A review by whenimreading
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

I loved almost everything about this book, it had me invested right from the very beginning. Having no clue until the author’s note that this was a real person but told with a fictional flair.

A murder mystery, with a feminist angle works for me almost every time. I was both happy and tortured throughout, growing so fond of the Ballard family and the other members of the community. Book boyfriends take note, Ephraim Ballard is The Book Husband™. Martha as the matriarch was protective and strong, a great character to tell the story. Small details made this book heartwarming in the dead of winter, Tempest the silver fox and falcon Percy.

Very entertaining in a sense that the juicy court reveals and an encounter with a knife called Revenge were some of the greatest climaxes I’ve read recently. It was gratifying but also very sad and reflective. History was not kind to women, and depends who you ask, it’s still the case. 

Jane Oppenheimer was the audiobook narrator and she was a delight! I immediately got Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman vibes in the book. The early settler America setting was interesting, I haven’t read many novels set in this time period and I enjoyed it immensely. I hope this gets picked up for adaptation because I would love to see it on screen!

5🌟