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    Into the Free: A Novel
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    Into the Free: A Novel
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    Into the Free: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Into the Free: A Novel

    Written by Julie Cantrell

    Narrated by Luci Christian Bell

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A simple girl with anything but a simple story. 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 long-standing 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?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOasis Audio
    Release dateOct 1, 2012
    ISBN9781621881216
    Unavailable
    Into the Free: A Novel
    Author

    Julie Cantrell

    Julie Cantrell is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, editor, and TEDx speaker. Her work has received numerous awards and special recognition across both faith-based and general audiences.

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    Reviews for Into the Free

    4.5/5

    111 ratings20 reviews

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    • 3/5
      An interesting look at Mississippi life in the 1930s. Poor, gypsy and society mores and attitudes.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book while on a trip, and it's a great one for that purpose. Millie's mother is regularly beaten by her father, Jack in early 1940's rural Alabama. Millie observes these beatings from afar during her childhood as she grows up but never attempts to intervene. Eventually her mother succumbs to the affects of a beating, and Millie has an accident of her own that lands her in the hospital. She goes to live in the home of one of the nurses who cared for her. Millie's father was a rider in the rodeo, and although Millie had never ridden, she discovers that she inherited riding talent from Jack. Meanwhile, she is also fascinated with a band of Gypsies who come through her Alabama town each year and thinks she loves a boy from their group named River. There's also a man from the rodeo named Bump, who falls in love with Millie. It's an enjoyable coming-of-age story for readers of all ages.
    • 4/5
      Millie is growing up in Depression-era Mississippi, living in a slave shack with her mother. She has a father, but it seems he only comes around to beat up her mom, who sleeps away her depression with the help of morphine. Thankfully, Sloth is there, feeding Millie, and teaching her the secrets of the outdoor world, and being her friend. Then she meets River, one of the Gypsies that pass through Millie's town every spring. Suddenly, running away with the Gypsies seems like the perfect answer to all her problems.This was a wonderful book with characters who leap right off the page and descriptions so beautifully written than it feels like you are right there in Mississippi with Millie. The troubles that life hands her are almost unbearable, but somehow she keeps coming back, stronger than before. My one disappointment with Into the Free is that in just the last few pages the author hits us over the head with the fact that this is "Christian Fiction". The book would have been much tighter without this unnecessary belaboring of Millie's change of heart and spirit--it was apparent without being spelled out. My advice? Stop reading at page 339!
    • 5/5
      A long black train scrapes across Mr. Sutton's fields. His horses don't bother lifting their heads. They aren't afraid of the metal wheels, the smoking engine. The trains come every day, in straight lines like the hems Mama stitches across rich people's pants. Ironing and sewing, washing and mending. That's what Mama does for cash. As for me, I sit in Mr. Sutton's trees, live in one of Mr. Sutton's cabins, sell Mr. Sutton's pecans, and dream about riding Mr. Sutton's horses, all in the shadow of Mr. Sutton's big house.I can only guess where the boxcars are going and where they've been. I pretend they carry "limber lions, testy tigers, and miniature horse wearing tall turquoise hats."Where do you think it's going?" I ask Sloth."Into the free," he says.I watch the train until it disappears completely. I don't know what Sloth thinks free looks like, but I imagine it's a place where nine-year-old girls like me aren't afraid of their fathers. Where mothers don't get the blues. Where Mr. Sutton doesn't own the whole wide world.I climb higher in the sweet gum and hope the engineer will turn the train around and come back to get me. Take me away, to the place Sloth calls the free.In the novel Into the Free by Julie Cantrell, the reader is taken into the depression era-Mississippi in 1936 where 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 the town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family's long-standing cycle of madness and abuse.I received Into the Free compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. I think Julie Cantrell does an exceptional job at keeping the reader engaged in difficult story of child abuse and shows how Millie has to learn to trust God again when she thinks He has abandoned her. I think this relates to many readers who mistake God's silence as abandonment instead of simply trusting God's timing in all things will bring about a greater good in the end, and how much forgiveness is needed more for the victim than for those that inflict the pain. It is a freedom that needs to be released so the healing can happen, otherwise bitterness and resentment only grow in our hearts. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written. Heart wrenching story. Definitely looking for more from this author!
