The Mill River Recluse

There's not a single word wasted in this story about reclusive Mary McAllister and how her life intertwined with the people of Mill River. I liked the way Mary’s life story, including the cause of her social anxiety, alternated with chapters about the present day townspeople, many with their own vulnerabilities and peculiarities. This book is a little bit suspenseful, pleasantly romantic but just a tad too sweet and superficial for my taste.

The setup of the novel held promise. The central character is a woman suffering from a severe anxiety disorder. She also was permanently disfigured by an abusive husband. Alone, in her grand house on the hill, she watches the town below her, and becomes involved in the lives of the residents there, but from a distance. Her contact with the outside world is practically nil, except for a local priest who has the odd habit of stealing spoons.

On the whole, I found this book somewhat maudlin. I'd hoped to be more drawn into characters that held promise in the descriptive blurb, and to find depth in the the nooks and crannies of Mill River. As it was, there was a heavy-handedness gave away each plot revelation far before I'd even started to show more wonder what would happen, so that the by the end of the book, I was just waiting for the characters to get on with it. The nurse educator in me felt this could have been an opportunity to educate about anxiety disorders, which can be life crippling. Instead, there was more of focus on Mary being set up for life, financially, and never having to want for anything, than on overcoming her disability. I found myself thinking over and over how different her life could have been, without taking away from her charitable efforts, if someone had been able to get her the kind of help that could have given her the strength to combat her fears.

Whenever I receive a book from an outside source, or from a debut author, I try to give it an honest review of what I thought. And, hope that review will be positive. sometimes it's not. I think there is an audience for this sort of book, though, I am not the correct one. However, I am extremely thankful to Random House for sending this book to me and for introducing me to the Random House Reader's Circle. And to Ms Chan, should she read this review, please keep writing. Not everyone nails it for all readers, especially on the first try. You had an idea, a story, and a vision, and pulled it together. That's more than most people can do. Apparently enough people liked this book as an ebook when it was self published for a major house to take it on, and I see you have a sequel that comes out in August. Goodonya! I wish you and Mill River, VT well. show less

For only $.99 on Kindle, I have to admit that I didn't really expect too much out of this book...but, Darcie Chan, I sincerely apologize for jumping to conclusions.

This story of the life of a woman with severe social anxiety disorder was amazing. The richness and depth of all of the characters--from Mary, the woman suffering with s.a.d. to her friend, the priest, and the town policeman--they were all wonderful!

I felt that I knew each and every one of the townspeople as Ms. Chan wove her magic.

A great book. Highly recommended.

As a free Kindle book I was ready to not like this book. However, I'm glad to have it read it. The story takes place in Mill River, everybody's small town. As one reads the book they come to love the characters, especially Mary. Mildly predictable, but enough action and plot twists to keep the reader hooked.

I picked up this book when it was offered for $.99 on the Kindle. The reviews on Amazon.com at the time were encouraging, and I thought it might be a good read for a vacation time when I was reading mostly from my Kindle. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it and was pleasantly surprised. It's the story of Mary, the daughter of a horse breeder in a small Vermont town. She suffered from social anxiety disorder as a result of an event that happened in high school. She married into wealth. This is the story of how the people in the town touched her and she touched them as well as a story of the town itself during two periods of time. It alternates between the past and present to share the story. Her closest friend is her show more spoon-pilfering priest who had been with her all those years and carried out her dying wishes.I loved the glimpses into the lives of so many of the town's residents. I couldn't help but wonder how Mary's life might have been changed had she developed her problem at a later time when her disorder was recognized. show less

Gewoon dik verdiend vijf sterren,je hoeft bij dit boek niet na te denken want het leest erg makkelijk en als een trein.Ik zat vanaf de eerste pagina meteen in het verhaal en dat is erg prettig,het laat je ook niet meer los tot het eind .Het verhaal word steeds afgewisseld van het heden naar het verleden van Mary,zeker het verleden van mary sleepte mij helemaal mee en komt in het heden weer erg mooi tot zijn recht.Door wat Mary in het verleden heeft meegemaakt raakt ze totaal geisoleerd maar weet te over leven door de verhalen van de geweldige mensen uit Mill River.Ook zaten er nog hele mooie verrassingen in dit verhaal,ik kan niet anders zeggen dan dat dit boek bij mij erg veel verschillende emoties heeft los gemaakt en heb die ook show more gevoeld tijdens het lezen van dit boek. show less

Where I got the book: my sister read it and passed it on to me. She wasn't all that impressed.

Whereas I would give this book about a 3.5, for the following reasons. A few years ago, when agents ruled the land and authors scuttled around under their feet unnoticed, there was a lot of advice going around about making your book easy to read for the poor dumb reader because, y'know, long words are difficult for us and distance us from the story. Chan evidently followed that advice, and lo and behold, an indie bestseller was born.

And it's not a bad story per se, although the Big Secret became pretty obvious way before the end. There are a lot of readers who like small-town stories involving fallible characters, and when you add in perfectly show more decent writing that is "accessible" you're going to pull people in. Not entirely my cuppa, but I know that there's a knack to this kind of writing and Chan's nailed it. I've read way worse, by authors who've been picked up by trad publishing and touted as bestsellers.

I kind of wish Chan had stayed indie, but I can understand how those seven-figure advances are hard to resist. Would I read more Chan? No, probably not. I like a little more layering and depth of character. We're talking here about the depth of a Ken Follett blockbuster, without the grand sweep of the plot which is the only reason I stay with those things. In a short novel, I want more bite. show less