The Blue Cotton Gown

A nurse-midwife takes readers behind the exam room door of her rural West Virginia clinic in this “utterly true and lyrical” memoir (Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean)

As a nurse-midwife and the manager of a women’s health clinic in West Virginia, Patricia “Patsy” Harman bears witness to the struggles and triumphs of every woman who walks through her exam room door. She sees Heather, a teenager pregnant with twins, through the loss of both babies and their father. She cares for Nila—a longtime patient who must try to make a new life without her abusive husband—and helps Kaz transition into a new body. The only thing more varied than these women’s backgrounds are their stories, which they share with Patsy inside her small clinic, covered only by a blue cotton gown.

In her memoir, Patsy juxtaposes these heartbreaking and uplifting tales with her own story of keeping a small medical practice solvent. She recounts conversations with her patients over the course of a year and a quarter—a time when her own life seems on the brink of collapse due to financial troubles, malpractice threats, serious medical problems, and marital strife. Honest, compassionate, and wise, TheBlue Cotton Gown is an unforgettable memoir that shines a light on the varied experiences of women everywhere.

“In her sweetly perceptive memoir, Harman reveals how her exam room becomes a confessional . . . she reminds [women] that they’re not alone.”
—People