A book launch for “Frozen,” written by local author Mary Casanova, is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ranier Community Building in Ranier.
The launch of the young adult novel published by University of Minnesota Press will feature presentations of the area, according to Ed Oerichbauer, director of the Koochiching County Historical Museum and mayor of Ranier.
“The book is set in the area of Ranier and Kettle Falls,” Oerichbauer said. “We plan to include history of both.”
Oerichbauer will present Ranier’s history and Mike Williams, Voyageurs National Park boat captain and interpreter, will give background on Kettle Falls. Casanova will have illustrations to match scenes from her novel.
Musician Chris Koza, and Casanova’s son-in-law, is doing music for the book trailer and is scheduled to perform at Saturday’s launch.
“Frozen,” according Casanova, is one of her most personal stories and she anticipates it landing in the hands of both faithful and new readers.
“It is a deeply personal book,” Casanova said of her 30th book.
“Frozen,” while fiction, is based on a true story about a woman who froze to death in Koochiching County during the early 1900s.
The woman, who Casanova said was a ‘red skirt,’ or prostitute, was found frozen in the snow one morning. As a joke, someone stood the frozen corpse at the start of a council meeting. According to Casanova, the event happened somewhere in Koochiching County.
“What it says in the history book is that this caused a great stir,” the award-winning author said. “What it caused in me was a desire to somehow, someday vindicate this woman’s life and death.”
The inspiration for the novel came to her more than two decades ago when she came across an excerpt from Hiram Drache’s book, “Koochiching.” Even though she may never have details of the woman, Casanova said she launched a self mission to explore what it meant to be a woman living in the area at the turn of the century.
“For a long time, I couldn’t figure out how to get at the story,” she explained. “What came to me was a character who would perhaps have been the frozen woman’s daughter. This daughter gave witness to her mother’s death.”
The story evolves as the daughter, Sadie Rose, begins to uncover her mother’s past. The story unfolds as Sadie Rose, who doesn’t speak for 11 years, discovers the life her mother lived.
“The more I wrote, the more the area’s big history started to shape this story,” Casanova said.
Historical Borderland figures such as E.W. Backus and Ernest Oberholtzer make appearances in the story, although Casanova transformed them into fictionalized characters.
Oerichbauer said he has personally been involved in “Frozen” by helping Casanova with her research and is anticipating Saturday’s event.
“I hope that people have a good time,” he said. “It should be quite the entertaining evening.”
