In her
latest novel, Miller’s Valley, Anna Quindlen weaves the tale
of a family living deep in a valley about to be flooded for the expansion of a
dam, a federal project that is supposed to bring “progress” to long-time valley residents
But they
don’t concur. These families mount a resolute,
yet futile attempt to block the plan of government experts at public meeting
after public meeting.
Despite all
this resistance, bureaucrats persevere to do their best in trying to persuade
valley residents as to how relocating their families upstream and flooding
their homes and memories deep under rising waters constitutes progress.
The plot revolves
principally around one particular family as it deals not only with its
struggles with the feds, but also with the interpersonal dynamics of expectations,
success, and heartbreak.
One tripartite
relationship within the Miller family eventually leads to a surprise revelation. It is one in which Mary Margaret Miller, the narrator
of this novel, discovers something quite unexpectedly in the attic of her aunt,
but only after the waters of the new dam project have begun to rise slowly
around it.
There are many
other compelling and complex relationships which grow and change as the
characters mature and move on to the next phases of their lives.
The
surprises within this book is that there really are none – the family and
friends of Mary Margaret Miller are much more normal than most of us might wish
to acknowledge.
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