The Frozen River

“The Frozen River” by Ariel Lawson begins with a birth and a death. It’s 1789 in rural Maine at the start of the coldest winter in memory. Midwife Martha Ballard assists at the disappointing birth of a family’s third daughter: the blacksmith had hoped for a helpful son. Then Martha is called again into the frigid night to examine the body of a murdered man hacked from the frozen Kennebec River. The victim is one of two men accused of raping the village clergyman’s wife; the other is the town’s most powerful figure.
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Midwife and healer Martha Ballard is thrust into the middle of a chilling mystery in 1789 Maine: who murdered the villager entombed in ice? She examines the victim and puts forth her theory, but a local physician undermines her conclusions. She is forced to investigate the murder on her own and struggle with her knowledge of a scandal long buried in the village. The Frozen River is a suspenseful read about a courageous woman largely forgotten by history.

So interesting to read about times before the USA was a country. Not a good time to be a woman!

A mystery set in the late 1700s in rural Maine, this book vividly brought forward the past without belabouring the point. I loved the protagonist and her passion for her work as a midwife and healer, and her quest for the truth. Her very sexy relationship with her husband didn't hurt either.

This book centers on Martha Ballard, who I know from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's nonfiction history book The Midwife's Tale. I loved seeing Ballard's story come to life even more in this fictional setting!

This book is based on the real-life diaries of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer in very early America. Throughout US history, her diaries have been used as brilliant primary source material for any number of cultural inquiries.

This particular novel of historical fiction tells the story of Martha's involvement in examining a body that's been entombed in the ice of the Kennebec River. Her determination of the cause of death is undermined by a relatively new doctor in the community and Martha is forced to defend herself and her findings as tensions mount against her.

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I remember learning about midwife Martha Ballad in college, when I took a woman's history course, so I was excited to see that she had become the main character of this recent historical mystery.  Lawhon brings to life the world of postcolonial Massachusetts, vividly describing day-to-day life on the frontier and the particular hardships faced by women, many of which still exist in our modern society. Although the murder that opens the novel first enticed me, the author's ability to immerse me in the early 18th century was what really made me love the book, for I've always loved history.… show more.

I loved that this tale of a midwife in the U.S. in the 1700's is based on an actual woman, Martha Ballard, one of the few women of her time and place who had learned how to read and write. Her choice to keep a written journal of her wide-ranging medical practice provides dramatic insights to the period and touches upon her experiences with high drama, including murder and rape. I was struck by the fact that life in our newly formed nation was not yet firmly protected by the rule of well-established laws. A truly gripping story!

I love books that transcend genre and suck you in simply because they are great stories. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction and murder mysteries, but The Frozen River wraps those elements into a cleverly plotted and beautifully written tale. Martha Ballard, the 18th-century midwife at the heart of the story, is a hero for the ages and I loved spending time with her.