From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a sweeping historical mystery inspired by the Pulitzer Prize winning diaries of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who finds herself at the center of a shocking murder that unhinges her small community of Hallowell, Maine.

Ariel Lawhon’s latest plunges us into the early morning hours of November 1789. Local midwife and healer Martha Ballard has just finished delivering a baby when she’s called to examine a body found in the Kennebec River. Martha instantly recognizes the body—it belongs to one of two men accused of having assaulted her friend Rebecca Foster. Unfortunately, the other man accused is local judge Joseph North—who is dead set on discrediting Martha and Rebecca’s account. When the townspeople begin to point fingers as to who is to blame for Burgess’s murder, Martha’s son falls under suspicion and it becomes clear that to save him, she might have to track down the killer herself.

Extensively researched and gripping until the last page, Lawhon expertly paints a picture of a community of recent immigrants making a life in an unforgiving landscape as public opinion shifts over the course of the unfolding trial. The Frozen River is a searing ode to the intensities of motherhood and marriage, the realities of vigilante justice, and Martha Ballard, the real-life matriarch who wove herself indelibly into the tapestry of American history.

Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her books have been translated in numerous languages and have been Library Reads, One Book One County, Indie Next, Costco, Amazon Spotlight, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Ariel splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

Moderated by Elisabeth Weed.

photo by Kristee Mays