The Mill River Recluse
by Darcie Chan
6/10
My Synopsis:
Mary MacCallister lives in the white marble mansion high above the town of Mill River. There she stays – never leaving, just watching. She was once a beautiful young woman but after a tragic encounter, she developed an acute anxiety disorder. Struggling with what other people take for granted day by day, Mary lives a life of isolation. Her real connection with the outside world is through Father Michael O’Brien. He is her lone source of companionship. Mary has a surprise for the people of Mill River that will be revealed upon her death. This surprise could change the little town forever.
My Opinion:
The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan was an interesting read. As someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder, this book really intrigued me. I was excited to see how Mary would be portrayed. However, I felt that the author merely scratched the surface of this disorder. I did like the character of Mary. I also liked the character of Connor, but best of all was the wonderful character of Daisy Delaine. With her dog and her potions, she was a real treat. The switch between the current day (after Mary’s death) and the past chapters (Mary’s life) was a bit disjointed. It felt like two completely different stories. Maybe it was supposed to but I was not all that fond of the post-Mary tale as much as I was interested in the story of Mary’s life. The other half of the story just seemed to be there. It was told nicely and wrapped up (which I usually like), but it was wrapped up in a way that felt forced. I just never cared for the people in that half of the story. It felt like the author had a good idea but the after-Mary portion felt kind of like filler. Overall, I felt the past half of the story was quite intriguing and the current day half of the story fell rather flat. The surprise at the ending was able to be foreseen in my opinion. It just didn’t feel like an equal amount of effort had been put into both halves of the story. 6/10
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