The Frozen River – by Ariel Lawhon – independent book review – Historical Fiction (United States)

It’s always impressive to me what a talented author can craft simply by combining meticulous research, nuggets of dry historical fact and an experienced imagination. I gave THE FROZEN RIVER four stars on Goodreads, but I’d probably give it 4.5 if I could.

The setting is shortly after the American Revolution (1775-83). There’s a new Constitution but the Bill of Rights hasn’t yet been ratified (1791). A new United States government is just figuring out how to operate. American dollars and British pounds are both in circulation and the local court system is in its infancy. And women are essentially controlled by their fathers or husbands. 

The novel centers on the story of Martha Ballard (1735-1812), a midwife-healer who lived with her husband and children along the shores of the Kennebec River in Maine. The actual Martha Ballard left behind little more than a daily diary (that she began at the age of 50) with terse, even cryptic, notations along with a few meager references in court documents. But the Martha Ballard author Lawhon creates is fully fleshed out — an intelligent, thoughtful, and somewhat flawed pillar of her community. 

Part historical fiction and part mystery, THE FROZEN RIVER offers such a rich picture at the early days of the United States. The way people lived, traveled, and communicated. The morality of the times. The second class citizenship of women. The ways people courted, married, and gave birth. And the uncertainty around whether local courts actually dispensed justice. And just like now, money meant power.

Early on in the novel, between delivering bunches of babies, Martha is called to evaluate a man’s body that has been recovered from the frozen river. Separately, she also visits the vicar’s wife, who confides that she has been the victim of a brutal rape. These two events form the core of the book’s building mystery, as Martha slowly works to piece together the truth. 

Like so many books these days, Lawhon employs a non-linear timeframe. It works pretty well, though personally I am not usually a fan of this construct. In this case, it means that, by the end of the book, you will learn how Martha and her husband got together, how they came to live where they are, the surprising path she took to become a midwife, and about the births of her own nine children. I think one of my favorite parts was being privy to the relationship between Martha and her husband, which was lovely and quite modern.

The novel is truly action-packed and builds to a suspenseful ending, that will surprise you. It’s a fast and compelling read.

Be sure to read the Author’s Note at the end of the book where Lawson provides much more information about what’s real and what’s imagined about Martha’s life, as well as what became of her children. But whatever you do, don’t read the Author’s Note until AFTER you’ve read the book.

More about the author, Ariel Lawhon.

You may be interested in my review of another book by Lawhon: THE WIFE, THE MAID, AND THE MISTRESS.