Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.
Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.
Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
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Historical fiction centered on true historical events and real women facing pivotal moments defines a distinctive body of narrative work, exemplified by The Frozen River. Ariel Lawhon is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who dramatizes complex historical mysteries and forgotten lives. Her novels have reached international audiences through translations into numerous languages and earned recognition as Good Morning America Book Club, LibraryReads, Indie Next, Costco, Amazon Spotlight, and Book of the Month Club selections.
Lawhon, who was also known as Ariel Allison Lawhon earlier in her career, co-founded the online book club She Reads before establishing her career in commercial historical fiction. She published her debut novel, The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress, in 2014, followed by Flight of Dreams, I Was Anastasia, and Code Name Hélène. In addition to her solo full-length novels, she collaborated with fellow authors Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner on the novel When We Had Wings, and authored the Amazon Original Short Story Barriers to Entry. Her work has also earned One Book One County selections and NPR Book of the Year honors.
Lawhon resides in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband and four sons. Outside of her literary work, she splits her time between family commitments, frequent trips to the grocery store, and managing activities at the baseball field.
Lawhon's narrative technique combines detailed archival research with cinematic pacing and psychological tension. Rather than presenting comfortable period nostalgia, her books construct tense narratives around real historical figures—such as midwife Martha Ballard, resistance figure Nancy Wake, or Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov—placing them within high-stakes historical crises. Her writing explores themes of resilience, female agency, justice, and the precarious survival of women navigating dangerous moments in history.
