DB Adult: Four Seasons Book Club

Four Seasons Book Club for Adults

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The DB Outreach team warmly invites all adults to take part in our quarterly virtual book club!

Join us for one, two, or as many of the discussions as you’d like throughout the year—choose the books that spark your interest and enjoy meaningful conversation with fellow readers!

Join us this Spring – Thursday, May 7th at 8:30pm ET/ 7:30pm CT / 6:30pm MT / 5:30pm PT

If you are interested in joining us, please email us at dbinfo@discoverybound.blackbaudwp.com, and we will answer any questions and/or add you to the participant list for this book. The Zoom information for the book discussion will be sent approximately one week prior to our meeting.

There will be an opportunity for you to share your favorite passages or moments from the book with the group (consider marking them in your book or writing it down along with the page number).

Book Selection: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Goodreads ratings: 4.38 stars | 568,172 ratings | 55,800 reviews

Book Overview:

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.

Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into history.

Questions: Shelby Mehring, DB Event Manager | shelby@discoverybound.blackbaudwp.com