Into the Free

Feb. 2012, David C. Cook / June 2016, HarperCollins

  • Starred review by Publishers Weekly

  • New York Times Bestseller

  • USA Today Top 150

  • International bestseller (Dutch Christian Fiction list)

  • 2013 Christy Award, Best Debut

  • 2013 Christy Award, Book of the Year

  • 2013 Mississippi Library Association Fiction Award

  • 2013 Shortlist Finalist, Alex Award

  • 2013 Shortlist Finalist, INSPYs Award

  • 2013 Books-a-Million Summer Pick

  • 2016 Target Read

  • March 2012 Read of the Month, Southern Literary Review

  • 2013 Pulpwood Queens Selection

  • Best Read of 2012 by LifeWay

  • Best Read of 2012 by USA Today

  • 2013 Starkville Reads Summer Pick

  • 2013 Hernando Public Library Book Club Summer Series

  • Finalist for University of Mississippi Common Reading Experience

  • Optioned for feature film

  • Published in audio, paperback, e-book, largeprint, and hardcover library editions

  • Published in Dutch, German, Norwegian, and Romanian

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?

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Reviews

“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.”
— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“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

“A lyrical, moving, haunting, wise, brutal, warm-hearted, and ultimately freeing and inspiring coming-of-age tale told with poetic honesty. Julie Cantrell is a wonderful writer. She doesn’t just tell a story, she invites you right into it so that you don’t just read it, you live it. Into the Free swept me up and swept me along, and the story and the characters stayed with me—in the very best way—long after I turned the last page.”
— Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of The Ice Master, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, and Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“Readers will fall in love with spirited, young Millie Reynolds, a girl with one eye on the heavens and the other on the savages that occupy our world. Julie Cantrell’s Into the Free is a searing tale of heartache, faith, forgiveness, and doubt set amidst gypsies, angels, addicts, asylums, roughnecks and rodeo hands.”
— Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts

“Julie Cantrell writes with the beautiful hand of someone who understands the soft nuance of God’s brushstrokes on the human heart. I’ve underlined my favorite passages of Into the Free and hope that readers new to Ms. Cantrell’s voice will tread slowly, thoughtfully into her story. There is a deep, powerful message resting beneath the surface of her words and one deserving to be discovered.”
— River Jordan, author of Praying for Strangers

“Saturated in Southern ambiance, Julie Cantrell’s heartbreaking and inspirational story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Into the Free is the celebration of a vulnerable but fierce young girl facing loss head-on as she bravely seeks her place in a world that threatens despair at every turn.”
— Lynne Bryant, author of Catfish Alley and Alligator Lake 

“Julie Cantrell’s compelling story of one young woman’s journey through the choices that lead to freedom drew me in from the very first scene. I simply couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, at least until I neared the end … when I purposefully slowed down, knowing instinctively that I was going to miss Millie Reynolds from Into the Free. I was right.” 
— Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, bestselling author of Sue Ellen’s Girl Ain’t Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy

“Gritty, compelling, and beautifully told, Into the Free will take you into a coming-of-age story filled with heartrending hardship and luminous hope. Julie Cantrell is a writer to watch!”
— Lisa Wingate, bestselling, award-winning author of Blue Moon Bay and Dandelion Summer

“Evil abounds in this first novel by Julie Cantrell, but faith prevails. Millie Reynolds is a character readers won’t soon forget. At once she is brave and fragile, victim and heroine, a girl you’ll find yourself rooting for again and again as she transcends unthinkable tragedies and lifts herself Into the Free.”
— Suzanne Supplee, author of Artichoke’s Heart, Somebody Everybody Listens To, and When Irish Guys Are Smiling

“Julie Cantrell has a sweet and powerful way with a story. She knows how to make friends with a reader. You’re going to fall in love with Into the Free. I did.”
— Don Reid, The Statler Brothers, and author of O Little Town and One Lane Bridge

“Into the Free is a novel varied and rich as life itself. Millie Reynolds defines resilience in this powerful story about family, faith and finding one’s own way.” 
— Irene Latham, award-winning author of Leaving Gee’s Bend

“Readers will root for Millie Reynolds, plucky and determined heroine of Julie Cantrell’s novel debut. With an ear for dialogue and an eye for landscape, the world of Into the Free is richly created and populated by complex characters that astound and inspire. Bravo!” 
— Beth Ann Fennelly, award-winning poet and author of Great with Child

“Wow! This book grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Captivating prose combined with captivating characters make it a book that isn’t easy to put down. A great book club book! Especially in light of some things that transpire at the end. I know I’d love to discuss them!”
— Katie Ganshert, author of Wildflowers from Winter

“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

“Cantrell’s words paint vivid pictures that bring Millie’s harrowing story to life. Riveting you to your chair, this story is a reminder that sometimes faith — real faith– is slowly built during the darkest moments of your life.”
— 4 1/2 out of 4 1/2 Stars RT Reviews