Midwyf: Liza

The year is 1339. Liza’s midwifery skills are needed by the inhabitants of Hollingham. Knowing this keeps the lonely old woman going, together with the occasional ‘trip’ to her long dead husband and children. But she makes one mistake, and the villagers begin to suspect she is using occult spells to harm them. She tries desperately to regain their trust, but time is running short. Rosalind, rich, lonely and naïve, wants to experience true love and falls in love with a monk, by whom she conceives a child. Liza and the Lady Isabella, Rosalind’s mother, must pick up the pieces. None of the three women will ever be the same again.

LIZA is the first book in the MIDWIFE series, which tells the story of midwives, women and childbirth in England from medieval to modern times.

Author's note - This book was previously titled 'MIDWYF: LISA'. The cover still contains the old title because I like the medieval spelling, but the 'official' title brings the book into line with the series.
MIDWIFE: BEATRIX, set in Hollingham and London in the 1630s, is due to be published early 2013.


Valerie Levy holds a PhD in Midwifery Studies from the University of Sheffield. She has published in many professional, peer reviewed journals, and co-edited the ‘Midwifery Practice’ series of textbooks, which are still in use worldwide. Now retired, Valerie lives in France with her husband.