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The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon: Review, the True Story of Martha Ballard and Ending Explained

A midwife in 1789 Maine, a body frozen in the river, and a powerful man accused of rape. Hailey reviews The Frozen River spoiler-free, checks how much of it really happened to Martha Ballard, recommends six books to read next, then, after a spoiler warning, explains who killed Joshua Burgess and how it all ends. Content note: sexual violence is discussed.

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Books mentioned in this episode
A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Chapters
0:00 Cold Open
0:25 Welcome
0:58 The Review
4:21 The Real Story
9:29 What To Read Next
12:19 Spoiler Warning
12:39 The Ending Explained
17:06 Outro

Scores, the full written review and the videos

Narrated by Hailey, the Book Explained host voice (AI-generated with Kokoro TTS).

Music
"Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Fresh Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Disquiet" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0