Hannah Sokolow, the spirited heroine of Gay Courter’s international bestseller, "The Midwife," returns in this powerful story to face new medical challenges in turn-of-the-century New York. As head midwife at Bellevue Hospital, Hannah sees her proud profession usurped by the male-dominated practice of obstetrics. So when a young immigrant woman seeks a solution to a troubling but delicate personal problem, Hannah takes a bold step toward the new medical frontier of sex therapy. Soon she is giving intimate advice not only to her immigrant patients, but also to the intellectual of Greenwich Village who inspire her with radical new ideas on such issues as birth control, sex education, and healthy care. And there are other momentous changes in store for Hannah. For when her husband follows his heart to the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, Hannah follows hers—into a searing affair with a prominent doctor who is separated from her by faith, class, and marriage, but who is drawn to her by a fierce desire that matches her own.