    • 5/5
      The Author is awesome at bringing you into the book. You are part of the Story. Beautiful!!!
    • 5/5
      I wasn’t sure when I started listening to the book if I was going to continue. Then this delightful story took me by surprise and I could hardly put it down.
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully written and the narration is very good as well. This book is one I would recommend!
    • 4/5
      Julie Cantrell caught my attention with the introduction of heartwarming characters and their connection to one another. Millie, the protagonist, has been disowned by her extended family. All she has is a father who abuses her mother, a mother who suffers from depression, and Sloth, the one loving, positive influence in her life.It is the Depression-Era and Millie is seven years old when the story begins and we follow her on her journey to adulthood. We watch her lose everything that she cares about, as she uncovers her family’s past. Millie is my hero. I adore her and the survivalist within her. There are secrets and hurt that make her family who they are. We see the effects that abuse, depression, drug dependency, suicide, hypocrisy, and a warped sence of religion has on a family. Cantrell gets to the heart of every character and delivers an understanding for each of them.As Millie gains a better understanding for her family, she also discovers things about herself and the true definition of love. There is a romance element that Cantrell has made into more than a side plot. It is realistic, pure and is an intricate part of Millie’s journey.Into the Free by Julie Cantrell could not be any more complete. The synopsis, in no way, gives justice to this phenomenal read. Into the Free is now one of my all time favorite reads and I highly recommend this book for individuals who enjoy either YA or adult historical fiction and to book clubs. There is more than enough discussion opportunities here and I can see how each reader will have a different experience relating to the characters and a different level of acceptance. There are discussion questions included in the back of the book.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Iti Taloa, Mississippi - Millie is a survivor living in a dysfunctional family. She lives in a dirty old slave cabin with a barely there father and a weak and withering mother. Jack, her father, severely beats her Mama, but Mama keeps it a secret. Mama said "there is nothing worse than the shame of being unloved." All of Millie's life she has wanted to hop a train and get out of Iti Taloa and "into the free." Sloth, an endearing character, is old enough to be Millie's grandfather. He teaches her how to survive, and was the closest thing to a father image Millie ever had. Sloth becomes Millie's guardian angel. River is a gypsy and a loner. He is well-read, and a well groomed adventurer, rather than the stereotyped traveler. To the gypsies, home is wherever, and Millie becomes fascinated with them. They sing and dance, wandering the streets. River knows all about Millie's tattered life. Millie shows every dark corner of her soul to River and he confesses his love to her. Babushka, an old gypsy woman with the cat eyes, gives Millie a key to her Mama's hidden box - a key that would unlock all the evils into her Mama's past, revealing many dark secrets. An interesting and charming character, Bump, works for a rodeo and has the reputation for breaking the wildest horses. He teaches Millie how to ride a horse and soon becomes romantically drawn to her. All Millie ever wanted was to feel loved. She wanted control of her life, without the fear. She wanted to be worthy of love and happiness - worthy of a good life filled with good people who would love her in return. Most of all she wanted to find peace and to find her special role in life. Years pass by, secrets are revealed and the story unfolds ---Quote from the book - "Shame is the only thing I know that can be silent and loud, all at the same time."I was so extremely touched by this novel - one of my all time favorites. You'll become entangled in sadness throughout, as sensitive issues are dealt with . I loved the author's style of writing, painting a picture with her words - vivid imagery of scenes - making me feel like I was there. She delves into the hearts and minds of each character, clearly stating their personalities. This is an amazing story that will remain in your thoughts long after the final chapter is read. Beautiful, powerful, and soul stirring! My rating is 5 stars. Don't miss the sequel, When Mountains Move #2 . I received a complimentary copy of this book along with When Mountains Move from the publisher, David C Cook as a "first-reads-winner."

