PositiveEpiphanyMill Town, at times, can appear discordant. There are pages tracing Arsenault’s family history and the migration of French Canadians to Maine for jobs in the paper mills. She writes about the lobstering industry, the food-insecure children of her hometown, and the local ski hill. At first glance, all these added elements can seem confusing. But these are hints that Arsenault is concerned with something else, which reveals itself in Mill Town’s earliest pages ... \'Who are they to decide where I’m from?” That is the book’s big question ... For more than 300 pages, she paints us a detailed picture of her hometown ... When viewed from this angle, Mill Town is less an exploration of the working class, or a cancer coverup, than it is an origin story. The book is Arsenault making a statement: this is where I’m from.
