02435cam a2200361 4500 1243730654 TxAuBib 20240418120000.0 231017s2023||||||||||||d|||||||||||eng|u 9780593793251 paperback 0593793250 paperback (OCoLC)1404049866 TxAuBib Lawhon, Ariel, author. The frozen river : a novel / Ariel Lawhon. First large print edition. New York : Random House Large Print, [2023] ©2023. 670 pages (large print) : map ; 24 cm. "The Good Morning America Book Club. A GMA Book Club pick!"--Front cover. "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"-- Provided by publisher. 20240418. Ballard, Martha 1735-1812 Fiction. Midwives Maine Fiction. Murder Investigation Maine Fiction. Manners and customs. Women Crimes against. Kennebec River Valley (Me) Social life and customs 18th century Fiction. Historical fiction. Detective and mystery fiction. Biographical fiction. Suspense fiction.