The Frozen River

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mysteryinspired by the life and diaryof Martha Ballard,a renowned18th-century midwife whoinvestigatesa shocking murder that unhinges her small community.Maine, 1789:The Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice. Martha Ballard issummonedto examine the body and determine cause of death.As the local midwife and healer,Martha is good at keeping secrets.Herdiary isarecordofevery birth and death, every murder anddebaclethatunfoldsin the town of Hallowell. In that diary she alsodocumentedthe details of an alleged rape that occurred four months earlier. Now, one of the men accused of that heinous attack has been found dead in theice.While Martha is certain she knows what happened the night of the assault, she suspectsthat the two crimes are linked,and thatthere is moreto bothcasesthan meets the eye.Over the course of one long,hard winter,as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha’s diary lands at the center ofthe scandal andthreatens to tearboth her family and her community apart. In her newest offering, Ariel Lawhon brings to life a brave and compassionate unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice on behalf of those no one else would protect. The Frozen River is athrilling, tense, and tender story of a remarkablewomanwho had the courage to take a stand, and in the process wrote herself into American history.