A Murder Mystery….
I’m a murder mystery junky. Some of my favorite “who done it” genre authors are Leanne Moriarty, Frieda McFadden and Laura Lippman. So when a friend lent me Valley of the Moms- a story taking place in my former town of Hamilton, Massachusetts- I immediately got into it…..
The author, Hannah Salinger lives in the neighboring town of Boxford. She actually experienced the drama and trauma described in her book. In a nutshell- the Boxford Parent Teacher Association (PTO) set up a system where wealthy families could purchase access to benefits such as first dibbs on tickets to a school related event. Selinger complained and experienced the hate that comes when powerful people are being investigated and questioned. We see this all the time on the political stage. But it’s more shocking when the “enemy” is within your own small town. It’s also scary and readers learn early on that the book’s main character Anna Plummer is murdered.
I moved away from Hamilton 3 years ago after 27 years living in a small, split level house with taxes over a thousand dollars/month. The hate and division there was palpable. Friends are shocked when I describe how the cult was formed and grew under the self-righteous direction of neighbor Anna S. I will explain more, but first below is an article describing the cult infiltrating a friendly author workshop….
Names and location are changed, but a cult is a cult, is a cult…
I was never involved in local school politics or the PTO. I was busy working as an occupational therapist, writing my books and helping my son who is on the autism spectrum survive the social-emotional minefield of school life . I feel empathy and sympathy for Selinger and any parent- mama or papa bear protecting their child from a cult that discriminated against the less wealthy at a public school. It’s mind boggling!!!!
It was fun reading a story that named familiar landmarks. I had even put my canoe into the very harbor where the fictional murder took place. Selinger decided to name her character “Anna Plummer”- sounding like a down to earth trade profession (plumber). It could not be a coincidence that there is a real Hamilton cult leader named Anna S. who has a husband named David. Character Anna has a husband named Denny. Real Anna has a son named Henry and the author gave that name to another character’s child . Like in the book real Anna’s house is on a busy road leading to Newburyport. I had been to her house to purchase a “Black LIves Matter” sign and the house also feels down to earth/artsy. Real Anna told me that she studied in the museum field and had worked delivering art.
I had spoken to real Anna once before on the phone as she explained how she hated the elite in Hamilton, the patriarchy, the General Patton Park monument to a war hero and the racists in town. I was overwhelmed by her monotone voice and rant and thought that she was troubled and probably on the autism spectrum.
Book Anna is a sympathetic victim; real Anna is cult leader and attack dog….
Selinger obviously made many changes in the book’s characters and I am not aware of any similar murder in Hamilton. Book Anna distrusted the police. Real anna did too. Yet, she didn’t hesitate to enlist the police while organizing a Black Lives Matter rally in town in 2020 after the George Floyd murder. It was remarkable…
Real Anna had a busy year creating the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition, a town Human rights Commission -both presented as pro social justice initiatives. In reality the Coalition and town Commission were created to garner support for real Anna’s real estate development schemes. She lobbied at the state house and got pro development cult preferred candidates into positions of power in the Hamilton Select Board, Planning and Health Boards. She herself was elected to the School Board where she implemented an extremist mission that included:
- Requiring students to announce their gender identity and pronouns at the beginning of the year.
- All day, all grade, all subject matter LGBTQ powerpoint training on social justice concerns
- Investigation of families where students used different pronouns at home and school
- Pride events that took place during academic classroom time and
- Pushing to make the book Gender Queer required reading in middle school.This is a book that graphically illustrates oral sex, how to use a vibrator and describes how disgusting menstruation is.
I am against censorship. But required reading in school should be carefully vetted. You can learn about this book here… https://www.amazon.com/dp/1549304003?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
I was banned from the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition Facebook page because I supported a state representative candidate who was independent and not part of the pro-development cult. I think that housing development needs to consider many factors including environmental impact, availability of water supplies, traffic, infrastructure costs, parking concerns and impact on taxes. But the pro-development cult called anyone who brought up such concerns- anti-human rights, a bigot and a racist. I was also banned from the Hamilton wenham community facebook page for stating the conflicts of interest when developer Anna shut down voices of dissent. A very nice Hamilton police chief called me one day to say that Anna called him -claiming that she asked him to shut down my own Facebook page because I criticized her and she was experiencing death threats. The police chief said that there was NO report of death threats. He just wanted to inform me that real Anna was targeting my free speech…
In conclusion….
Valley of the Moms is written in a style that mimics the narrators on the crime show “48 hours”. I never liked those shows…. Both the book and true crime shows create a narrow window into the lives of victims and the devastated family members and friends. They lack character depth and oddly, the character of book Anna’s husband Denny is remarkably shallow. He barely notices his children’s emotional devastation after the murder of their mother. In fact, they don’t seem to miss her. I can hear narrator Keith Morrison’s voice while reading Valley of the Moms…. perhaps going something like this…. ” Anna Plummer was a down to earth but caring mother. Maybe she cared too much. Her husband was left on his own to raise his children after an unsolved life shattering murder…. we can only wonder what really happens in these wealthy small towns… why was justice never served?
Hey, I love this cover… don’t you!
Writing this book review has been cathartic….I recommend reading it if you like watching Date Line and want an inside view of how a cult can take over a wealthy, suburban town north of Boston. The Republican candidate for governor, Mike Minogue (reportedly worth 400 million$$) lives in Hamilton. Middle class (people like me) have been driven out because it is simply not affordable. I’m happy to now live in a normal town, where 40% of the school is made up of children of color and I am NOT attacked for calling myself a woman instead of “cisgender”. I am also pro social justice which means respecting people’s names, gender choices, pronouns, culture and equality without extremists forcing their values on others.
