The story follows Dickinson from her divorce (when her daughter Emily is a toddler) to Emily's freshman year of college and catalogues the wide and varied lessons they learned together along the way. It's not a memoir about her rise to fame but rather about the extraordinarily ordinary women in her family who gave her skills to become a successful advice columnist and at the same time raise a child. ( )

A delightful, poignant story of Amy and the women (and some men) in her life. It is written in an engaging, personal style which makes it very pleasurable reading. Fine literature, it is not, but you probably knew that, already. ( )

"The Mighty Queens of Freeville" is a delightful book and Amy Dickinson is a delightful woman. I had the privilege of hearing her speak last weekend at a High Tea sponsored by a local group. She is warm, "real", funny, and down-to-earth. No matter what road she travels, she always returns to Freeville for nurture, hugs and understanding from her loving, extended family. Her father left their family when she was 12, her husband left her with a toddler when she was in her early 30's. When she returned to Freeville from England (where she and her husband lived), she regrouped in Freeville, and began a new life in Washington, DC -- full of struggles, tears, tons of laughter, and total devotion to her daughter. Her tale of replacing Ann Landers as an advice columnist is worth "the read." I live in Ithaca, NY and Freeville is a little hamlet near by. I woudn't be surprised to see Amy in the future. As my southern Mom would have said "she doesn't put on airs!" Buy her book -- read her column in your daily newspaper -- and get to know Amy. It will be a worthwhile trip. ( )

I don't think I liked this book as much as most of the reviewers. I think it is slight, and not only in terms of its length. Although it is amusing, there are also somber stretches; the grief the author feels over the breakup of her marriage pervades the early part of the book, and, though the description of her cat's quirks is endearing, the final moments of Pumpkin's life are painfully sad. Overall, the book reads more like a series of essays than a cohesive narrative, and I didn't feel I gained much insight into any of the characters. The descriptions of small-town life struck some chords--I live in a small town in upstate NY--but overall, I was disappointed in this book.

Well written and engrossing story. ( )

I thought it was a little slow at first but I enjoyed the last half. I finished it on Mother's Day. It was a nice Mother's Day read before I join my family for Mother's Day celebration. I don't have a pet cat but we lost a family dog this year and my heart felt her pain. There were a lot of places in the last half of the book I could relate to. I appreciated the fact that she was just a person---no better than most of us, same problems, same worries. ( )

Subtitle: A Mother, A Daughter and the Town that Raised Them. Dickinson's memoir of her family - women who seem to take stock and pick up the pieces when the men in their lives split. An uplifting look at how she coped after her husband left her as a single mother to her daughter Emily. Always hopeful, often fun. Recommended.

I bought this book for two reasons. First was because I was a regular listener of "Wait Wait--Don't Tell Me" on NPR, and became a fan of Amy Dickinson's regular appearances and second because I drive through the real Freeville every day on my way to work. This book has several laugh-out-loud moments and was a real treat to read. For a tiny glimpse into life in small town America read this book!

So, there is no mystery that this is the memoir of the author of the "Ask Amy" advice column as well as the host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation". The book opens with Amy's husband asking for a divorce when her daughter is just a toddler and continues through the raising of her daughter who is now a college student. There are many reflections back to Dickinson's childhood, being raised in a family of almost all women on a failing farm in the small town of Freeville, NY.

If you were to sit on the front porch sipping lemonade with the author as she told you her life story it would have the same feel as this book. The writing is simple, as if spoken. The tale she has to tell is reflective without being too emotional. She makes a point to not blast her ex-husband for leaving her or her father who left her mother, at least not too much. I think she tried very hard to not sacrifice these men that she loves for the sake of humor or vengeance or a nice turn of phrase. But she was always honest about what happened to her and how it effected her. The author gives the impression of being the everywoman that you might be friends with, that maybe lives next door.

It was a mellow kind of stroll through the life of what seems like a very normal woman and the unusually female dominated but supportive and loving family that has made her what she is today. ( )

This memoir was wonderful - once I started reading I couldn't put it down. Dickinson's candid, no-nonsense prose is at once honest, touching and punctuated with hilarity, and her stories of female resilience are achingly real.