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Awesome book, I didn't want it to end but it ended in a perfect way! Millie's life makes you pity her mother and hate her father. But as the book goes on it makes you pity her father, jack, as well. There is so much tragedy in this book and yet it's so beautiful rather than dark and disturbing. The reading is amazing, it's one of the absolute best audio book I've ever listened to. You will not be disappointed in this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Loved the book. A lot. Did i say i loved it? I did. I loved the writing. The mother was frustrating, in fact a lot was frustrating with some of the characters, but that is life. It was real. It was extremely well written.
    • 5/5
      Into the Free is a wonderful book to read.Millie Reynolds grows up in the Depression era in her home of Mississippi. Her family life is abusive and trouble is her constant companion. She is entranced by a boy who travels around with a band of gypsies(no racial intended)but there is also a cowboy who vies for her attention.Who will she trust? Who can she trust?This book has strong characters, a real page turner,leaving you wanting to know more. Great for book discussions with questions in the back. Thank you to the creative works of Julie Cantrell.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is one of those novels you could write a book about just to get across how wonderful it is. It's a book every book club should be dying to read and discuss! The story of a little girl who learns to view her world from the safety of a high tree, to dream of escaping the fears she has and the poverty she experiences both emotional and physical, will grip your heart from the first seconds you touch this book. But what also hooked me was the elequence and heart-stopping prose of Julie Cantrell. She is a storyteller personified."Into the Free" is so beautifully written and so rich in symbolism that it will not let you pull away. Even when you put the book down to go about daily business, the memory of what you've read and look forward to reading will haunt you. This is an extraordinary book with a human story that digs at the essence of what it means to be alive in spirit, and to love with your whole heart.We primarily see the world through the eyes of Millie, a pre-teen then late teen, as she comes of age learning to understand the realities of the world and the adults within it; as well as her place within that world. Millie is a wise child, but one who is alone in the world. She embodies the spirit of any child who is held captive in a home surrounded by poverty and abuse. She's powerless to hinder her father's abuse of her dependent and addictive mother, and that mother's complacency, but her spirit finds a way to be free by way of her interactions with other people and her world view. Millie is a so fully developed and so sound in psychology that it's difficult to remember that she's a "make believe" character and not a living person whose biography one is reading. She's a jewel of a character whom I'll never forget."Into the Free" causes us to ask questions about what freedom actually is. Can we choose freedom in our situations, over enslavement? There are many choices this book looks at through Millie's eyes and which may cause the reader to assess her own world and spiritual views. I was particularly struck by Ms Cantrell's use of the gypsies as a way of showing what security and false security might be for Millie. The lure of the beautiful and strange may not always be best, and Millie has to decide if it's the right course to her own freedom.Julie Cantrell is an author of blinding beauty and wisdom. Her spiritual insights and easy way of leading the reader into a deeper knowledge of them is graceful and blend well within her story. As Millie learns the difference between harsh, rote and human "religion," and finding godly love and caring, so does the reader. Millie comes to understand what "good" people really are versus what society claims and where "class" sets them. Her Choctaw blood and rodeo background make her an outcast in the town's society, but that doesn't mean she's "bad."Ms Cantrell's book is a treasure of symbolism that I wish I had a group of friends to unravel with me! As I said, this is one for the book groups. A gorgeous book, and one I highly recommend to everyone. You have to get this book and/or put it on your must read list. It's a book you won't forget.