The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

 

Summary (from the publisher): A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Review: Set in Maine in 1789, this novel follows midwife Martha Ballard over the course of six months. Early one morning in the depths of winter, Martha is called to examine a body and to determine the cause of death due to her role as a midwife and healer in her town. The man who was found dead by apparent hanging was the same man accused of raping a patient of Martha's. But when a local physician undermines her analysis and declares the death accidental in nature, Martha begins to investigate events on her own. As winter drags on and the trial approaches, Martha and her family become embroiled in the heart of the scandal, which includes one of the town's most respected gentleman, who has a secret agenda and schemes of his own. All the while, Martha continues to care for and worry over her patients and her family of mostly grown children, with grown worries to match them.

I absolutely adored this novel. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was not the richly layered and complex story I found. The mystery behind the body found in the river, the suspense that builds over the course of the novel surrounding the trial and the hidden maneuverings of multiple characters, was all deeply compelling. I loved the inclusions of so much detail on Martha's profession. She is a skillful and busy midwife and cares not just for their wellbeing in labor but in a much greater sense. For instance, she is greatly concerned about those that face slander for conceiving out of wedlock, and the toil that the rape takes on her patient who originally accused the two men. Martha has experienced her own losses and own traumas that lend empathy and compassion to the care and advice she doles out. All the while, the setting, in the bitter cold of a Maine winter, amid the crackling and popping of ice on the river, put pressure on the dark undercurrent of events happening in the town. 

Martha is also just a very likable character. She is such a strong woman who is more concerned with doing what she believes to be right than with what others think of her. I loved that she was not an inexperienced youth but an older woman of 54, with years of experience and wisdom under her belt. She is wise enough to hold her tongue when warranted and when to call attention to the truth. While her children are not as ever present since most are now grown, her love for them is still evident throughout: "It is hard to have an oldest child, but harder still to have a youngest. Soon he too will have a beard like Cyrus and an Adam's apple like Jonathan. Soon he will spend half his nights away, and that will be the end of childhood in our home" (30). 

Among the many, many things I loved about this novel, perhaps the greatest is the deep devotion and love that exist between Martha and her husband Ephraim: "I step into my husband's arms, soaking up his warmth and scent. We are in the twilight years of a long love affair, and it has recently occurred to me that a day will come when one of us buries the other. But, I remind myself, that is the happy ending to a story like ours. It is a vow made and kept. Till death do us part. It is the only acceptable outcome to a long and happy marriage" (93). The flashbacks that show their early days of marriage only serve to underscore the tenderness that lives between the two. While their love story and their marriage are not the central focus of the book, it added greatly to my appreciation for the book. I find that portrayals of happy marriages seem rare in fiction and am always delighted to come across a character who divines the same satisfaction from their spouse that I myself find.   

I love that Martha Ballard is based on the real life and diary of the true Martha Ballard, a well-known 18th century midwife. "Martha Ballard is the great-aunt of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. She is also the great-great-grandmother of Mary Hobart, one of the first female physicians in the United States. She left a medical legacy in this country that is unmatched" (424). In a time when few women were literate, and it certainly wasn't commonplace to record a journal even if they were, Martha chose to record a journal for decades, words that have survived until this day. It is this diary that has preserved her for our posterity and reveals the honest, intelligent woman, who sometimes struggled to follow the prejudiced outlooks of her day. While Lawhon did take some liberties with the true account in this fictional account, I loved getting to learn a bit about the real woman through this novel. 

One small complaint! I found all of this to read historically accurate with the great exception of one laboring mother responding by using the word "Okay" (297). This is set decades before that word was first introduced and stuck out like a sore thumb to me! I am shocked an editor didn't catch it. But the book was so wonderful, I do of course forgive this one tiny error. 

Stars: 5