Product Description: Critics and readers alike applauded the release of Teresa Miller's first magnificent novel, Remnants of Glory, which Publishers Weekly called a "...slice of Americana studded with women who are survivors." Now, with her first new novel in more than a decade, Miller has written a thought-provoking and tender examination of the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, the delicate fabric that holds families together.
Family Correspondence is a multi-generational novel beginning in post-WWII Arkansas with fifteen-year old Marie Wallace, a young girl struggling to come to terms with her mother's frailties and the larger-than-life personalities who have shaped her world. A generation later, in modern-day Oklahoma, Marie's daughter, Nora Catron, is suddenly forced to confront her mother's past in the aftermath of a horrible and mysterious accident. Using letters to link the stories of mother and daughter, Teresa Miller skillfully weaves the two into a penetrating and magnificently observed tale. Because ultimately, as Nora realizes, their story is "larger than family correspondence." It is the ongoing and often joyful story of a mother and daughter learning to experience true kinship.
Poignant portrait and a good story, well told This second novel by Teresa Miller captured my attention right from the beginning. She draws a very poignant portrait of young Marie, 15 years old in the 1950s, who goes through the torment of her mother's early death as well as the joy of young love. There are complications to that love, serious complications. The reader doesn't realize quite how serious until the book suddenly jumps a full 45 years later and the rest of the story is lived through the eyes of Marie's older daughter, Nora. There's a mystery here and several surprises along the way as the reader learns the truth along with Nora.
Once I started this book I couldn't put it down, staying up long into the night to finish it. It's full of insights and yet it never bogs down to over-explain anything. In fact, the author's strength is in the carefully controlled understatements. It's up to the reader to fill in all the little pieces that remain unsaid. Swept along with the fast paced tale, I felt satisfied with the conclusion. It was only days afterward that some doubts surfaced about whether or not it really could have happened that way. The characters were wonderful, especially the young Marie. For a short time I was drawn right into her world, sharing all her emotions. In between the chapters there are various pieces of correspondence adding further depth. It's a good story, well told. Recommended.
Mothers and daughters, well told Teresa Miller's Family Correspondence opens with a chain letter which promises, true to the form, to bring bad luck upon anyone breaking its chain. At first, this seems like a puzzling beginning, until we discover that the recipient, Marie, is a teenage girl who is trying to cope with her mother's grave illness. And so begins this novel that weaves tragedy with quirkiness, lives with written correspondence. While at times the narrative can be confusing and somewhat awkward(perhaps a better editing job was needed?), this book ultimately succeeds on its own terms as a emotional collage of a family. Miller shows real talent with her characterization, and this skill carries the novel forward with conviction, gathering strength with every chapter.
I recommend this novel to readers of women's fiction, as well as those interested in discovering new talents in literary fiction.
More than Letters Although hard to get started, Teresa Miller has penned a novel that exceeds in quality the majority of mass market writing. So many books today portray a prize winner on the cover only to fail in entertaining or captivating the reader. In Family Correspondence, Ms. Miller matches the cover comments and tells a convincing story with emotion.
The first few pages may confuse the reader. It seems that the writer knows something the reader does not know. But stick with it. It is Tersa's writing style. It all makes sense in the end so just surge forward.
The characters are well developed. You relate to them whether you are male or female. This is not a 'girly' book but a good tale of relationships that we all can identify with.
I am really bad with my family tree. I need a flow chart to understand who my cousins are. Perhaps that is the reason I was confused at times with who was who. Don't let that stop you from buying Family Correspondence. The important part is not how they are related but how they relate.
If you have ever had a relative with cancer. If you have ever had a relative that has had health problems that they handled stoically. If you have ever known anyone who has struggled through illness with honor make sure you have some Kleenex handy as you read. Much as Pat Conroy did in Beach Music, Teresa Miller has captured the devastation of family health problems in a heartfelt and appropriate manner and written them expertly for us to share. And just to keep us interested she has added a bit of a mystery to the plot. Great reading.
Family secrets revealed......finally
Teresa Miller has written an exquisitely complex novel about 3 generations of women who work their way through life's temptations and troubles.
Introducing each chapter with some kind of correspondence, Ms. Miller carries her readers through the lives of these women:
Kathleen Wallace is dying of breast cancer. Her beloved husband, Lee, the local veterinarian, is bereft at the prospect of losing his wife and turns to another woman. Kathleen has to hold it together for the sake of her young daughter, Marie, who is coming of age just as her mother is dying.
Marie, in turn, knows about her father's dalliances and her mother's impending death, even though her parents deny it. She falls desperately in love with Ben Ashbrook, the handsome but disturbed heir to a huge ranch. When Marie becomes pregnant, she and Ben marry, to the dismay of everyone, including Alice Ashbrook, Ben's over-protective mother.
Fast forward to the story of Nora and Leslie, Marie's children. Marie has just died in a horrific car accident that took the lives of 2 other people. It's up to Nora to find out (1) why Dr. Carlile and his wife were traveling with Marie on the late night of the accident and (2) why there were large amounts of sedatives in her mother's body.
The format of FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE is sometimes difficult to follow, but you should stay with this book until the end....when there is a moment when everything falls into place, the pieces fits and the questions of the past are finally put to rest.
This is Teresa Miller's second novel. Her first was REMNANTS OF GLORY. She is an author to watch. She is a wordsmith in the style of Sandra Scofield....her characters have very rich interiors and they deal with life-altering issues that don't always end up in pretty packages tied neatly with ribbons. In other words, she deals with real people facing real issues and the consequences of their choices.
Enjoy!
A wonderful story Save this book for a rainy day. Make yourself a cup of tea or hot chocolate, curl up on the couch under an afghan and savor each page. This is a lovely book beautifully written--a story of strength, courage, and survival, but most of all, a story of the unique bond between mothers and daughters. Teresa Miller has written a winner!
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