Several of you blog readers recommended I read this and you were right! It was terrific!

This story is fleshed out from an actual archived journal of a real midwife, Martha Ballard, written in 1789 Maine on the shores of the Kennebec river.

It seamlessly entwines both historical fiction and a murder mystery in a small backwater town. A rape is central to the story, which is not easy to read, and that crime goes to trial in tandem with the murder charges. The themes here of patriarchy and the lack of women’s rights and respect, together with the wealthy acting entitled, don’t seem that different than today, but are very realistically and thoughtfully portrayed. It raises questions in the reader’s mind about what is just.

The main character is the midwife, and she is strong, competent, and principled; I liked her a lot. Pleasantly, she is also happily married, and fiction these days doesn’t give us many healthy marriages. Her husband honored her intelligent capabilities and stalwart independence, which is remarkable back then, just as it is now.  I won’t soon forget her, and wish I could know her, with her no-nonsense authenticity and her desire for universal integrity. As she wrote the journal entries, she also is the narrator, so we follow her around through her work, as she courageously unravels the truth.

I think The Frozen River would be a great choice for a fiction book group, as there are many things to discuss here. The writing is top notch, so now I want to read other books by this same author. Like your fellow blog readers before me, I heartily recommend this atmospheric, engrossing, deeply perceptive book. I give it five stars.