Book Review | MILLER'S VALLEY by Anna Quindlen

MILLER'S VALLEY

by Anna Quindlen | Publication: April 5, 2016
Random House | Genre: Fiction, Coming-of-Age
Rating: ★★★★★

"Everything was intimate, vivid, and rarely touching trivialities."

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For generations the Millers have lived in Miller’s Valley. Mimi Miller tells about her life with intimacy and honesty. As Mimi eavesdrops on her parents and quietly observes the people around her, she discovers more and more about the toxicity of family secrets, the dangers of gossip, the flaws of marriage, the inequalities of friendship and the risks of passion, loyalty, and love. Home, as Mimi begins to realize, can be “a place where it’s just as easy to feel lost as it is to feel content.”

Miller’s Valley is a masterly study of family, memory, loss, and, ultimately, discovery, of finding true identity and a new vision of home. As Mimi says, “No one ever leaves the town where they grew up, even if they go.” Miller’s Valley reminds us that the place where you grew up can disappear, and the people in it too, but all will live on in your heart forever.'

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I truly enjoyed reading this book. It’s like having a long walk with a friend, wherein the conversation drifts to things we rarely talk about. Everything was intimate, vivid, and rarely touching trivialities. There were happy moments, sad moments, and quiet moments that signify comprehension and unspoken agreement.

Mary Margaret Miller (Mimi) grew up in a farm located smack-center of a drowning valley. She is the only daughter of a tinkerer and a nurse, a family shared with two older brothers and an agoraphobic aunt. The story follows her (and her family’s) struggles through the meager farming life, while eminent flooding threatens the whole valley. Their family and the whole valley itself share a compelling story that perhaps anyone can relate to.

My name was Mimi Miller. I lived in Miller’s Valley.
Everyone I knew lived in Miller’s Valley.
I wasn’t ignorant; I knew there was a world outside.
I just had a hard time imagining it.
MILLER’S VALLEY is a great demonstration of Anna Quindlen’s insightful gift in writing true-to-life stories. The details resemble a fully scrutinized canvas of an ordinary life that is fully lived with its joys, sufferings, and regrets. This book is not a product of mere imagination, but of excellent discernment.

Pre-order your copies now, through Penguin Random House.

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About the Author:

Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of many novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear. Photo by Maria Krovatin.

**Thank you Random House and NetGalley
for providing a copy in exchange for this unbiased review.
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