The Mill River Recluse

by Darcie Chan

Snappy Review

The first time I read, I didn’t have the patience for the beautiful story that unwrapped itself from the pages the second time round. I’m not sure if it was the mood I was in, or that I finally gave it the time that the writing deserved.

Book Synopsis

Disfigured by the blow of an abusive husband, the widow Mary McAllister has spent almost sixty years secluded in a white marble mansion overlooking the town of Mill River, Vermont. Her links to the outside world are few: the mail, an elderly priest, and a bedroom window with a view of the town below.

Most longtime residents of Mill River consider the marble house and its occupant peculiar, and few of them have ever seen Mary. But three newcomers – a police officer and his daughter and a new schoolteacher – are curious about the reclusive old woman. Only the town priest truly knows the Mill River recluse, and the secret she keeps… a secret that, once revealed, will change the town, and the lives of its residents, forever.

In the old-fashioned tradition of Kim Edwards (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, The Lake of Dreams), THE MILL RIVER RECLUSE is a story of triumph over tragedy, one that reminds us of the value of friendship and the mysterious ways that love can come from the most unexpected places.