Frozen River – Lawhon Ariel (2025)

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, midwife and healer Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine the cause of death. Through her diary, she records every birth and death, crime and scandal unfolding in the close-knit community of Hallowell. Months earlier, Martha had documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen, one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. When a local physician dismisses her conclusion and declares the death an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder herself. As the trial approaches and whispers and prejudices mount, she doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon becomes central to the scandal, implicating those she loves and forcing Martha to decide where her loyalties lie. Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, a renowned eighteenth-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into history, this layered and subversive historical novel follows an unsung heroine who refuses to accept anything less than justice at a time when women are expected to remain silent. The Frozen River is a tense, tender story about justice, resilience and a remarkable woman whose unparalleled legacy remains nearly forgotten.