Kettle Valley, West Virginia, may appear to be a quiet and simple place - women sit on front porches and quilt, men work in the coalmines, children wade in the creek, but it is also a world of secrets and mystery. As the mountains themselves protect the world within them, so does fourth-generation midwife Elizabeth Whitely keep hidden the darker side of the world she has helped to bring into being.

In The Midwife's Tale, Gretchen Moran Laskas offers us a glimpse into the not-so-distant past of Appalachia between the World Wars. A time of grassroots change and dramatic scientific advances, this was a era where many people felt caught in the middle, struggling to understand modern medicine, automobiles, telephones and airplanes, while still remembering their traditional ways and wisdom handed down from one generation to the next. Drawn from stories collected from her own family and others, The Midwife's Tale is a story of "complicated romance, hard wisdom, enduring loyalties and the miracles one person can bring to another." (Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek.)

Alive with characters confronting their own pasts, presents and futures, The Midwife's Tale is a poignant and original literary debut, asking questions about where we came from, and where we are going next.