Students often have to read excerpts from various books or stories as English homework. Rarely do those excerpts come from a book the English teacher wrote.
For Jodi Daynard’s class, though, this is the case.
Recently, Daynard published a work of historical fiction called The Midwife’s Revolt. Set in 1770s Massachusetts, the novel follows the story of midwife Lizzie Boylston, who, after having her life struck by widowhood, finds herself thrust into historical circumstances with the meeting of Abigail Adams and then with her search to uncover the mystery of several killed Patriots.
The idea came to her while reading Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s The Midwife’s Tale.
“I was fascinated by how close a family and a midwife can get,” Daynard said. “It made me wonder what happens when a midwife is sent to prepare a body for burial and figures out that [the person] hasn’t died of natural causes.”
From that wonder, The Midwife’s Revolt was born.
“I’ve always been fascinated with American history,” Daynard said. “The leaders of that time were so smart and creative. I was wondering what the women were doing.”
During her research, Daynard visited the Quincy and Massachusetts historical societies and kept a three-year daily calendar, recording everything from births and deaths to the weather.
“You could tell that she did a lot of research because it looks historically accurate,” said junior Hans Hysenaj, one of Daynard’s students.
While she did not purposefully model any of her characters after real people, Daynard admits to the midwife resembling herself in many respects—as she put it, they are both brainy. “But she’s smarter than I am—especially in her medical gifts,” Daynard said.
Daynard also says one of her friends pointed a similarity between Abigail Adams and Daynard’s husband. “We don’t always do things consciously,” she said.
Daynard said that her purpose throughout the novel is to explore the untold story of women.
“The woman’s struggle for independence correlates with the struggle for independence of the time,” Daynard said.
After publishing the book, Daynard gave it in excerpts to her English class to read. This is her first published novel—prior to this, Daynard wrote multiple personal essays and contemporary short stories.
Daynard has been writing for herself since kindergarten. She suggests to future writers to establish the habit of routine. “The only way to really learn is through trial and error, whether it’s keeping a diary or writing creatively every day,” Daynard said. “I did that for 20 years before I started creating products.”
The novel is available online and on Kindle, and will be available in bookstores mid-December. The New England Mobile Book Fair will be hosting an event where Daynard reads from her book on Jan. 15. The book has also recently been on display in the school library.
She will also be reading during B, C, and F blocks in the Lecture Hall on Thursday, Dec. 20.
Daynard encourages all students to write. “There is so much pleasure to be had in entering a world you’ve created,” she said. “So many students are good at it. You can surprise yourself.”
