Goodreads Review: The Frozen River

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My favorite read of 2025. Inspired by real life events and the journal entries of Martha Ballard a wife, mother, midwife and who may even be considered an early feminist. At a time where woman had little personal rights and their voices silenced by the men in power, Martha Ballard manages to stand on her own moral code of conduct and bring to light a horrific act of evil.

Set in 1789 Maine, during what was known as "the year of the long winter," a man's frozen body is found Kennebec River. Martha recognizes the man who was named as an active participant in the rape of her close friend a few months prior, however he was released. As an investigation is made and trials are set in motion, Martha finds herself in the middle of a political, social and spiritual battle between her love of the people she has served for years and protecting a woman who has been shunned by the same people for a crime done against her.

This book is incredible! I couldn't put it down; I was that drawn into the intensity and emotional upheaval of this story. Like The Last Midwife there is a feminist core to midwifery. When women were oftentimes seen as just carriers for children in society, midwives still saw them as human beings far capable of more than just childbearing and rearing. Within the world of midwives, women were seen, heard, loved, nurtured and protected. And the role of midwives in history can never be forgotten or unappreciated.