GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
CONGRATULATIONS to the WINNER
Barbara White
Carrolton Texas
Into the Free
Julie Cantrell
Registration Open
October 26-November 3, 2019
(US Only)
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Entry deadline is at 11:59 pm November 3, 2019
Winner will be chosen at random and notified by email.
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INTO the FREE
by Julie Cantrell
MILLIE IS JUST A GIRL. BUT SHE’S THE ONLY ONE STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK THE FAMILY CYCLE.
In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs.
For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?
A FEW REVIEWS FOR INTO THE FREE
Publishers Weekly STARRED Review
A young girl growing into adolescence confronts family abuse and a dark past in this lyrical debut novel. Millie Reynolds and her mother live in a ramshackle cabin in Depression-era Mississippi, occasionally receiving unwelcome visits from the violent family patriarch, Jack. With her only friend, Sloth, dead and gone, Millie struggles to find any happiness with a “nothing mama” and a ruthless father. Only the passing caravans of gypsies offer her any semblance of belonging. But when unlucky events engulf her, she discovers some surprising secrets that eventually help her hope in God’s love. Cantrell’s exquisitely written story immerses readers in a world that is as cruel as it is beautiful. From the opening lines to the very last sentence, the book’s magnetic prose bewitches and enthralls on every page. A visceral and gripping journey of a young woman’s revelations about God and self, this novel will surely excite any reader who appreciates a compelling story about personal struggle and spiritual resilience. Agent: Greg Johnson, WordServe Literary. (Feb.)
“Julie Cantrell beautifully renders a vivid past, but her subjects are immediate and eternal—family secrets, love’s many losses, revenge and revelation, and finally redemption. Her characters may buck and brawl and bray against the notion of God in their lives, but there’s no denying He continues to send them into each other’s path, and Cantrell masterfully introduces them to one another in her wonderfully woven narrative. This book is full of insightful detail and wondrous turns, with an ending that moves in all directions through time like God’s grace.”
—Mark Richard, author of House of Prayer No. 2
“In this lovely novel author Julie Cantrell shows us how our heart’s desire can intersect with God’s plan no matter how many times we deny it, or how blurred the lines between good and evil can sometimes be, and the existence in our lives of angels in disguise we can sometimes see if we just look hard enough. The story’s protagonist, Millie, is beautifully drawn. Her spunk and spirit carves a place for her in your heart as she battles life’s hardships with truth and grace. By the simple act of learning how to pray, Millie finds her way in the world and into the free. Exquisitely written, Julie Cantrell has created a haunting story that will linger in your heart long after you’ve turned the last page.”
—Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Beach Trees
ABOUT JULIE CANTRELL
Julie Cantrell is an award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novelist whose work focuses on relationships, resilience, and faith. As a writer, speaker, and teacher, she aims to build empathy and connection while inspiring others to live their best life.
Julie served as editor-in-chief of the Southern Literary Review and has received the Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellowship as well as the Rivendell Writer’s Colony Mary Elizabeth Nelson Fellowship.
A certified speech-language pathologist, Julie is a literacy advocate who previously served on the board of her local literacy council. Dedicated to helping children overcome social, academic, and communication challenges, Julie has filled various gaps when called to serve her local public school system as an SLP, a reading interventionist, an ELL tutor, and a SPED sub.
Julie also spent six years operating her family’s sustainable farm where she tended organic crops while caring for a wide variety of furry and feathered friends. She is a certified naturalist who enjoys exploring this beautiful world. Additionally, she has operated a freelance writing business for almost twenty years.
Julie writes fulltime from her home in Oxford, Mississippi.
