Under the Circumstances in Bloomington, MN

Millie's ordinary life revolves around the kitchen, "a place where things simply made sense." Like the recurring bassline in a song, her hardscrabble routine lulls the reader into breakfast, lunch and dinner, washing dirty dishes, laundry and bodies, scrubbing tables, sinks and floors ... surviving the impoverished South in the late 1920s. But Millie is not ordinary, nor is the kitchen and its occupants, nor is the house and its guests. Abandoned at 16 with a baby, Middleton's heroine comes of age in a few short months through events that puncture her routine with unexpected circumstances. The writer's skill creates a time-true universe and the gift of a refreshing and deeply satisfying read.