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A review by snowmaiden
The World Below by Sue Miller
4.0
This is the second novel I've read by Sue Miller. While I didn't like it quite as much as the first, [b: The Lake Shore Limited|7624512|The Lake Shore Limited|Sue Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320458165s/7624512.jpg|12997815], it was still very good. Half of this book is an example of the "middle-aged woman moves to a new town" genre that I seem to be stuck on these days. Catherine, the protagonist, has inherited her grandparents' house in Vermont and decides to stay there for a few months to figure out if she should sell it or keep it. Miller hits all the right notes for this subgenre, but I couldn't help feeling that I'd read this story before.
The other half of the narrative is what drew me in. As Catherine discovers her grandmother Georgia's old diaries and learns more about the true story of her life, we do as well, in chapters written from Georgia's point of view. This story starts in 1919 when Georgia is sent to a sanitarium for her mild case of tuberculosis. These sections are much more evocative than the present-day material, and I wish there had been more of them. Although it was hard at times to figure out how these stories connected or why Miller decided to combine them together in one novel, I enjoyed both of them for what they were, and I'm eager to read more by this superb novelist.
The other half of the narrative is what drew me in. As Catherine discovers her grandmother Georgia's old diaries and learns more about the true story of her life, we do as well, in chapters written from Georgia's point of view. This story starts in 1919 when Georgia is sent to a sanitarium for her mild case of tuberculosis. These sections are much more evocative than the present-day material, and I wish there had been more of them. Although it was hard at times to figure out how these stories connected or why Miller decided to combine them together in one novel, I enjoyed both of them for what they were, and I'm eager to read more by this superb novelist.