In West Mills

By: De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Bloomsbury presents In West Mills by De'Shawn Charles Winslow, read by Bahni Turpin.

"A bighearted novel about family, migration, and the unbearable difficulties of love. Here's a cast of characters you won't soon forget." —Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

"Winslow's impressive debut novel introduces readers to both a flawed, fascinating character in fiction and a wonderful new voice in literature." —Real Simple, Best Books of 2019

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
Winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

Named a Most Anticipated Novel by
TIME MAGAZINE * USA TODAY * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * NYLON * SOUTHERN LIVING * THE LOS ANGELES TIMES * ESSENCE * THE MILLIONS * REAL SIMPLE* HUFFINGTON POST * BUZZFEED


Let the people of West Mills say what they will about Azalea “Knot” Centre; they won't keep her from what she loves best: cheap moonshine, nineteenth-century literature, and the company of men. And yet, when motherhood looms, Knot begins to learn that her freedom has come at a high price. Low on money, ostracized from her parents and cut off from her hometown, Knot turns to her neighbor, Otis Lee Loving, in search of some semblance of family and home.

Otis Lee is eager to help. A lifelong fixer, Otis Lee is determined to steer his friends and family away from decisions that will cause them heartache and ridicule. After his failed attempt to help his older sister, who lives a precarious life in the North, Otis Lee discovers a possible path to redemption in the chaos Knot brings to his doorstep. But while he's busy trying to fix Knot's life, Otis Lee finds himself powerless to repair the many troubles within his own family, as the long-buried secrets of his troubled past begin to come to light.

Spanning decades in a rural North Carolina town where a canal acts as the color line, In West Mills is a magnificent, big-hearted small-town story about family, friendship, storytelling, and the redemptive power of love.©2019 De'Shawn Charles Winslow (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Loved it

In the beginning, I felt I wouldn't enjoy this story. I was truly wrong.

Wonderful characters

I bought this book because Bahni Turpin narrates it and because of the glowing reviews. I’m so glad I did. I’m going to buy paperbacks and share them with friends and family.

I rolled my eyes a minute ago when I saw a negative review that criticized all the time spent on the characters’ stories. For heaven’s sake! That’s what this is—a book about people! Winslow created a cast of realistic, complex, flawed characters that I feel so close to and care so much about that I’m sad the book is over. I know I’ll listen to this again just to revisit West Mills and all these people.

I’m off to see if Winslow has anything else out there yet, and if so, I’m grabbing it.

loved every minute!

great book! great concept! very relatable and realistic to the time period! A must Listen!

Not Impressed

Couldn’t wait for this to be over. As others have mentioned, too many characters and it moves along slowly. Narration was good, but if I had to listen to it again, I would pass.

Will leave you Speechless

I listened and laughed, and cried, and listened! First of all the reader was fandubulous!! She put her soul into each character and brought them to life. How can ONE person be so talented?
The storyline was captivating...making it impossible to put the novel down. You must purchase this and get ready to feel each characters pain and joy.

Couldn't finish

Talented author, great as always narrator, but this title fell flat. There were too many characters, many of them not that compelling. Not good when you reach a point where you don't care how it ends, you just want it to end already.

just alright

What secrets will do to families after it comes known after death. Inheritance is not always a good thing....

Captivating

The characters were so interesting and the storylines. The overall theme of generational secrets is well played. So much to consider. If you grew up in the south; this is a familiar storyline without all the details. The narrator was fabulous. I could not put the book down. Highly recommend.

In West Mills

Excellent!!! I couldn't stop listening!! And felt I was losing close friends and family when it concluded!! must read for all avid readers like me!!

Ho hum

Excited to read but soon regretted the purchase. Book fell flat quickly. There was a lot of time spent on details of the many characters in the story and that’s about it.