The Remarkable Story of Martha Ballard

There is something magical about discovering a new book that you then find impossible to put down. A book that transports you into the world the author has created, and lets you get to know the characters as if you have known them your whole life. The characters are written in such a manner that they feel real, and the emotions they project make the reader feel those same ways. When you discover your new favorite book, it isn’t just the enjoyment of a well written story, you're developing a connection and relating to the characters or the plot of the book.

I discovered one of my new favorite books recently. The book is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and it was just a phenomenal read. The book takes place in the town of Hallowell, Maine, between November 1789 to April 1790. You are introduced to a woman named Martha Ballard, a well-respected midwife and healer in the town. She is called upon late in the night to help out with a serious matter: a man's body was found in the frozen river. Martha was asked to determine the cause of death. As Martha examined the body, she determined the cause of his death to be hanging (even though the rope was not found by the body). But, what shocked Martha the most was the identity of the man. The man found dead in the frozen river was Joshua Burgess, a prominent member of the community. Joshua, along with a circuit court judge, was accused of assaulting the pastor's wife when her husband was out of town. And that, reader, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Throughout the story, you can read some of Martha's diary entries with details about her day. She records her daily adventures, who she talked to, what they talked about (which later becomes essential in the trial of Rebecca Foster vs. Joshua North), day-to-day chores, the townspeople she has either healed/given medication to, and the babies she delivered that day. There is also the concern she has about her two oldest sons being involved in the murder of Joshua Burgess.

There are flashbacks in the book where you learn about Martha, how she married her husband, Ephraim, what happened to three of her nine children, why her son Cyrus is mute and how she became a midwife.

The author has the ability to paint a picture of what Maine was like during the early 18th century by giving specific details of the harsh winter months and the uncertainty of survival. What I loved about this book was that Martha Ballard was a real person! She lived in Maine during the 18th century and was a well-respected midwife and healer! Martha kept a diary, passed down to her daughter Dolly Lambard. Dolly than gave the diary to her two daughters Sarah Lambard and Hannah Lambard Walcott. Martha had kept the diary for twenty-seven years and the diary does have entries of Martha Ballard's day-to-day life, along with significant information about Rebecca Foster and the assault.  The diary is now located safely in the Maine State Library. In the author's notes, you can learn more about Martha and what inspired Ariel Lawhon to write about this incredible woman.

This is a spectacular book, and I will always talk it up to anyone who asks me my favorite question, "What book do you recommend I read?" If you enjoy historical fiction with a mystery element, top-notch courtroom drama, juicy gossip, and a glimpse of what life was like for a woman in the 18th-century United States, visit one of our branches and check this book out. I promise you will not regret it.

I want to conclude this blog post with my favorite quote from the book:

"I am a midwife, I am a healer. I do not take life, I shepherd life into this world" (Pg. 391 The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.)

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

ISBN: 9780385546874

A gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who found herself at the center of a murder trial.

A midwife's tale : the life of Martha Ballard, based on her diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

ISBN: 9780394568447

Presents the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine during the eighteenth century, by drawing on the detailed diary she kept for twenty-seven years of her life.

-Rebecca from Hollowbrook