Coming soon – Our Orbit, Anesa Miller’s debut novel.
About the book..
Richly detailed with the realism of everyday life, Anesa Miller’s new novel, OUR ORBIT, reveals the perennial tension between modernity and tradition in the Appalachian corner of bellwether Ohio. The conflict plays out between two families who’ve lived side by side for generations, never crossing paths until now.
When a series of misfortunes rips the Winslow family apart, nine-year-old Miriam is separated from her parents, her sister and brothers. She becomes a foster child to the Fletchers, a well-meaning, college-educated couple. At home, Miriam never wore new clothes, was not permitted to cut her hair, and believed that children must repent their sins with major displays of remorse, or harm would come to their loved ones. Now she must adapt to the lifestyle of a more secular family while struggling not to lose her connection to the past.
Rick and Deanne Fletcher quickly come to love their “new little girl” with her cheerful energy and unusual ideas. Then they encounter the rest of Miriam’s family: Uncle Dan believes he was the subject of an invasive experiment. Sister Rachelle, just released from juvenile detention, harbors many painful secrets. Brother Josh is outraged that the Fletchers disrespect Christian teachings. When his plan to remove Miriam from their home fails, Josh reacts with growing hostility to interference in the Winslow way of life.
With writerly skill, Miller poses provocative questions about the forces at play in an American upbringing. Her narrative takes an unflinching look at the often conflicting systems of authority that operate within a family, a small town, and society at large, exploring how these systems shape an individual life. Among the interactions of her finely drawn and compelling characters, we glimpse the spirit that binds us in our common humanity—all of this in a literary novel that reads at the pace of a thriller.
Images that inspired Our Orbit…
