Into the Free

Authors: Julie Cantrell

What people are saying about …

INTO THE FREE

“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 how we can sometimes see the existence of angels in disguise in our lives if we just look hard enough. The story’s protagonist, Millie, is beautifully drawn. Her spunk and spirit carve 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
best-selling author of
The Beach Trees

“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 paths, 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

“A lyrical, moving, haunting, wise, brutal, warmhearted, 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,
best-selling 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

“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

“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,
Belle of All Things Southern and national best-selling 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,
best-selling, award-winning author of
Blue Moon Bay
and
Dandelion Summer

“This is an amazing debut novel with beautifully crafted prose, but be warned:
Portions of the story are rather dark and disturbing—not for the timid reader.”

Melody Carlson,
author of
Finding Alice

“I appreciate a novel in which the love of God is woven as seamlessly into the story as it is into real life. Julie Cantrell has written such a novel, full of the kind of human drama and spiritual struggle that we face with every bit as much trepidation and doubt as Millie Reynolds does. I had to check twice to make sure this high-quality work was a debut novel.”

Nancy Rue,
author of Christy Award–winning
The Reluctant Prophet

“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

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.)

LCCN 2011938727

ISBN 978-0-7814-0424-2

eISBN 978-0-7814-0800-4

Published in association with the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., 10152 S. Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130.

“Yonder Come the Blues” lyrics written by Ma Rainey in 1926.

John Steinbeck quotes from
Of Mice and Men
© 1937 John Steinbeck, published by Penguin in 1993. Quotes from
The Grapes of Wrath
© 1939 John Steinbeck, published by Penguin in 2006.

Virginia Woolf quote from
The Waves,
published in 2005 by Collector’s Library © CRW Publishing.

“Get Out of Town” lyrics written by Cole Porter for the 1938 musical
Leave It to Me!

F. Scott Fitzgerald quotes from
This Side of Paradise,
published in 2005 by Modern Library.

The Team: John Blase, Nicci Jordan Hubert, Amy Konyndyk, Nick Lee, Renada Arens, Karen Athen

Cover Design: faceoutstudio

Cover Photos: Shutterstock

First Edition 2012

For my mother,

who taught me to love people for who they are

and to forgive them for who they are not.

And for my husband,

who taught me to enter the woods and quiet my mind