First published 2007
Sibyl Danforth has delivered babies in rural Reddington, Vermont for fifteen years. On a brutal winter night in 1981, ice blocks the roads and phone lines fail as she attends a difficult birth. The mother appears to die during labor. To save the baby, Sibyl performs an emergency cesarean section. Her assistant later claims the woman was still alive when Sibyl cut into her. The state charges Sibyl with murder. Her fourteen-year-old daughter Connie watches as prosecutors, doctors, and the community turn against her mother. The trial becomes a battle between traditional medicine and midwifery, between legal certainty and moral ambiguity. Sibyl questions her own actions as evidence mounts against her. The case forces everyone involved to confront what they believe about life, death, and the split-second decisions that determine both.
Genres: fiction, drama, medical, mystery, contemporary, legal-thriller
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: moral-ambiguity, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Reddington, Vermont
Period: 1981
Audio CD · Random House Audio
Content warnings: medical-trauma