrupted to be kept captive in a closed-convent to become a nun and then be sent to help at a home for unwed pregnant girls.
Most of the book is following Margaret's story. Based on the true history of forcing young pregnant girls into convent run laundries that continued in Ireland until the 90's.
Both the treatment of the young girls being forced into life as nuns and the emotional and physical abuse in the laundry, range from disturbing to absolute horror. But it is true. Look up "Magdalene laundries" when you are done and you'll realize that Laura Anthony probably spared us from the worst of the horrors that went on.
The novel really allows you to feel the emotions of Margaret - fear, sadness, frustration, disgust,... My only critique is that I wish there was a bit more to Riley's story. But, of course, the focus is on the "fallen girls home"; the people that allowed it, the girls, and the ones that risked everything knowing that things had to change. And the author does a fantastic job engaging the reader into the life of a nun, who is much in turmoil, trying to save the girls without the repercussions increasing the abuse.
Be sure to read the Author's Note.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Forgotten Midwife is a gut-wrenching read. While it is hard to read, each page - through the character and work of Margaret -is full of hope, resistance, and strength. Margaret has been betrayed by her parents, her priest, and the church, forced to become a nun in 1950s Ireland after her older sister (previously promised to the church) tragically dies. She could have chosen despair - but instead, when presented with the opportunity to become a midwife, she chooses to help the girls sent to the Magdalene Laundry run by her order. Her story is beautiful, and the book explores that in contrast with modern day Riley, an American who recently learns her family has an Irish connection. The interplay of their stories is told slowly, and then all at once.
This is a beautiful book, very hard to read at times, but well worth it. I've read of other mother and baby homes and expected a gentler story. Instead, I learned about the harsh realities of the Magdalene Laundries and the history that the church and state in Ireland waited so long to address. Laura Anthony tells this story with courage and kindness to honor the mothers and babies affected by these "homes." This is the type of story that makes you consider what you would have done when presented with this harsh reality, culture of fear, and small town politics. I am so glad I read this book, and will seek out other books by this author!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.
This is a beautiful book, very hard to read at times, but well worth it. I've read of other mother and baby homes and expected a gentler story. Instead, I learned about the harsh realities of the Magdalene Laundries and the history that the church and state in Ireland waited so long to address. Laura Anthony tells this story with courage and kindness to honor the mothers and babies affected by these "homes." This is the type of story that makes you consider what you would have done when presented with this harsh reality, culture of fear, and small town politics. I am so glad I read this book, and will seek out other books by this author!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I've read about the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland in past novels but never with the clarity and description as in The Lost Midwife. The author's notes are a must-read and give credibility to the cruelty directed at the "fallen girls" and the hypocrisy of the Catholic church during this period in history. The Lost Midwife is two stories told approximately 50 years apart and connected. It is not written in alternating dual timelines. The modern day story is introduced at the beginning but the author focusses on the story of the past in a linear fashion. A a reader, you know where you are going to end up but there is pretty much a straight path to get there. Occasionally, the author pops in a chapter in present day, just as a reminder but not as a distraction.
The characters in the laundry/convent tore at my heart and I couldn't put them aside until I got to the end of the book. The story of those young women, those conscripted into the closed order of nuns, and those who became pregnant without husbands, equally impacted me. These are stories that need to be told. Thank you to the published and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my unbiased review. I look forward to publication day.
The characters in the laundry/convent tore at my heart and I couldn't put them aside until I got to the end of the book. The story of those young women, those conscripted into the closed order of nuns, and those who became pregnant without husbands, equally impacted me. These are stories that need to be told. Thank you to the published and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my unbiased review. I look forward to publication day.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Forgotten Midwife by Laura Anthony is an intriguing story about the atrocities of the Catholic church in Ireland in the 1950's. The story is set in two settings, the 1950's and current time, and the storyline ties together families stretched across the oceans, in a thought provoking and heartbreaking story. The main figure in the story is Margaret, who lives during the 1950's in a small town in Ireland and aspires to be wed to her long time boyfriend and leave the area for the big city. But tragedy strikes and she ends up in a convent. The historical references as to how she got there and the processes within the Catholic church in Ireland during that time are astounding. As Margaret becomes Sister Margeret, she ends up being transferred to a different convent area, that addresses unwanted pregnancies and how the church "dealt with" girls who found themselves in this situation. The shocking tragedy inside the home for unwed girls was gut wrenching. The humanity of the rescues as the book continued brought hope!
