One of the best things about The Frozen River is the fact that it led me to the real Martha Ballard, whom I knew nothing about. I can see why A Midwife’s Tale is one of @VeryHappy’s favorite books. Not to keep throwing links at you, but here is Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s (compelling!) introduction: A Midwife's Tale: Introduction
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Harriet the Spy! Pippi Longstocking …
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And Nancy Drew and “Murder She Wrote” and Miss Marple and so many others.
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Not many heroines in literature are like other girls, because that can become a somewhat boring book. So a very generic trope. Most of the women in Pride and Prejudice were quirky or different - Kitty seemed most average. Jo March, Scarlett O’Hara, Becky Sharp, Katniss Everdeen, Anne Shirley….the list is endless.
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The privilege of literacy kept striking me as I was reading (ironically!). Not only Martha’s or her teaching the potential love interest for her son but especially for the mute son (sorry, his name escapes me). Disability in those days would have been incredibly difficult to overcome, and it’s only the court’s willingness to allow written testimony that saved his bacon.
I just went down a small rabbit hole and while literacy rates in the US were remarkably high at that time (around 90% by 1790) they were considerably lower in rural areas, and female literacy was only about 48%. As slaveowners demonstrated, keeping people illiterate is helpful for controlling the populace.
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Martha’s ability to read and write had a ripple effect. Not only did it allow her to leave behind her own legacy, it also gave life to others who would have been lost to time. Per Wikipedia, “Many of the people mentioned in the diary do not appear on official records, such as censuses or deeds and probate, and so the diary helps to provide insight into the lives of ordinary people who might otherwise have remained invisible.”
Although it’s romantic to think that Ephraim taught Martha to read and write, odds are it was one of her own family members. Martha’s brother Jonathan went to Harvard and was the librarian there, so the family valued education. But I like to think that it was Ephraim who gifted her with the paper, made the quill pen and ink, and urged Martha to get started. She didn’t begin the diary until she was 50 years old. So maybe it was a special birthday gift. 
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Thinking about Martha Ballard’s offspring…Ariel Lawhon does a good job of giving Martha and Ephraim’s children distinct personalities, not so easy to do in a book with so many characters.
The only (living) child we don’t meet “in person” is Lucy. Martha mentions that Lucy gave birth to her seventh child earlier in the year, and Ephraim refers at one point to “that Town boy” she married.
That Town boy, I think. Aaron Town is his name, but my husband has never forgiven “that Town boy” for getting his daughter pregnant out of wedlock. He’d married her well in time for the birth, of course. They were in love, after all. But Ephraim remains inflexibly old-fashioned about such matters.
This is another way that Ariel Lawhon saved us from duplicate names. Lucy Ballard Towne’s husband’s name was not Aaron – it was Ephraim! I don’t mind at all that Lawhon changed names to avoid confusion. It reinforces the fact that this is a novel, inspired by a real person, but not factual.
The identical names were not a coincidence. “That Town boy” was Ephraim’s nephew. Lucy married her first cousin. The pre-marital pregnancy was correct, per historical records. Poor Lucy and Ephraim – look at how many of their nine children died young: Lucy Ballard Towne (1758-1798) - Find a Grave Memorial
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Addendum: You’ll see on the link above that one of those children was John Towne, 1780-1785. Here is Martha’s entry about his death – again, the facts of a normal work day as a midwife/healer interspersed with a brief account of a terrible family tragedy:
At 4 & 20 in morn, mrs Edson was Deliverd of a Son which waid 7 1/2 lb and at 6 & 5 minnits of another Son which wd 8 3/4 lb. Left her at about 10, mr Ballard Coming there at that time. Enformd of ye Death of our Grand Son John Town, who Last thursday morn Drank So much spirit that Causd his Death which hapend yester Day at 8 in the morn. On my return from mr Edsons, mrs Weston Cald me in, Nathan Being Sick. I tarried with her this night. Left ye Child much Better.
You had to have a thick skin to make it day to day in that world. So much death.