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      "Into the Free" takes place during the great depression in Mississippi. Millie lives with an abusive father and a depressed mother, who has trouble functioning day-to-day. Each spring the Gypsies come into town and Millie finds herself following and then befriending them. At the age of 16, Millie decides that she wants to know more about her family and goes to the rodeo to watch her father compete. Thrown off, her father is gored in the chest and is immediately taken to the hospital where he dies. Her mother dies a few days later from a morphine overdose and Millie is left alone.This book was incredibly touching. It is a coming-of-age novel that shows the strength and determination of a young girl who has been dealt a bad hand in life. Despite her abusive upbringing and the mental illness throughout her family, Millie is able to grow and live. I thought the characters were very well developed and sympathetic. The plot line moved slowly at times, but overall was well paced. This book reminded me a bit of "The Glass House" and other memoirs set in the era. Overall, I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Into the Free was an intense story, but I loved it and was pulled into the story and the characters' lives. The portrayal of their hardship was very realistic in that many abused children feel exactly the same way that Millie did. I appreciated that because so often people don't understand that abused children get a bit freaked out by loving families. Having worked with foster children for almost two decades, I saw this scenario often. Those same children are also very loyal to their own families, twisted as they might be. They are always waiting for the other ball to drop and to be hurt again. Too often that is exactly what happens. And they are drawn to the dark, dangerous types of boys. Many of those men start out amazing but once a girl is in a relationship with them, they are trapped. I felt really bad for the gypsy boy, River, because I do believe he sincerely loved Millie, but one never knows where that intense emotional stuff will lead, good or bad. In fact, her life often reflected the savagery of the dog that ate her own pups. I loved that metaphor and many of the other metaphors used in the story.At any rate, I adored this author's voice, and the way she wasn't afraid to show the ugliness of life in all of it's authenticity, including how people perceive things who have been wounded. Faith isn't about dressing up on Sunday and sitting nicely in a pew. Not all Christians are white, though southern preachers in those days very well may have tried to present it that way. I agreed with Millie when it came to the hypocrisy she saw. I don't think God cares about that. What He wants is our hearts and He will use everything and anything to bring us to Him. This story showed that well. It also showed strength and determination from a girl only used to seeing passivity, weakness, and neglect. Unfortunately, many women think they must stay and bear the brunt of the man's abuse. The strongest thing Millie's mom ever did was not to take him back after that last time where he nearly killed her. I understood the rage Millie felt toward her mom's depression. So well done!The Sloth character was great, but I also found it a bit disconcerting how she "saw" him even after she died. Then again, I can see a wounded child like Millie looking for comfort and security anywhere, even if she imagines it and believes it is real. When Sloth passed, she lost her best friend and the one person who seemed to care about her. The story was sad, but empowering at the same time. I like deep reads like this because they make me think about life, faith, and real love. I find survivor stories empowering. I didn't feel like anything was over-the-top. In real life, God doesn't always intervene. Most of the time, He doesn't. But He holds us when we hurt and carries us through. This story shows how anyone can survive and change the direction of their life. Even the most wounded people can still find God. There were many nuggets of truth in this novel that were an integral part of Millie's coming of age and her faith journey. I can see this book as a classic and I think it would make a great movie! Anyway, it's making my favorites list. It's fantastic!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Julie Cantrell won 2 Christy Awards for her debut novel, Into The Free. It is easy to see why. Her novel is a moving study of a young girl with so many obstacles to overcome, so many people set against her, yet somehow she manages to hold on to the elusive hope that she can escape and somehow make it into freedom. Not a particularly easy read considering the abuse some of the characters undergo, it is nevertheless a book I would highly recommend to anyone.Spanning the years of 1936-1943, Into The Free features Millie Reynolds the daughter of a rodeo star who also regularly beats his wife. Mama retreats from the abuse and despair of her life by taking the drugs that the farmhands bring. Millie has learned to disappear, to be quiet and not cause any trouble. Yet she yearns for an escape and watches and waits for the Travelers that appear in the Spring.Cantrell has a wonderful writing style, creating memorable and well-developed characters and using affective imagery. Millie is a survivor and a character that endures hard situations and hard people while maintaining her sense of self. Cantrell balances the abusive with the redemptive in the characters she creates. And there is a tension between Millie’s desire for the magical freedom that the gypsy boy River represents with the steady, dependable faith of cowboy Bump. The small town of Iti Taloa, Mississippi becomes very real in Cantrell’s hands. Small town gossip and prejudices are present, but so are caring people who seek to shelter Millie. But in 1940s Mississippi there is a limit to what one can do to step into a family’s business.I read a few negative reviews of Into The Free. Some