Miller's Valley

Miller's Valley: A Novel by Anna Quindlen. New York: Random House, 2016. 170 pages.

*****

Mimi Miller lives on the family farm in Miller's Valley and can't imagine life any other way. Her days are spent selling corn with her friends, LaRhonda and Donald and visiting her Aunt Ruth. The youngest of three children with two older brothers, Mimi doesn't believe that anyone ever really leaves the town they grew up in, even if they did leave. Miller's Valley has its share of secrets and family stories, everyone knows your family and no one messes with Mimi because of her war hero turned drug dealer brother, Tommy. All of the families are intertwined with the threat of their family homes being flooded by the government and one by one decide to sell and move. The Millers are stubborn about selling and are just as determined that Mimi goes to college to receive an education outside of the Valley.  As Mimi grows older and changes, so too does the Valley and its people. 

I know I am enjoying a book when I don't want to go to bed, I just want to keep reading and at the same time, don't want it to end. Told from Mimi's point of view...first love, sex, friendship, family secrets and expectations, a woman's role in the 60s, this story has it all. Sure to be a bestseller and at the top of Must Read Lists, I highly recommend Miller's Valley.

I received an electronic copy from NetGalley for a review.

Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestsellers lists. She is the author of eight novels and her memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a number one 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. Website: Anna Quindlen