The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon: When a Midwife’s Journal Becomes a Weapon

Martha Ballard kept records of everything. Turns out, that was the most radical thing she could do.

Synopsis

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.

Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into history.

Audiobook review

5 stars and perfect fit for the narrator Jane Oppenheimer

The writing was so immersive that I couldn’t help but see every little details of the day to day life of a midwife and her community in the US in 1789. That’s what I am looking for when I am reading a historical fiction and that’s what I got here!

In The Frozen River, we follow Martha Ballard, a midwife in what we guess is her fifties, living in a small town.

A dead body has been found in the frozen river and she is called to examine the body. She does not only help giving birth, she also can give testimonials when a death occurs. Her conclusion is murder but the same day, a new physician from a “Ivy “college undermines her conclusion. Martha concluded death by hanging but no rope was found on or near the body…

That dead man though has been accused of raping the vicar’s wife with the help of the local judge.

It’s a little bit too convenient to have a witness disappeared…

We have two main story arcs here: finding the killer and waiting to see if Rebecca, the vicar’s wife, will get justice. But the judge is a powerful man and there are no witness left to the rape.

Let me tell you that I was disgusted by the justice system of that time as women were poorly treated!

Mind you, if a woman was pregnant out of wedlock, she got a fine and would go to prison if she refused to name the father! The man though would have nothing. Needless to say that victims of rape rarely got justice.

That book has lots of layers and was extremely well documented. The author gave so many details about the day to day life that I truly could see the tools, the people, the landscape, everything!

Martha recorded everything in her journal for years. Every birth or every death she had to examine. He journal always began with the day and a comment on the “weather” that seemed more her emotional weather than the real one. That journal will play a key role in the investigation and was a goldmine about midwifery and the life of that tight knit community.

But the story also shines through her characters. Ariel Lawhon gives us characters with depth. From Martha to her husband and sons to Rebecca, the vicar’s wife, everyone has a role to play and helped weave a tapestry of fates and souls.

Martha was a great character. A strong one. She had ethics and empathy. A deep sense of justice and a lot of fight in her. I also loved the poetic justice that was served to us.

Because truly, if the legal system of that time was lacking what could people do, right?

Now I am looking for Ariel Lawhon’s other work!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie