In West Mills

By: De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.

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, 19th-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

Critic Reviews

"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 Knotted Life of Loves

I really liked this book once I made my peace with the prickly ways of the main character. I loved her from a safe distance as I read. All the characters drew me in. It's the kind of story that is probably true in many places over the centuries where the keeping of secrets has become a way to survive.

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.

loved every minute!

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

Stories of my family I never heard

This moving tale of memorable characters making the extraordinary choices of a very normal life is beautifully told and wonderfully read. This book is like the stories of my family that they were never able to tell that no one was smart enough to ask in time.

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!!

just alright

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

Loved it

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

Awesome narrator

Bahni Turpin brought this story to life. I enjoyed how she developed character throughout the story.