The Frozen River -3.5 bumped up to 4

[Susan]

This historical fiction takes place in Maine in 1789. Martha Ballard is a midwife in a small town on the Kennebec River. When a dead man turns up in the half frozen river, she’s called to examine the body, and finds he’s been murdered. The question of who did this to the much-disliked fellow, accused of raping the minister’s wife, forms one of the through lines in the story. But there are plenty of other tensions; as a midwife, Martha is privy to many secrets over paternity, as well as the reluctant witness to the abuse of women and the injustices that befall women in a society where most rights belong to men. Her courage and strength in fulfilling her duties are remarkable. The injustices are well described and I burned with rage on several occasions. The scene describing an instance of her taking revenge had me on the edge of my chair and was particularly satisfying. But, although I admired and respected Martha I never really liked her and I’m not sure why. There was a decided lack of warmth in her character.

In fact, Ballard was a real person and I don’t usually like fictionalized biography, but the author explains in some detail in her notes what she used as sources, what was real and what she made up. A few things kept this from being a 5-star read for me. I wish the author had tried to give the numerous characters more distinctive names. I kept having to go back to remind myself who was who. I thought the story dragged a few times, a few subplots could have been eliminated, and a couple of loose ends were left. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and the reminder of how things were in the rough and tumble of early America.