The story follows Dickinson from her divorce (when her daughter Emily is a toddler) to Emily's freshman year of college and catalogues the wide and varied lessons they learned together along the way. It's not a memoir about her rise to fame but rather about the extraordinarily ordinary women in her family who gave her skills to become a successful advice columnist and at the same time raise a child.

I highly recommend this book - read it, then give a copy to your mom! ( )

Amy Dickinson comes from a long line of strong women. They had to be. The men in the family seldom stayed around. When Dickinson's husband left her, she and her daughter moved back to Freeville and let the women there help heal the hurts.

Dickinson (who became the "replacement" for Ann Landers) tells a wonderful story. I found her tales of life in Freeville entertaining and really wish I could meet all the women in her life. A very enjoyable memoir. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/20... ( )

Family relationships, values and friendships have always been important to Amy. While growing up she had especially strong bonds with the females in her life. Now that she is older she wonders if it is a curse or a blessing that all of the important people in her life are women. Even the women in her life, (her mother, most of her sisters, and her friends) can' t seem to hold onto the men in their lives at all. Her father just up and left when she was young, her brother doesn't speak to them, and her aunts (all but one) are divorced. Amy, seeing the doom is decidedly going to break the mold, determined that her marriage will be a success, it will be but not in the way she expects. The fruit of her attempt at marriage gives her a beautiful daughter, which she now gets to raise amongst the Mighty Queens of Freeville.

This is a memoir by Amy Dickinson, the author of the syndicated advice column ASK AMY and also an NPR contributor. The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter and the People Who Raised Them is an interesting read, and I did like it, however I didn't love it. I think if I could have related more I would have enjoyed it more. I grew up with the stronger relationships in my family being male, I have a loving mother, but we just didn't have much in common. My brother was my ultimate soccer buddy, and we always had guy friends, now that I am older I see the value in female friendships, but for a long time I would have chosen a guy over a gal any day. Guys just made more sense to me, they fought it out, played it out and didn't play any manipulation games or talk about their feelings all the time (at least the ones I knew).

Yet, I did enjoy the community in this memoir, I loved reading of their weekly gatherings for breakfast at the same little diner, and their random spur of the moment gatherings which occurred almost daily. I love strong family ties, I think they keep people out of trouble, those who are most connected to loving families seem to know that they are loved and are secure. I found this in the Mighty Queens of Freeville. No matter what happened she had a sense of security that was beyond herself, it was the bonds of the mighty queens, who were always strong enough for the weakest link.

For more of my reviews: http://exlibrisbb.blogspot.com/ ( )

While Mighty Queens is not an in depth account of Amy Dickinson’s life, readers get a strong sense of how Amy and her daughter Emily grew up together through bad times and good. A single mother, Amy was devoted to her daughter even as she tried to make sense of her own life. In chapters dealing with her divorce, dating, and coming home, Amy made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Coming from a family of strong women, I could relate. Describing her own family, Amy writes, These are the women of my world – the Mighty Queens of Freeville – who have led small lives of great consequence in the tiny place that we call home. (p. 9) ( )

Your favorite bathrobe, your Birkenstocks, a bowl of Tapioca, whatever your favorite comfort is that is what I felt I was getting as I read more and more of Amy Dickinson’s, The Mighty Queens of Freeville.

I read a lot of books of varying genre and topics, literary fiction, lots of memoirs, mysteries, and on and on. It seems that the subject matter can be more and more dramatic and touch lots of raw nerve these days. It seems the more dicey the subject matter, the more attention the press gives it, and it becomes the latest syndrome that everyone pulls up from their or their own family’s past.

What I realized early on as I read Amy’s memoir, was there really were still everyday people out there that may have had the regular ups and downs in their lives but not the heavy, heavy, earth-shattering kind of drama that seems to be coming up on a regular basis. They weren’t completely free of pain or grief but the majority of their life was committed just sharing and learning from one another the value of family, of supporting the ones you love and caring about them to the best of your ability.

