WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE
“Millie’s voice remains the center of new emotional dynamics, and it will linger with readers after they close the book.”
– Publishers Weekly
“Julie Cantrell’s When Mountains Move is a classic American novel of risk-taking, struggle, renewal, and redemption. This book took my breath away. If you loved Ms. Cantrell’s debut novel, Into the Free, you will treasure this sequel.”
– Amy Hill Hearth, New York Times bestselling author of Having Our Say and Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society
“Julie Cantrell hits another home run with When Mountains Move—a gripping story of the uneasy trials of a new marriage and the hardships of ranching in the rough terrain of the Rockies. The biggest threat, though, is not the mountain lion that prowls in the shadows, but a harrowing secret from the past. Julie’s storytelling talents took me to the brink of emotion, and I came out on the other side cheering! Don’t miss this stunning sequel to Into the Free!”
– Carla Stewart, award-winning author of Chasing Lilacs and Sweet Dreams
“Cantrell is a wise and beautiful storyteller. Readers will be instantly drawn to Millie—secrets and all—and will savor her grace-filled journey toward truth and freedom.”
– Beth Webb Hart, bestselling author of Moon Over Edisto
“Julie Cantrell is a born storyteller and her talent shines in When Mountains Move. This inspiring novel beautifully captures a time and place that will leave readers feeling that all is well in the world. It’s a journey into the western frontier, young marriage, and unresolved pasts, but above all, it’s a journey into the human spirit. Fans of Into the Free are sure to devour this magical and heartfelt story.”
– Michael Morris, author of Man in the Blue Moon, Slow Way Home, and A Place Called Wiregrass
“If, like me, you are an armchair adventurer, you will love this beautifully written story about a young woman who treks to Colorado in 1943 to start a ranch with her new husband. Plagued by hardships often found in that era and a deep secret with the power to destroy everything, Millie’s journey culminates on a mountain where she faces an impossible choice. Julie Cantrell’s lyrical writing and engaging story captivated me for days. I loved When Mountains Move!”
– Kellie Coates Gilbert, author of Mother of Pearl
“Julie Cantrell is a masterful storyteller. When Mountains Move is a gripping tale, full of charm and heart. Because the novel is true to Millie’s point of view, the reader is pulled at once into her world, her difficult decisions, and her reasons for choosing as she does. Each of her choices leads to another, and each ending brings a new, unexpected beginning. Reading When Mountains Move is like experiencing the Rockies in late spring: each peak exposes the reader to new heights, amazing beauty, and unexpected adventure. The result is a riveting tale that captures the reader’s attention and holds it long after the last page. This is an engrossing, drama-packed novel about forgiveness and second chances. Millie is a heroine readers young and old will believe in.”
Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree
“Once again, New York Times bestselling author Julie Cantrell delivers a rich and moving story that pulled me from page to page. When Mountains Move explores the many facets of faith that are tested in the fires of betrayal and reminds us that even our deepest pain can be transformed. It is a beautiful novel that lights up the page and whose characters took up residence in my heart.”
– Shelly Beach, Christy Award–winning author and speaker
“A lyrical, engaging story about a young woman overcoming a rocky start to her life. Millie is a spirited, complex character who must discover that the path to love and peace is paved with forgiveness. I enjoyed this novel immensely.”
Margaret Dilloway, author of The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns
“Julie Cantrell’s characters challenge the landscape, both internal and external. When Mountains Move is a beautiful journey of hope, healing, and triumph against the odds. Set against the stunning backdrop of the American West, it’s one for your keeper shelf.”
-Lisa Wingate, bestselling author of The Prayer Box and The Sea Glass Sisters
INTO THE FREE
Publishers Weekly STARRED Review
A young girl growing into adolescence confronts family abuse and a dark past in this lyrical debut novel. Millie Reynolds and her mother live in a ramshackle cabin in Depression-era Mississippi, occasionally receiving unwelcome visits from the violent family patriarch, Jack. With her only friend, Sloth, dead and gone, Millie struggles to find any happiness with a “nothing mama” and a ruthless father. Only the passing caravans of gypsies offer her any semblance of belonging. But when unlucky events engulf her, she discovers some surprising secrets that eventually help her hope in God’s love. Cantrell’s exquisitely written story immerses readers in a world that is as cruel as it is beautiful. From the opening lines to the very last sentence, the book’s magnetic prose bewitches and enthralls on every page. A visceral and gripping journey of a young woman’s revelations about God and self, this novel will surely excite any reader who appreciates a compelling story about personal struggle and spiritual resilience. Agent: Greg Johnson, WordServe Literary. (Feb.)
“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 path, 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
“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 the existence in our lives of angels in disguise we can sometimes see if we just look hard enough. The story’s protagonist, Millie, is beautifully drawn. Her spunk and spirit carves 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 bestselling author of The Beach Trees
“A lyrical, moving, haunting, wise, brutal, warm-hearted, 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, bestselling 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.”
