Frozen River - Ariel Lawhon - Top Book Pick!

Historical Fiction

Rating: 8.5/10

I read very few historical fiction books and if you asked me what prompted me to pick this one up, I would be hard pressed to tell you. What I can tell you is that I am so glad I did.

Martha was a midwife and healer living in the 1700’s and this book brings in elements of this real-life woman’s history, told through diary’s she faithfully maintained, and infused the story with just a touch of the fictional.

When Martha is called to examine a dead man who has been entombed in ice, she has no idea that her life is going to become much more troublesome. Because of her position, she is privy to what goes’ on behind closed doors and the secrets people keep in ways most women of the time were not. And many, including the doctor that has showed up in their small community and the judge whose crimes she has witnessed, don’t like that very much.

I loved Martha, she was dogged in her pursuit of the truth, steadfastly loyal to her patients, brave, and much cleverer than any who try to silence her. And the love story she and her husband share was a lovely surprise in a story that could at times be weighty.

A passage for you, so you get a sense of the author’s writing…

“I record the details of my neighbor’s and patients’ lives for safekeeping. Memory is a wicked thing that warps and twists. But paper and ink receive the truth without emotion and give in back without judgement. That, I believe is why so few women are taught to read and write. God only knows that they might do with the power of the pen at their disposal.”

Book Pairing(s): Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon, Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan, The Marriage Of Opposites by Alice Hoffman