It was refreshing, and reaffirming to read about “normal” people across this land. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. Maybe because “reality” TV tries to make us think we are “not normal”, it was time for this book to come along and remind us what normal family life can be like. Thank you Amy, for bringing back some normalcy to my reading life. ( )

The women in Amy’s family always end up raising their children alone. Almost without exception, the men leave. Thus Amy finds herself in a family full of women, yet still hopeful that her marriage will be better than all the rest. She moves to London with her journalist husband and they have a child together. Amy misses him, but thinks everything is okay until he leaves her and she discovers that he has a girlfriend. Amy flees to the bosom of her all-female family and sets about getting her life back together.

I thought it was really sad that their marriage didn’t work out and that they used their family histories as an excuse. To me it seems fairly obvious that a job like his would be a strain on any family, especially a couple that wasn’t used to dealing with it. With Amy all on her own as a single mother in a foreign country with a single friend, what were they expecting? I also expected this to be a bit more about Amy’s family, and while they were on the fringes of the story, they were certainly secondary to Amy’s main struggle to figure out how to be a single mother. She and her daughter have a wonderful relationship and it’s nice to see a teenage daughter not hating her mother for once (although tantrums come with the territory). Amy’s rise to fame as the new “Ann Landers” is anything but ordinary, but this is still a sweet story of a mother’s attempt to come to terms with her life, get on her own two feet, and alternately help and be supported by her family. Oh, and I loved the ending, very cutely done and its brevity was appreciated.

Overall, recommended if you like memoirs or heart-warming stories about families. I’d put this as a solid “good”. You’re not going to regret reading it, but it isn’t going to be your favorite book ever.

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=443 ( )

In The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson tells about her life as a single mother. Amy was married for a few years, and moved from the States to London because of her husband's job. By her early thirties, she finds herself divorced with a 2 year old. Having come from a family where divorce is more common than not, Amy had really hoped for a happy marriage that lasted. Her marriage came to an end when her husband, who was barely home due to his work, asked for a divorce. Later on, he admits to having cheated on Amy. She moves back to her small hometown of Freeville and hopes to make a new life for herself and her daughter. Then Amy does what she was meant to do, she becomes an advice columnist.

The way Amy narrates her story, the way she describes the moment, you can almost imagine her and it almost feels like she can be someone you know in real life.
All the while Amy's extended family and friends, which consists of mostly women, these 'Mighty Queens of Freeville', help and support her. Her own father left her family and once in a while pops back up into thier lives. Amy winds up having a bit of closure in the end. This was another aspect of Amy's life I could relate to. I think this is why I liked this book so much, I felt like I could connect with it.

I really enjoyed The Mighty Queens of Freeville. It was funny, sweet, sad and moving all at once. I laughed out loud more than once. ( )

Nice. That's the word that best describes this book. It's a nice book about a nice woman who lives in a nice little town. She has a very nice daughter, a few nice friends. She doesn't ever seem to get angry. She seems to have forgiven everyone for everything. Even though her father walked out of her life when she was 12, the only grudge she seems to hold is that he was mean to their cows when he sold them.

I just don't get that. I know she's an advice columnist, so perhaps she has taken her own advice and let go of all of her past hurts and all that, but there is a resigned feeling about this book that I just couldn't relate to. Yes, we are resigned to being a bunch of women, living alone because our men always leave us, Still, there's no use getting angry about it, we'll just have a good cry, hitch up our pants and carry on. Maybe it's my own temper, but on some level I wanted her to yell at her father and tell him he was a bastard for walking out on her. She might be the forgiving sort, but I was angry at him and I was angry at her for not being more angry. She manages to keep a friendly relationship with her ex-husband, even though he showed up at one of the therapy appointments before their divorce fresh from a European vacation with his new girlfriend. While I understand remaining civil for their daughter's sake, I think she deserves a few emotions for herself.

