So glad to see all for our annual children's book wrap and final Christmas Jar donations.  We all gathered at Claudia's home to share good food and pleasant conversation.  Mary brought a homemade smoked salmon spread made by her son the everyone loved.  

Our book this month was "Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon.  Lawhon writes historical fiction based on real events.  This book was a bit different for her because the story was inspired by real events by not based on it.  75% of the story closely follows historical records, although Lawhon took liberties with the dates to keep the book within a six month timeline.  

The book focuses on the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife in the late 1700's.  Martha kept a day book with factual entries each day as opposed to personal opinions.  Lawhon selected events that she found interesting  and constructed these into an intriguing story.  Interesting to note that Martha Ballard was the great aunt of Clara Barton (founder of the American Red Cross) and also the great great grandmother of Mary Hobart (first US female physician).  We all found this story to be filled with details of daily life in the eighteenth century, which inspired much comparison and conversation.  In Lawhon's own words, "Every story moves like a river from source to mouth, so let this one flow."