By the end of The Peacemaker’s Wife, Polly has devoted herself to saving lives. She delivers babies, treats wounds, studies medicine, and travels across Blue Ridge whenever someone needs her. Poisoning Nate Freeman violates the purpose that has shaped her identity. Yet Polly believes his death is another form of healing.
Nate is not merely a suspected criminal. Polly connects him to a series of brutal murders, including the deaths of people she loved. She also believes he assaulted Keera and helped kill Sam. The marked hat, the boot print, his association with Davey Mack, and his own behaviour convince her that he is the man who has terrorised Blue Ridge.
Knowing the truth and proving it, however, are not the same. Polly has no confession, reliable witnesses, or evidence likely to persuade a jury. Nate is a white man, a war veteran, and someone who has never been arrested. His victims include people whose lives the authorities may not consider important. If Polly does nothing, she believes he will remain free to kill again.
Her decision grows from fear, grief, and anger, but it is also deliberate. She prepares a poisonous pokeweed tincture, tells Nate it will help him heal, and watches him drink it. She uses his trust in her medical knowledge to take his life. That makes the act more troubling because Nate comes to her as a patient.
Polly becomes healer, judge, and executioner in the same moment. She denies Nate a trial and leaves no opportunity for another explanation. Even if her conclusions are correct, her certainty does not give her legal authority to kill him.
Still, the law in Polly’s world has repeatedly failed to protect the vulnerable. War has weakened order, violence has become common, and women have little power. Polly cannot call upon a dependable justice system. She must decide whether allowing Nate to live poses a greater danger than taking justice into her own hands.
Her choice can therefore be understood without being fully approved. To Polly, poisoning Nate prevents further bloodshed. It also avenges Nan, Sam, and the other victims. Protection and revenge have become impossible to separate.
Julie Dorsey leaves readers with an uncomfortable question. If a healer knows that a murderer will escape punishment and kill again, does she have the right to stop him permanently?
Loosely inspired by Dorsey’s great great grandmother, Doctor Polly King Justice, The Peacemaker’s Wife presents a heroine whose courage does not make her morally simple. Polly saves lives, takes one, and must decide whether she can still call herself a healer.