Lynne Bryant, author of Catfish Alley and Alligator Lake
“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 bestselling 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, bestselling, 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
“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
“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 The Reluctant Prophet and Unexpected Dismounts
“Into the Free is a novel varied and rich as life itself. 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
“Readers will root for Millie Reynolds, plucky and determined heroine of Jule Cantrell’s novel debut. With an ear for dialogue and an eye for landscape, the world of Into the Free is richly created and populated by complex characters that astound and inspire. Bravo!”
Beth Ann Fennelly, award-winning poet and author of Great with Child
“I settled in to do what I promised…read and review. By the first few pages I completely forgot where I was. Each page had so much tension…it just pulled me forward. Rarely do I even finish most fiction books, much less roar through them. I cannot believe this is Julie’s first novel. She writes likes a seasoned pro. I am sure this will be the first of many more books by Julie Cantrell. Her name is sure to become popular on reader’s tongues.”
Lucille Zimmerman, RumorsofGlory.com
“Into the Free by Julie Cantrell is a tender exposing of truth that gives a young girl reason to believe that God exists and is good after all. Cantrell pulls back the layer’s of Millie’s overlapped doubt and faith one at a time to give us a character who truly wants to heal the gaping wounds of her life. We first meet Millie Reynolds at age ten, then find her again at sixteen ready to unpack the mysteries that trapped her childhood and find authentic framing for her adult life. We see everything through Millie’s point of view and in a voice that rings true from beginning to end.”
Olivia Newport, author of the Avenue of Dreams series
The first chapter of Into the Free delighted me with its descriptive southern prose but then crashed into my heart in such an unexpected way that left me gasping and wondering if I could make it through the book. But it was so well written, that I kept turning the pages as my heart cheered for young Millie to survive her abusive and underprivileged Mississippi family. Millie didn’t disappoint me. The young girl was a wonderful combination of child and grit. Her story touched my soul.
From the start, Millie’s mother is already broken to the point that she has nothing left to give Millie. But God wraps his arms around the child through the comfort of nature—she finds solace in a huge gum tree that she calls her sweetie. He sends people like Sloth and (Mabel) into her life at critical points to meet her needs, while all around her, adults continue to make poor choices and evil abounds. Cantrell gives us the good and the bad that have formed each character. For instance, while we experience the abusive side of Jack through Millie’s eyes, we also watch how her father’s rodeo peers esteem him.
Julie Cantrell is an author who isn’t afraid to use haunting imagery that opens eyes to reality. A blow is described as the ‘sound of a cool watermelon being busted open in the heat of summer, a thick and empty jolt that drains all the sweetness out…’
Into the Free is so saturated with symbolism that I will want to read it through a second time, if I dare, to catch it all and let it sink into my soul. The minor characters are colorful and all work together to shape Millie’s life in this coming-of-age novel. The plot is unpredictable, with many surprises and a cast of cowboys, ghosts, and gypsies. And yet it also comes full circle many times over. If you like Dramas or Edgy Inspirationals, you must read this novel.
I dog-eared the corner of a page with my favorite lines: ‘For years, I have searched and searched for this God. This feeling of complete love and acceptance. He was always out of reach. But here, where food is scarce, money is tight, heat is heavy, and tensions should run high, God is everywhere….'”
Dianne Christner, author of the Plain City Bridesmaids series
“Wow! This book grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Captivating prose combined with captivating characters make it a book that isn’t easy to put down. A great book club book! Especially in light of some things that transpire at the end. I know I’d love to discuss them!”
Katie Ganshert, author of Wildflowers from Winter
Julie's Journal 
Your name is what got my attention, since my maiden name was Cantrell. I read “Into the Free” and could hardly believe it was your first adult novel. What an excellent talent you have in character development and the story plot line. I’ve now ordered the sequel, looking forward to Millie’s life in Colorado. You definitely have a God given gift.
~A California Cantrell :)
Hi Oleta, So glad you reached out to me. Who knows…perhaps we’re “kin” and share some common roots. I really appreciate your kind note and hope you enjoy When Mountains Move as much as you liked Into the Free. Happy Reading! j
I just discovered you on Goodreads and came to your site just because 1) your book covers are so appealing and 2) you are on my friend Staci Hobbet’s list. I didn’t expect such stellar reviews – I think I’ve found a new author and adding “Into the Free” to my “to read” list – just for starts. Congratulations!
Hi Cindy, Thanks for following the trail to find my website and for giving my books a chance. I love that you noticed the book covers. The designers with David C. Cook are amazing. They’ve even won awards for the design of Into the Free, and I couldn’t have been happier with their work. I’ll be sure to let them know their creative talents led a new reader to my door. Cheers, j