The Best Book I Read This Month: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The best book I read this month was a gripping tale inspired by real events. In The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon tells the story of Martha Ballard, a midwife who lived in Maine in the late 1700s. The story focuses on Ballard’s efforts to win justice for a rape victim, a preacher’s wife who named two of the town leaders as her attackers.

The story opens with a death—a murder, to be precise—and the story unfolds from there. Lawhon paints a striking picture of life in the early years of the United States, especially the lives of women. Ballard is an exception in that regard because of her profession. Being a midwife bestows privileges on her that other women are denied, such as the right to speak in court. Ballard only has that right because as a midwife, she is considered a medical professional. Throughout the story, she uses that privilege to push for justice for the preacher’s wife.

Martha Ballard was a real person, and she did testify against a town leader in a rape trial. We know this because of the diary that Ballard left behind. That diary became the nonfiction book A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Ulrich’s book led to Lawhon’s. I was so intrigued by Ballard that I ordered Ulrich’s book before I finished Lawhon’s.

It’s tempting to say that Ballard was an extraordinary woman, but she wasn’t. She was an ordinary woman who made the most of what was given to her. And that makes her a very compelling main character in a very compelling story.

The Best Book I Read This Month: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sarafi by Shannon Chakraborty

The best book I read this month was a pirate adventure reminiscent of the legend of Sinbad the Sailor. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty follows a Amina al-Sirafi as she and her crew sail the Indian Ocean trying to right a wrong. It’s a rollicking adventure, and I enjoyed every word.

At the start of the story, al-Sirafi has retired from the pirate life and is literally trying to keep a roof over her head. She lives in a remote area of Oman with her mother and her daughter. Despite her struggles, she is content with the life she has chosen. Then the mother of a former crew member comes to her in crisis: the crew member’s daughter has been kidnapped. Won’t al-Sirafi save her? The mother, who has vast wealth, promises to reward al-Sirafi with a life-changing amount of money if she succeeds. Al-Sirafi has no choice but to accept the challenge.

Amina al-Sirafi gets the band back together, as the saying goes, and they set off to rescue the damsel in distress. Along the way, they encounter abusive local authorities, demons, sea monsters, magic, and a damsel who is not quite as distressed as they were led to believe.

I loved Amina al-Sirafi as a main character and narrator. Her voice captivated me from the beginning, a perfect mix of snark and self-awareness. Her crew and their voyages are a testament to the vibrancy and diversity of the Indian Ocean region during Europe’s Middle Ages (when this story takes place).

I read that this book is part of a trilogy. The ending certainly left open the opportunity for sequels. I hope that it is the first in a series, because I can’t wait to read about al-Sirafi and crew’s next adventures.

The Best Book I Read This Month: The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The best book I read this month was the last in a cherished series by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The Labyrinth of the Spirits closes out Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet, and it did not disappoint.

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series is set in Barcelona at various points in history. Books—the writing of them, the reading of them, the preservation of them—is a key part of every story. The other thread that connects the books is the Sempere family, which owns a bookstore in the Spanish city. The Semperes start in the background of Labyrinth of the Spirits, which follows a woman named Alicia Gris as she pursues the truth about the disappearance of a government minister. Her search eventually leads to the Semperes’ bookstore.

What I loved most about Labyrinth was the way it tied together the three previous books in the series, which were each set in different times and focused on different characters. That made for a sweeping epic, by far the longest book in the series, and I was swept away. It had the same adventurous spirit as Shadow of the Wind, the spirit that made me fall in love with the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Labyrinth of the Spirits has a vast cast of characters, and at times, I struggled to keep track of them. Having read the previous books in the series helped, though. I strongly recommend reading the first three books before this one. You don’t have to read them in any particular order, but since I’m partial to it, I suggest starting where Zafón started: with The Shadow of the Wind.

The Best Book I Read This Month: The Collective by Alison Gaylin

Of all the books I read this month, the one I’m still thinking about is The Collective by Alison Gaylin. The story follows Camille Gardener, who finds a group called the Collective in her search for justice after the death of her teenage daughter. Ostensibly a support group for grieving mothers, the Collective quickly proves to be much more.

The story required a bit more suspension of disbelief than I could muster, but I still found it intriguing. Camille’s experiences as a grieving mother—the experiences of all the grieving mothers in the story—say something about our society’s expectations of grief. Namely, that society’s expectations of grief are unrealistic. Nobody gets over the death of a loved one, especially the death of a child, quickly. Yet society expects the grief-stricken to “move on” within a matter of weeks. No wonder the mothers in this story find solace in the Collective. It’s the one place they feel understood, the one place their grief is valid.

There were parts of the book that did not ring true for me, but it was the food for thought in the premise that made this the best book I read this month.