The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel

I just finished “The Frozen River” by Ariel Lawhon and it was fantastic! I will say that I started this book with much trepidation since I’d heard that parts of it were slow, but I must say I was immediately immersed in this story! It is historical fiction at its finest!It’s a story about a midwife, Martha Ballard, in the late 1700’s and her recording of all the births and deaths of her town. The story centers around the discovery of a body in the frozen river and Mistress Ballard is called upon to examine the body and determine the cause of death. She determines the body was murdered but a new doctor in town takes over the examination of the body and comes to a different conclusion. She is dismissed as an old illiterate country woman which couldn’t be further from the truth.The rich character development and the beautiful writing was so engrossing! I kept smelling that frozen river in my thoughts since the author depicted the scenery so well! I really enjoyed the time period as well! No cellphones or social media in this story. HahaMy only criticism is that there were a lot of characters to keep track of, so I definitely recommend reading this book when you can devote a lot of time and not stretch it out for a month. It was 440 pages and I think it took me 4 days to read it which made it easier to keep track of the multitude of characters.Be sure and read the author’s notes the end. Five stars from me! Just an excellent read! Go grab this book!

Ariel Lawhon is an established, best-selling novelist focusing on historical stories. THE FROZEN RIVER is my first experience with her work. The story is set in Maine in the late 1700s, and follows our hero, Martha Ballard, as she plies her trade (midwife) while navigating the political and social structures of that time. It should be noted that Martha and the many characters in this story were real—Martha herself being a famous figure for delivering over 1000 babies without loss of either baby or mother. Many of the events surrounding these characters in the novel are actual historical events. The story itself is fiction, of course, and the author lets us know in an epilogue how she wove both fact and fiction together.The story (kinda) revolves around a body (a man) found in the frozen Kennebec River, which is soon to be determined a murder. We soon discover the dead man is one of two suspects in the rape of one of Martha’s friends. I say “kinda” because the body is soon forgotten in favor of the rape accusation. The other suspect in the rape is a prominent judge (judge North) who is involved in various, nefarious business dealings around the area which connect to Martha and many of the locals. Martha is a key participant in the rape trial as she was the first to examine the victim.The writing is superb, and we can see why Lawhon is a best seller. Her characters (with the exception of North) are beautifully rendered with exceptional attention to personality and motivation. There are no stereotypes here. Lawhon’s writing is flows effortlessly, reveals intimately yet never gets in the way of the story. Lawhon’s not trying to impress us with her ability. So well done.That said, there are a couple of weaknesses to this story. As alluded above, there is not a strong driver—backbone—to propel the events. That is, the plot is weak and almost non-existent. We start with the murder (the body found in the river), but that is quickly gets forgotten in favor or the rape trial. This is all interspersed between the many births Martha attends. I you like “Call the Midwife” you’ll love this book. Even the trial isn’t that big of a compelling factor. I kept asking myself what’s on the line for the main character? What needs to the resolved? Heck, why are we here? Judge North, unlike the other characters is a one-dimensional bad guy from the start. I kept hoping the author would flip something on us, or spring some sort of surprise, but nope.Another weakness (very minor) is over-research. I expect the author to do her research to make it an authentic as possible, but I don’t want to be hit over the head by it. Multiple pages of how to make candles should’ve been rethought.The author has modernized several aspects of the main character and speech patterns of the time. Martha’s morals and attitudes would fit in well today. That’s ok, in this case. The author has to make the story and characters as palatable to readers as possible. It’s all about the sales.

So I remember now why I was always a history buff and why I love a great mystery. I absolutely loved this book inspired by such an inspirational real life woman, Martha Ballard. This story will, no doubt, stay with me forever for its rich characters and incredible events. So wonderfully written Ms. Lawhon. Thank you for bringing these people into my life, and for reminding me of my love of history! And thank you for your beautifully written Author’s Note and Acknowledgement statements…Love love love ♥️♥️♥️