Another book review: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is historical fiction. The chief protagonist is Martha Ballard, a real person who lived in Maine, 1789. Her family is real, probably taken from a census, but the story, a mystery, a thriller, a good tale.
The setting is next to the Kennebec River. Martha is a midwife, but does quite a bit of doctoring, too. When the minister's wife is raped, Martha takes her side. Surprisingly, or maybe not, for those times, the people in the village, are not too sympathetic. Her husband was not liked, and the villagers want him out. Unfortunately, the raped yielded a baby. Martha delivers in more ways than one.
The frozen Kennebec also yields a frozen body--one of the rapists. Since he was accused, no one puts too much thought into it. Good riddance. But Martha sees that the victim was beat-up and hung. The clues as to the perpetrators are throughout the chapters.
Justice does prevail and life goes on. Ariel Lawhon writes with compassion and a sense of history.