There are some good lessons here. Amy continues to make the best of what she has in her life, no matter what happens. She makes a career out of "failing up" - stumbling into good opportunities just when she needs them. Her daughter seems lovely and well-adjusted. By the end of the book, she has even found a boyfriend (although she doesn't follow any of the advice she has always handed out to find him). There was simply a passiveness about her that I found unappealing. ( )

The title of NPR commentator and syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson’s memoir refers to the strong women residing in Freeville, NY where the author ran when she divorced, leaving her the single mother to a toddler. It was the natural place to run as Amy had been raised amongst the cows, the small town simplicity and close-knit bonds of her family there. In times of desperation, isn’t Freeville the sort of place we yearn for?

In The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town That Raised Them, Dickinson writes openly and humorously about her life in Freeville, NY. Her humor is somewhat laconic and guarded. This can be good and bad. It makes for an easy and fast paced read, but also leaves one feeling a bit cheated. The story of Amy’s life follows from her return to Freeville, with toddler daughter in tow, until her daughter leaves for college. During those years, we meet a lot of interesting characters, yet we never really get to know any of them. Just as I started to form a picture, the story would shift and I’d be left with a series of story buds instead of a fully blossomed picture.

In the end, The Mighty Queens of Freeville is about the merits of small town life, the safety one only, really ever, feels when they’re in the arms of friends and family. In advancing this theme, Ms. Dickinson succeeds.

Personal Thoughts: I really had a difficult time getting into this memoir. It reminded me of my efforts with A Girl Named Zippy and I couldn’t help but wonder if I had something against stories set in Smalltown, USA. After all, my story began there and I understand its nuanced environment. Is it jealousy? Could I have written a better version? My family stories are just as interesting, my characters filled with even more spunk. Perhaps I should swear-off all small town memoirs, start typing or shut up.

Review first published on Many A Quaint & Curious Volume
© Tasses 2007-2009 ( )

Amy Dickinson is an American agony aunt who writes the syndicated advice column 'Ask Amy'. 'The Mighty Queens of Freeville' is her story about life, love, her daughter, her tight connection with her family, her hometime of Freeville and her pets. It's a trip through a life that will resonate with many readers.

Amy doesn't claim to have all the answers, but she does know the value of family. Her immediate family is practically all female (hence the book's title) and she herself raised her daughter as a single parent following a divorce. Amy and her daughter, Emily, lived for a while in Washington D.C. and Chicago, but they always find themselves returning to her small hometown of Freeville and her family.

There is a quiet sense of humour and dry with throughout the book. One suspects it is one of Dickinson's key weapons in dealing with life. Speaking of her divorce and her father's abandonment of his family she says "One advantage to actual abandonment is that it cuts down on marital discord. In order to fight with my father, my mother would have had to locate him first."

This is a positive upbeat story about the affirming support of family and smalltown communities. It will make a lot of readers feel happier in their hears, and that is no mean feat. ( )

I enjoy Amy Dickinson's column in the paper and love that her book displays the same humor.

Really enjoyable, humorous book (with some serious moments) about a single mom who became an NPR commentator and the replacement for Ann Landers. The author, Amy Dickinson, has lived in Freeville, NY (population 450-something), Chicago, London, and Manhattan, and has lots of stories to tell. The women in her family have a hard time holding on to their marriages, but they haven't let it get them down. A touching, funny tribute to the power of family and pluck. ( )

Sweetly written, fond look back at the women who shaped her life. ( )

Amy Dickinson's memoir is a heartwarming story of family. While there are some tough times, like Amy's divorce and single parenthood, this upbeat book celebrates the love of family, particularly the special bond between female family members.

I found the writing in the book comfortable. It was like sitting down with a friend you haven't seen in a while and catching up. The writing was smooth and often had me chuckling at the small town antics and Amy's witty phrasing.

Growing up I didn't have the extended family that Amy had. It was wonderful to share her experience of walking a few blocks and visiting many family members. The small town atmosphere was charming and I highly recommend this memoir as a nice change of pace from the negativity of some memoirs. ( )