The Color of Rock: A Novel

Set in Arizona, Sandra Cavallo Miller’s debut novel, The Color of Rock, follows Dr. Abby Wilmore, who has fled from Phoenix to a small clinic at the Grand Canyon where she hopes to refocus herself, being newly sober and dealing with severe anxiety. It would be misleading to suggest that Abby is trying to escape her past. Rather, she’s a woman looking to figure out who she is in an environment where she has a clean slate.

On the surface, Abby negotiates both romances and working life as she strives to overcome her feelings of inadequacy. Going beyond mere imposter syndrome, readers follow as Abby wrestles with nearly crippling anxiety. What allows Abby to move past her mental health issues are the vivid and sincere female friendships that develop throughout the novel, as well as her dedication to her job.

As a former family physician, Miller is able to write what she knows in such a way that readers will feel at home not just with the descriptions but also with the characters. Abby’s experiences providing rural medicine offer readers glimpses into the reasoning behind the decisions people make (and fail to make) about their health and into how being a doctor is about more than just diagnosis and prescriptions.

The Color of Rock is a brilliant novella, a mix of local color and subtle literary merit.