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
investigates a shocking murder that unhinges her small community.
Maine, 1789: The Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice.
Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of
death. As the local midwife and healer, Martha is good at keeping
secrets. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, every murder
and debacle that unfolds in the town of Hallowell. In that diary she
also documented the details of an alleged rape that occurred four months
earlier. Now, one of the men accused of that heinous attack has been
found dead in the ice.
While Martha is certain she knows what happened the night of the
assault, she suspects that the two crimes are linked, and that there is
more to both cases than meets the eye. Over the course of one long, hard
winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha's
diary lands at the center of the scandal and threatens to tear both her
family and her community apart.
In her newest offering, Ariel Lawhon brings to life a brave and
compassionate unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than
justice on behalf of those no one else would protect. The Frozen River
is a thrilling, tense, and tender story of a remarkable woman who had
the courage to take a stand, and in the process wrote herself into
American history.
