Last month, I promised to start the new year off with something besides a romance novel. I can’t lie – I was in need of a palette cleanser, too, after all of that sugary sweet love business. I probably should have picked one from my overflowing bookcase, which has been lingering for a while. Still, when Ariel Lawhon’s “The Frozen River” showed up in my mailbox, I barely had it out of the envelope when I instantly forgot about the little room at the top of the stairs that is bursting with neglected books and dove headfirst into the world of 18th century Maine and renowned midwife Martha Ballard.
In 1789, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body of a man who had been entombed in the frozen Kennebec River and help determine his cause of death. As a midwife, Martha is privy to a lot of things that happen behind closed doors in her small town, and she records every birth, death, crime, and more that happens there. Months earlier, Martha had recorded an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen – one of whom happens to be the man found in the frozen river. Upon examining the body, it is clear to Martha that his death was no accident – but when a local physician undermines Martha’s conclusion, she has no choice but to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, with the trial drawing nearer and Martha searching for the truth, she finds that her diaries may hold the clues she needs to solve the mystery.
I sat down with this book one afternoon and was immediately sucked in, and I couldn’t stop reading until I was done. Martha Ballard was an actual midwife and this book is inspired by her actual diary entries, which is such a fascinating look into what life was like then. “The Frozen River” is a historical midwife story that meets a whodunit, and it is fascinating. If you loved Claire in the “Outlander” series, or if maybe you checked out a book I reviewed a couple of months ago called “Marmee,” by Sarah Miller and enjoyed it, you will love “The Frozen River.” This is a piece of historical fiction that will no doubt stay with me for a long time, and it sent me down a research rabbit hole, craving more of Martha Ballard’s story.
I hope you give this book a try – I am dying to hear what other readers think. Come over to my Instagram @allison.the.reader, where I am reading and rambling as usual, and let me know what you think of this book and tell me all about what you are reading this week.
Allison Diegel is the Executive Chaos Coordinator at the Diegel Home for Wayward Girls and Their Many Pets here in her hometown of Fallon. She has been reading since before she could talk, and now she likes doing lots of both.
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