The frozen river : a novel /
Lawhon, Ariel,
The frozen river : a novel / Ariel Lawhon. - First Vintage Books edition. - 432 pages : map ; 21 cm
"A gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha 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. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie"--
9780593312070 0593312074 9780385546874 : HRD 28.00 0385546874 : HRD 28.00
Random House Inc, Attn Order Entry 400 Hahn rd, Westminster, MD, USA, 21157 SAN 201-3975
2022057899
Ballard, Martha, 1735-1812 --Fiction.
Midwives--Maine--Fiction.
Murder--Investigation--Maine--Fiction.
Kennebec River Valley (Me.)--Social life and customs--18th century--Fiction.
Detective and mystery fiction.
Historical fiction.
Biographical fiction.
Novels.
PS3601.L447 / F76 2024
813/.6
The frozen river : a novel / Ariel Lawhon. - First Vintage Books edition. - 432 pages : map ; 21 cm
"A gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha 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. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie"--
9780593312070 0593312074 9780385546874 : HRD 28.00 0385546874 : HRD 28.00
Random House Inc, Attn Order Entry 400 Hahn rd, Westminster, MD, USA, 21157 SAN 201-3975
2022057899
Ballard, Martha, 1735-1812 --Fiction.
Midwives--Maine--Fiction.
Murder--Investigation--Maine--Fiction.
Kennebec River Valley (Me.)--Social life and customs--18th century--Fiction.
Detective and mystery fiction.
Historical fiction.
Biographical fiction.
Novels.
PS3601.L447 / F76 2024
813/.6