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Amy "Ask Amy" Dickinson

Amy Dickinson writes the syndicated advice column “Ask Amy,” which appears in more than 150 newspapers nationwide including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Amy hosts a biweekly feature on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and serves as a featured panelist on NPR’s popular game show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! Formerly a columnist for Time magazine, Amy lives in Chicago and in Freeville, New York.

Even the woman who went on to succeed America’s favorite advice columnist, Ann Landers, once felt like a failure.  Alone and jobless in the wake of a failed marriage, Amy Dickinson and her infant daughter moved back from London to her rural hometown of Freeville, New York (population 454).  Struck by the realization that she was living her worst fears, she cried her way through a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and took up smoking again.  Naturally, she feared what the future held.  So she dug in her heels, drew strength from the women in her world, and discovered a second chance at life.

In her refreshingly honest and beautifully written memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy shares her journey through chaos and gradual transformation toward a new life for herself and her daughter, Emily.  She reveals the mistakes and triumphs of her own life and honors the women in her family who support her through them all.

Although Amy succeeded Ann Landers as America’s favorite advice columnist, her narrative voice is more Nora Ephron than Dear Abby; The Mighty Queens of Freeville blends small-town warmth with razor-sharp humor.  She writes memorably of single parenthood, Methodist chicken barbecue, hilariously bad dates—like the architect who rejected her “for structural reasons; his exact words were, ‘I don’t like your body’”—and the rueful, secretly gleeful realization that she has raised Emily to “the apex of dorkitude.”  Amy’s complicated family might not be perfect, but their unwavering love sustains her.

Amy will make you laugh and cry, but most of all, she will remind you of the importance and power of family and the people with whom you surround yourself.  At its heart, The Mighty Queens of Freeville is about appreciating the good things in life—family, home, and community—wherever we can find them.  This unforgettable memoir proves that everyone has a second chance.

www.themightyqueensoffreeville.com

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