The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

(The Road to Nowhere Book 1)

What I Loved:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife is written as a diary of the main character. I found that to be such an intriguing way to tell this story. I loved that at times, she had others write their stories in her diary, so we got to see the experiences of others as well. I also loved that the author wrapped up loose ends with side characters, so we know where their stories went as well. It made the story feel complete.

How I Felt:

Oh, this book was gritty and raw. The writing didn’t pull any punches, making the reader feel the pain and suffering happening to characters. I felt disgusted at times when the characters would come across things that had happened, or were happening to people. There was little happiness in this book, it is post-apocalyptic, and as that genre goes, this book nailed it. There were moments, where I was so happy to have a ray of sunshine in the Midwife’s experiences. This helped to make the book ebb and flow just right.

The story is one of post-apocalyptic suvival. A fever has broken out, almost completely obliterating human life. The fever has made pregnancy almost entirely fatal to mother and child, making women extremely rare in the post-apocalyptic state. The Unnamed Midwife finds herself awakening from her fever in the aftermath of this devastating turn of events. She keeps a diary as she travels from town to town trying to survive. As she realizes the danger of being a women in a world where men wholly outnumber women, she begins to dress, walk, and talk like a man to fool people. This was a very interesting part of the story. The way she writes in her diary, you experience the transition she goes through, forcing herself to think this way, and then at times, falling back into being a woman. She encounters few people on her journey, but the ones she does encounter leave lasting impressions on her.

To Read or Not To Read:

With 5-star books, I’m usually saying “Everyone Read This!”, however, with this book, while it is 100% a 5-star-read for me, it has a lot of topics and language that could be offensive for people. So, here is my warning: F-Bombs, female anatomy words that are offensive, rape, death, fairly explicit sexual scenes. Other than all of that terrible bleakness, this book was amazing. I like the post-apocalyptic genre because I like to see how people would cope, what they do, how they eat, etc and this book did that for me. If you enjoy that, this book is for you.

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison is book 1 in the Road to Nowhere Series. Here are the links to my reviews.
The Book of Etta by Meg Elison
The Book of Flora by Meg Elison

Where To Find This Book:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison can be found at these sites.

Amazon Amazon Kindle Goodreads Bookshop.org

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When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead.

In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power—and the strong who possess it.

A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men’s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she’ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.

After all, if humanity is to be reborn, someone must be its guide.