This book is worth every second to read and I literally could not put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the Advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
This book is worth every second to read and I literally could not put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the Advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Laura Anthony’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 opens in 2020s New Jersey with soon-to-be married Riley Carmichael yearning for family—her fiancé and future in-laws are wonderful, but her own parents and grandfather have passed away and her grandmother is suffering from dementia and living at a nursing home. After her grandmother shares a document and keepsake with her during a rare lucid moment, the book flashes back to the primary storyline. In 1950s Ireland after a family tragedy, Margaret Lannigan is forced to join the Sisters of Penance, and then work at a Fallen Home for Girls. There, she quickly learns to help and protect the young women cast aside by their parents for becoming pregnant outside of marriage.
Based on true events, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 shares an important and often difficult look into the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland. Since I was already familiar with that part of history and I wasn’t quite grabbed by the author’s straightforward writing style, I felt like this book wasn’t really for me. But I think this novel will appeal to other historical fiction and women’s fiction lovers who have not heard much about the subject.
3.5 stars. Thank you to Gallery Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Based on true events, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 shares an important and often difficult look into the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland. Since I was already familiar with that part of history and I wasn’t quite grabbed by the author’s straightforward writing style, I felt like this book wasn’t really for me. But I think this novel will appeal to other historical fiction and women’s fiction lovers who have not heard much about the subject.
3.5 stars. Thank you to Gallery Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway!
Although this is told in dual timelines, it is mainly told from Maggie's view. Maggie is a young Irish girl who is madly in love and hoping to marry her childhood boyfriend, Joseph. When her older sister falls ill and passes away, she is told by her father that she will take her place as a woman given to God for service to become a nun. She is then shipped off to a convent fully expecting to write a letter to Joseph in the hopes he will come rescue her. After a time, she is sent to a nearby building where young women are sent when they are pregnant and unwanted by their families. The matron Mother there is extremely cruel to the young mothers. It is hard to imagine all these girls go through during their stays there. Maggie cares for them and learns how to deliver their babies without any training or medical equipment. The priest that took Maggie from her family is just awful.
This is a very talented author. I look forward to reading more of her work.
The story has a nicely wrapped up ending, and I highly recommend this book when it comes out in the spring of 2026.
Although this is told in dual timelines, it is mainly told from Maggie's view. Maggie is a young Irish girl who is madly in love and hoping to marry her childhood boyfriend, Joseph. When her older sister falls ill and passes away, she is told by her father that she will take her place as a woman given to God for service to become a nun. She is then shipped off to a convent fully expecting to write a letter to Joseph in the hopes he will come rescue her. After a time, she is sent to a nearby building where young women are sent when they are pregnant and unwanted by their families. The matron Mother there is extremely cruel to the young mothers. It is hard to imagine all these girls go through during their stays there. Maggie cares for them and learns how to deliver their babies without any training or medical equipment. The priest that took Maggie from her family is just awful.
This is a very talented author. I look forward to reading more of her work.
The story has a nicely wrapped up ending, and I highly recommend this book when it comes out in the spring of 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Wow, what a story! The author did an amazing job telling this sad but true story based on facts of the Magdalene laundries. Her characters become so real in the novel that this reader became emotional involved with them. It’s hard to believe in the twentieth century women were treated so inhumanly for having a baby out of wedlock. What’s harder to believe are all the people involved and the knowledge the public had about the workings of these homes for those pregnant girls. Also, the decisions made by parents for their children’s future careers without even consulting them is hard to conceive. I applaud the author for highlighting for investigating and highlighting this harrowing time. I loved the first book by this author, “The Women on Platform Two” and this was as well! HIGHLY recommend! Not to be missed!
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced e-galley of the book. All opinions expressed are truly my own.
#TheForgottenMidwife #LauraAnthony #GalleryBooks
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced e-galley of the book. All opinions expressed are truly my own.
#TheForgottenMidwife #LauraAnthony #GalleryBooks
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for writing a review.
Hurrah 2026! I’m on a roll.
I’m not crying, you’re crying….was my first thought reading the book. It’s a dual storyline that comes together at the end, definitely a favorite.