thought it was too Christian, others not Christian enough. Cantrell is blunt in her portrayal of hypocritical church members. At their best they are unfeeling gossips. At their worst they are abusive and manipulative. But theirs is a Christianity that is in name only. Her portrayal of real faith is beautiful. When Millie visits Bump’s family in the Delta she finds she “can taste the existence of God in every bite of food, smell Him in every whiff of Delta air, feel Him as Bump brushes against my arm and children tug at my dress with question after question about the rodeo, about Bump”. The provision and protection of God takes the shape of Sloth, a character from Millie’s childhood, who shows up to guide and direct her and sometimes to save her.Into The Free has been in my TBR pile a long while. I am glad I finally took the time to read it. Powerful, beautiful, poignant, it is definitely Highly Recommended.Highly Recommended.Great For Book Clubs.
    • 5/5
      As I was reading page after page, I kept ruminating about what the author was trying to convey in the tale. When I came to the end, all the pieces fell into place for me, and I realized the message was veiled on purpose. Sometimes when the end comes and the theme or message is unveiled that is also when the joy of having read the book can be realized. Perhaps other readers catch on quicker to what the message was, but it took me till the end and I was astounded.The story is told from the point of view of a young girl growing up in a less than idealistic home life. Instead of being cared for, she ends up being the caretaker of her mother for most of her early years. Inside her heart she is searching, but for what or whom Millie is not quite able to put her finger on it. Through other background characters and life experiences she sees life as trying to make sense of what is seen from afar.Years later in a year that totally changes her life, she dares to hope and dream of finding her deepest heart’s desire fulfilled. The people she tries to trust and let them know her aren’t able to get any closer than what Millie determines is safest. When Millie’s world is again rocked by an event that will forever be a part of her memories, she wonders if the future will be a mirror of either of her parents.I don’t want to take away the joy of the journey in discovering the meaning or theme, so I’ll not write any more about the plot. As you read, what speaks to you may not be what spoke to my heart and that is another reason for not revealing some other pieces of the book or characters. What I can say is that it truly reflects one message we all need be reminded of…that no matter what happens to us this side of heaven we have choices. We may not always know why we have had a particular tragedy or surprise come along, but really that isn’t where our eyes should stay fixed. There is more going on around us that is unseen than seen.When Mountains Move is the sequel to Into the Free, and I will review that novel soon too. I can’t wait to see what continues to happen with Millie’s saga. Into the Free is a special novel for me as it speaks to my heart about the path we are on this side of heaven, as well as the need for leaving behind us words that others can read that might just lead them to God.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book while on a trip, and it's a great one for that purpose. Millie's mother is regularly beaten by her father, Jack in early 1940's rural Alabama. Millie observes these beatings from afar during her childhood as she grows up but never attempts to intervene. Eventually her mother succumbs to the affects of a beating, and Millie has an accident of her own that lands her in the hospital. She goes to live in the home of one of the nurses who cared for her. Millie's father was a rider in the rodeo, and although Millie had never ridden, she discovers that she inherited riding talent from Jack. Meanwhile, she is also fascinated with a band of Gypsies who come through her Alabama town each year and thinks she loves a boy from their group named River. There's also a man from the rodeo named Bump, who falls in love with Millie. It's an enjoyable coming-of-age story for readers of all ages.
    • 5/5
      Highly Rewarding ReadInto the Free: A Novel leaps into the life of Millicent Reynolds, a young Mississippi girl at the end of the Depression. Milli’s father, Jack, is a violent, alcoholic, rodeo man whose wife has turned to morphine to survive the abuse. Milli and her mother live in old slave quarters on a plantation, surviving on Jack’s winnings and the money they earn from doing laundry for the wealthy in town, Milli and her mother eek out an existence. Milli befriends a group of gypsies, intending to leave with them, but stops when her father almost beats her mother to death.The perverse air of melancholia that permeates Milli’s life makes the this novel difficult to begin, but hooks the reader with Milli’s desire to pull herself out of the abusive circle. As Milli turns to people for help, Milli learns to see through facades to discover true meaning of Christianity and love, where money and appearance are not important. Intense book, not for the faint hearted, but a highly rewarding read. Received Galley from NetGalley.com