The Midwife's Daughter by Patricia Ferguson

This is a wonderful book set in England in the beginning of the 20th century. It is about a midwife, Violet  Dimond, who lives in a small town. Her husband is dead and her son has emigrated to America. Her twin sister Bea,  with which she has never been of equal terms lives nearby and is running a home for orphans. On one visit Bea shows her a black girl of 2 years that has been found on the street. Violet is connecting to the girl since she reminds her of her dead daughter and decides to adopt her. She names her Grace.

The story tells of the difficulty to grow up in a small community being black at the time when people had hardly seen a black person in their lives. But also how difficult it is to be different. Prejudices and narrow mindedness is part of the life. But it is also a story about the changing times coming up towards the first world war. The poverty and the strife to survive the day.

The story follows Grace, Violet's and Bea's lives. Things are not always what they seem to be. The relationship between the sisters are coming to a point where they finally can talk to each other and look back to how their different lives developed. Is maybe Grace someone they know? Was there a purpose that she came in to their lives?