Ireland in the 50s was oh, so controlled by the Catholic Church, and this story brings out the worst of it. The faithfulness and fear in the families was palpable. The shocking tragedy inside the laundry was gut wrenching. The humanity of the rescues brought me back to my senses.
I was shocked, saddened, angered (actually so angered in the beginning between “I can’t take another chapter” and “OMG then what happened?”), heart warmed, cheering, nauseated, and could.not.look.away!
I’m going to turn around and ask that my library get a copy and I might even do it for book club.
I loved it! 5*
Hurrah 2026! I’m on a roll.
I’m not crying, you’re crying….was my first thought reading the book. It’s a dual storyline that comes together at the end, definitely a favorite.
Ireland in the 50s was oh, so controlled by the Catholic Church, and this story brings out the worst of it. The faithfulness and fear in the families was palpable. The shocking tragedy inside the laundry was gut wrenching. The humanity of the rescues brought me back to my senses.
I was shocked, saddened, angered (actually so angered in the beginning between “I can’t take another chapter” and “OMG then what happened?”), heart warmed, cheering, nauseated, and could.not.look.away!
I’m going to turn around and ask that my library get a copy and I might even do it for book club.
I loved it! 5*
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
This book was amazing and completely drew me in from start to finish. The historical setting is rich and immersive, making it easy to feel transported to the time and place of the story. The main character is strong, compassionate, and brilliantly written, and I loved following her journey. The plot is full of tension, emotion, and meaningful challenges that kept me turning the pages. I also appreciated how the story balances personal struggles with broader societal issues in a thoughtful way. The writing is vivid and heartfelt, making every scene feel alive. Overall, this was a flawless five star read that I absolutely loved.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I got this book from the giveaway. This was a really intense read. The topic was extremely informative and I can tell it was well researched. I think it was very detailed, and somewhat distressing to read. I read books in the past on similar topics but nothing like this. Enjoyable would be the wrong word rather more informed. As a woman, it hurts to know and understand the things that went on years ago even if they don't happen anymore. The rights and freedoms we possess now are far beyond of what used to be. I am impressed though of the courage of women who speak out regardless of the circumstances and consequences.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Wow. The story of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland is not new material. A place for "fallen girls" to be reformed and have their babies is a brutal story. But the way author, Laura Anthony, writes from the nun, Sister Margaret's, point of view in the fictional Ballyvale Laundry is captivating. Not only were the girls prisoners, but so were some nuns who were forced into the vocation by the vocation of their parents. In The Forgotten Midwife, Sister Margaret "Maggie-pie" is horrified by the conditions of the laundry and what she saw. And yet, she stays in order to do what she can to help.
I could write so much more and spoil the story...so please just read it.
I could write so much more and spoil the story...so please just read it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
If there’s one thing writing this book has taught me, it’s that time is precious. I’m so grateful you chose to spend some of yours reading The Forgotten Midwife. Though history can bring heartache, I hope you find moments of light and hope in these pages, and that these characters stay with you for a little while—or a long while—just as they have stayed with me.
February 25, 2026
my favorite read so far in 2026. such an easy read, too- easy to absorb, easy to relate to, easy to care about. the beginning had me hooked, the middle had me indignant, and the end had me weeping with both sorrow and joy. to those of you who tend to skip the authors notes, read this one. you won’t regret it.
thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC!!
thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC!!
February 26, 2026
An intriguing story! I really enjoyed the past timeline. Margaret’s journey was a page turner. She was a great character and I liked her right away. The history of this event was interesting and I enjoyed learning about it. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Forgotten Midwife is an engaging novel relating the horrors of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. I was immediately drawn in to the book and the love story between Margaret and Joseph, a young couple in rural Ireland. Things changed rapidly and tragically; and next Maggie is a convent working with unwed mothers. What follows is a tale of the horrendous treatment of unwed mothers by the nuns of the convent. This abuse became worse and worse and ultimately the never-ending horrors kept me from rating this a 4. Very well written and engaging characters. If you are not aware of this shameful history of the Catholic Church this will informative and well worth your time.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Uhdcijexjbeijciehcircnjcrdkj
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Test
Review of advance copy received from Storygraph
Test good
February 18, 2026
Excellent book. So many families have been affected by homes for “fallen girls”.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5⭐️
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews