Miller's Valley (Quindlen) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
What does home really mean? Is it the people around you who make a place familiar and loved, or is it the tie to land that’s been in your family for generations? Anna Quindlen’s mesmerizing new novel investigates both,.... What do you do when your way of life is gone? Who do you become? And what do you now consider home? Quindlen makes her characters so richly alive, so believable, that it’s impossible not to feel every doubt and dream they harbor, or share every tragedy that befalls them.
Caroline Leavitt - New York Times Book Review


Memories flow like fast-moving water in Miller's Valley, Anna Quindlen's new family novel, a coming-of-age story that reminds us that the past continues to wash over us even as we move away from the places and events that formed us.... [T]he Millers and their neighbors... maintain an uncanny resemblance to our own friends and families.... Quindlen's provocative novel will have you flipping through the pages of your own family history and memories even as you can't stop reading about the Millers.
Carol Memmott - Chicago Tribune


[A] moving exploration of family and notions of home.... Though the pacing is somewhat uneven, Quindlen’s prose is crisp and her insights resonant. This coming-of-age story is driven as much by the fully realized characters as it is by the astute ideas about progress and place.
Publishers Weekly


[A young girl] comes to terms with life as it should be versus life as it is. This is vintage Quindlen,...a compelling family tale rich in recognizable characters, resplendent storytelling, and reflective observations. It is also an affectionate and appreciative portrait of a disappearing way of life. —Carol Haggass
Booklist


[A] young woman buffeted by upheavals in her personal life.... Perhaps there is a bit too much summing up in the book’s final chapter, but it still manages to be quite stirring.... [F]amliar elements in this story...are synthesized in a fresh way in this keenly observed, quietly powerful novel.
Kirkus Reviews