Martha is the novel’s protagonist, a skilled midwife from Hallowell, Maine with a strong moral compass. Despite her centrality to the narrative, she is a static character with firm values that guide her to investigate Burgess’s murder and Sarah’s rape, leaving her largely unchanged by the book’s conclusion. Martha has a keen sense of justice and is highly aware of the gender inequities that define her society. Lawhon signals these values from the start of the story, when Martha delivers the blacksmith’s baby, and bristles at the family’s disappointment at not having a boy. When Betsy Clark, the blacksmith’s wife, worries that her husband will be angry at having a girl, Martha retorts “He has no right to be angry. You’ve given him a beautiful child” (8). Her outspoken defense of the baby girl is indicative of her firm gender politics, and by extension, the novel’s.

Lawhon endows Martha with both good intentions and character flaws. Martha’s strong opinions lead her to be judgmental of the people in her community, both men and women. Of Abigail Pollard, she remarks “Abigail is the sort of woman who can kill, pluck, dress, and roast five geese before lunch but can’t stomach the sight of human blood.