The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

 

My thoughts

First let me say that you have to read Author's Notes at the end. There are quite a few interesting things said there. 

"I have been at home". This is said a lot in Martha's diary entries. Also the author says, "Me too, Martha. Me too." Here I will add my Me Too, been home!

This is a very interesting book. It's set in the late 1700's and goes through six months. From finding a body in the frozen river to how it got there. Who could have put it there. And why it's there. You will find out the answers to this. You get to know a lot of the town's people also. How things went back in this era. 

Men got public hanging for rape. But first it had to be proved. First a woman had to PROVE it happened and by whom. Women could not even testify in a court of law unless their fathers or husbands were by their sides. That makes no sense but it happened. It was a fairly vital part of this story too. 

If a woman fornicated and found herself pregnant, she had to go to court and tell who the father was. Get a fine and possible jail time. If she refused to tell who the father was she got fined more and more jail time. How horrible was this. The man got nothing. Maybe a pat on the back by others and a "job well done" by others. Men just didn't get punished for much it seems. I mean they don't just rape a woman in public where there are possible witnesses. 

Martha Ballard was a midwife and very good at her job. She trained at a somewhat young age for this job. She never lost a woman in all the many births she attended. She knew how to do her job. She was a respected woman in the town. This is her story. Told from the time a woman accuses two men of rape and going back in time a few times for her, Martha's, back story. One of the men was the one found in the river. The other was a respected judge. 

This is told during the cold winter. You can almost feel the freezing river. The bitter cold air. The burning in your lungs from the cold. The town in your mind you can picture. It's really well written. Parts of this story were a bit hard to read but it was a necessary part. Parts will make you angry and made me see how unfair life could be. At least for females.

I've not read any of this author's books but will definitely be looking for more. While this book made me cringe in places it also left me feeling like things would be ok. Like Martha and her family would be fine. 

I got this as my BOTM choice and am glad I did. I enjoyed reading it. I learned a few things too. I always learn something from a book. This one is a based on an actual woman. An actual Midwife in the 1700s. What she went through and what she did for her family and friends. 

5/5 stars from me. It's so worth reading.

About

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes 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.