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One last observation: As there was no official training for midwives, Martha’s learning by watching Elspeth was likely accurate – except that there might have been an even bigger crowd in the room.
We don’t know for sure where Ballard learned midwifery, but it was most likely as an observer at the bedside. This was during what historian Laura Thatcher Ulrich, Ph.D., calls a time of “social childbirth,” when neighbors, female relatives and midwives might all attend a birth.
An observer would steadily increase her involvement until a day came when the experienced midwife was delayed or unavailable and the observer took over. Martha Ballard (1735-1812), Colonial Midwife and Diarist - Working Nurse
This drawing is from the 1800’s (from a book by French doctor and medical historian Gustave-Joseph Witkowski). We have an OB-gyn in our extended family and something she has mentioned is that delivering babies requires some solid upper body strength. So that would be another trait of Martha Ballard. (I suspect most women in that era and location were strong anyway, given the nature of their daily chores.) You can kind of sense the workout everyone is getting from the drawing. Mom especially, of course. 
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Although Ariel Lawhon’s Martha might not be THE Martha, The Frozen River was still an engrossing story and I enjoyed it very much. Lawhon was able to make me feel like I was immersed in another world – and I learned a great deal, too.
We can start choosing our August book at any time!
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Suggestions previously considered:
The Bird Hotel - Joyce Maynard
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty. This one is my suggestion because for some reason it sounds like an end-of-June/July type of book to me. Maybe it’s the word “adventures” drawing me in.
Extinction - Douglas Preston. A newer suggestion but I have had three friends mention it to me with a solid thumbs-up.
(I’ve read none of these. I believe The Bird Hotel was first suggested by @CBBBlinker. I don’t remember who suggested The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.)
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Can I just say how much I have enjoyed everyone’s research and thoughts? Really made this more interesting!
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Yes, I did recommend “The Bird Hotel.” I read it for a couple of Book Clubs last year.
This summer my “Books on the Beach” group is reading:
“The Prophet Song”
“The God of the Woods” (My daughter has read this one; she really liked it.)
“The Lion Women of Tehran”
“The Midnight Feast”
I haven’t read any of them, so can’t really comment on them.
@CBBBlinker
The God of the Woods- is quite the page turner and I’m a fan of that one,too !
Seems to long wait lists to get that one via Libraries ( friend just got copy after long wait )
Has anyone read
the Unseen World - by Liz Moore ( author of God of the woods ? )
I’ve read The God of the Woods and while it was excellent, I wouldn’t read it again (because it’s a mystery and I know everything now ).
I also read Moore’s Long Bright River. That was good, too, although slower moving and more reflective. I have not read The Unseen World.
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God of the Woods was a fun read, but I’d put it more in the beach read category of literature – primarily plot driven.
I Have Some Questions for You is also a page-turner, but there’s a little more meat there beyond the plot.
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I took most of the suggestions above – needed to eliminate a few to keep it at six titles or less for voting. If there are no vetoes, I can create a ballot. It’s quite a varied selection! I haven’t read any of these books.
The Bird Hotel - Joyce Maynard
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty
Extinction - Douglas Preston
The Unseen World - Liz Moore
The Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali
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Not a veto per se but maybe a “not this time.” The Lion Women of Tehran has a number of holds at this time in my library system. Others may find it equally difficult to get in time.
If chosen I’ll hop on the hold list and cross my fingers. I slid into the discussion late this time and wish I had gotten the book a week or even two earlier.
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Looking back at our earlier suggestions…Should I add James by Percival Everett to the list? It had been suggested on two separate occasions, but then set aside for the same reason as above – too hard to get at the library. That was a year ago, so it might be easier now. However, I suspect many of you may have already read it. Thoughts?
Haven’t read James so I can’t add opinion to that option.
After reading goodread reviews of all the selections
the Bird Hotel ( read Debbie’s review of that on goodreads ) sounds so good
And The unseen World - nice reviews -too
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