A review by ninaprime
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

4.0

A fascinating historical mystery centered on a real midwife, leveraging from primary sources including the character's diaries. Lawhon did a fantastic job of creating a propulsive central narrative around the mystery of the dead body in the river and the rape case, while showcasing how society of the time period functioned from women's roles and societal expectations of them to the impact of town gossip. I had a little bit of a hard time keeping track of all the characters, especially the various housewives and Martha's numerous children. Also as much as I like foxes, I'm not sure how I felt about her furry guardian angel who showed up in warning numerous times - seemed like a dose of magical realism in an otherwise grounded story.