The Mighty Queens of Freeville

A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town That Raised Them

By: Amy Dickinson

Narrated by: Amy Dickinson

This beloved New York Times bestselling memoir from "Ask Amy" is a warm and moving true story of second chances in a tiny upstate New York town.

Dear Amy,
First my husband told me he didn't love me. Then he said he didn't think he had ever really loved me. Then he left me with a baby to raise by myself. Amy, I don't want to be a single mother. I told myself I'd never be divorced. And now here I am -- exactly where I didn't want to be!

My daughter and I live in London. We don't really have any friends here. What should we do?
Desperate

Dear Desperate,
I have an idea.
Take your baby, get on a plane, and move back to your dinky hometown in upstate New York -- the place you couldn't wait to leave when you were young. Live with your sister in the back bedroom of her tiny bungalow. Cry for five weeks. Nestle in with your quirky family of hometown women -- many of them single, like you. Drink lots of coffee and ask them what to do. Do your best to listen to their advice but don't necessarily follow it.
Start to work in Washington, D.C. Start to date. Make friends. Fail up. Develop a career as a job doula. Teach nursery school and Sunday School.

Watch your daughter grow. When she's a teenager, just when you're both getting comfortable, uproot her and move to Chicago to take a job writing a nationally syndicated advice column.
Do your best to replace a legend. Date some more.

Love fiercely. Laugh with abandon. Grab your second chance -- and your third, and your fourth.

Send your daughter to college. Cry for five more weeks.
Move back again to your dinky hometown and the women who helped raise you.

Find love, finally.
And take care.
Amy©2009 Amy Dickinson; (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"The Mighty Queens of Freeville is great American storytelling at its best. A tale of promise postponed and scrappy survival, Amy Dickinson's glorious triumphs are like rabbits pulled out of a hat, one after another after another. Full of hope and humor and big simple truths, it is a story told with grace and without a trace of cynicism. This is a book you will love and one you will be truly sad to finish."—Laura Zigman, author of Animal Husbandry

"Reading Amy's book in bed. Wife to me: 'Is it good?' Me to wife: 'Sure, but what do I care, I'm a guy' Wife to me: 'Then why are you crying?'"—Noah Adams, author of Piano Lessons

"In The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson shares her life story about love and loss, parents, daughters, aunts, fathers, pets, and life from the mundane to the ridiculous to the quietly heartbreaking. Or, sometimes loudly heartbreaking, with great big honking sobs. Amy doesn't have all the answers, but she suggests a good place to find them: at home, with the people who love you."—Peter Sagal, host of NPR's "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" and author of The Book of Vice: Naughty Things (and How to Do Them)

"Common sense, a practical nature, and a searing sense of social justice are the hallmarks of Amy Dickinson's advice column. Now, in a delicious and hilarious memoir, Amy gives us her worldview via Main Street with wit and originality, through her own bejeweled binoculars. The view is never, for a moment, self-indulgent. She's a wise and fair queen for sure. Long Live Amy!"—Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of the Big Stone Gap series, Lucia, Lucia, and Very Valentine

Queens

Would you consider the audio edition of The Mighty Queens of Freeville to be better than the print version?

Yes, hearing the author read her own book was enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

IT was interesting and relevant to my own life.

Have you listened to any of Amy Dickinson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both for sure.

Any additional comments?

I would recommned this to anyone who wants a real down to earth story about strong women, good humor, and uplifting story line.

Enjoyable "read"

Frankly, I didn't know about Amy Dickinson taking over for Dear Abby. However, now I feel like I know her and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Books read by their authors can be dreadful but Amy does a great job. She tells her life story in a funny, self-deprecating, intelligent way. Many women will identify with her as she attempts to make peace with a failed marriage, raise a daughter as a single mom, and work at creating a career she never imagined. She reminisces about growing up in a small town in New York and finds through the years that you CAN go home again and find love and happiness.