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Product Description
Quill & Quire
Cathy Marie Buchanan’s first novel has the wistful tone of a love letter, addressed to a place few people alive today ever knew: Niagara Falls in the years before it became a tacky tourist destination, when it was still the domain of rivermen, daredevils, and lovers. The story begins in 1915, as 17-year-old Bess Heath’s life of privilege is thrown into disarray. After her father loses his job at the Niagara Power Company, Bess returns home to discover him ensconced at the local hotel bar. She also finds her heartbroken sister and her mother, who is scrabbling together an income as a dressmaker. The family’s hope is restored when a wealthy suitor proposes to Bess. But when a mysterious stranger captures Bess’s heart and the falls claim the life of her sister, love and grief make the marriage of convenience impossible. At the centre of the tale is Bess’s battle for faith and hope in a world that God seems to have abandoned – a world in which the First World War immerses young men in unfathomable horror and landscapes like Niagara Falls are ravaged in the service of boundless progress. Buchanan brings the era to vivid life, and specifics of Bess’s sewing and cooking give the story a gorgeous tactility. Although rich in detail, the story is also overwrought and melodramatic, and written in a simple, episodic style that fails to fully mine its emotional content. Buchanan’s characters suffer spiritual angst, fight in wars, and grieve for tragic losses, yet rarely do they display a complexity equal to that of their storylines. Nevertheless, this first novel abounds in romance and charm. Buchanan, a Niagara Falls native, was raised on the region’s lore, and she conveys its beauty and terror with deep understanding. Local legends pervade the story, lending it a nostalgic, otherworldly quality. Bess’s great love, Tom Cole, is styled after real-life riverman Red Hill, a hero of the falls with the uncanny ability to predict the ways of the water. Like a stuntman at the edge of the falls, this book can’t resist a dramatic plunge: it’s overly theatrical, certainly, but also entertaining.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Review
“What a world newcomer Cathy Marie Buchanan brings to propulsively glittering and gorgeous life in The Day the Falls Stood Still. Few first novels exhibit the mastery, maturity and majesty of Buchanan’s riveting fictional debut, a heart-wrenching, soul-racking, spell-binding tale interwoven with guts, anguish and glory guaranteed to remain in readers’ minds long after they’ve crossed its devastating finish line.” --The Globe and Mail
“The Day the Falls Stood Still is an extraordinarily assured first novel. . . . It is a southern Ontario Gothic of the highest order.” --National Post
“[The Day the Falls Stood Still] stands on its own elegant prose and the vibrant voice of its narrator.” --USA Today
“Buchanan combines storytelling with reportage of a legendary riverman creating a story as mesmerizing as staring at the river as it plunges over the falls.” --Publishers Weekly
"I grew up in this area and I know every whirlpool that is described. Buchanan is right-on in her description and the lore. She deals with the important themes of progress versus environment and also the class system in a period setting that is perfectly rendered. The main character, Tom Cole, is truly the Rhett Butler of the Cataract. He is a great Canadian hero. The romance is more mesmerizing than the whirlpools. Anyone who cannot read this book in one sitting has a heart colder than Niagara Falls in February." --Catherine Gildiner -- critically acclaimed author of the national bestseller Too Close to the Falls.
“The Day the Falls Stood Still is an extraordinarily assured first novel. . . . It is a southern Ontario Gothic of the highest order.” --National Post
“[The Day the Falls Stood Still] stands on its own elegant prose and the vibrant voice of its narrator.” --USA Today
“Buchanan combines storytelling with reportage of a legendary riverman creating a story as mesmerizing as staring at the river as it plunges over the falls.” --Publishers Weekly
"I grew up in this area and I know every whirlpool that is described. Buchanan is right-on in her description and the lore. She deals with the important themes of progress versus environment and also the class system in a period setting that is perfectly rendered. The main character, Tom Cole, is truly the Rhett Butler of the Cataract. He is a great Canadian hero. The romance is more mesmerizing than the whirlpools. Anyone who cannot read this book in one sitting has a heart colder than Niagara Falls in February." --Catherine Gildiner -- critically acclaimed author of the national bestseller Too Close to the Falls.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting Historical Portrait,
By
This review is from: The Day The Falls Stood Still (Paperback)
I loved the book from the opening page. This is no mere heady romance but the compelling story of a girl growing into a a woman, the man she loves and the life they eke out--set in Niagara Falls in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. It is a finely wrought period piece as well a monument to the Niagara area. I learned a great deal about the falls (which is one of my favourite getaway destinations) and greatly enjoyed the journey. Excellent characterization, sense of place and original plot line.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By
This review is from: The Day The Falls Stood Still (Paperback)
I'll start off by admitting I may be a little biased. There is something captivating about reading a book when you recognize the street names, know the buildings mentioned, have been to the natural landmarks and live a block away from the church the family attended. But when I also find myself reading a brilliant epic love story I think my insider knowledge is more of a bonus than a bias.Bess and Tom come from different classes. Bess is the 17yo daughter of an influential man at Niagara Power and lives in Glenview Mansion. She attends a Catholic Girls Academy (even though the family isn't Catholic) and leads a sheltered life. Tom is about 22 and is the local riverman. He catches fish for pay, pulls dead bodies out of the river, works a few nights in the saloon he has a room over and is always on hand when help is needed down at the river. When these two meet each other it is love at first sight but many things stand in their way including themselves. While the beautiful love story is the main plot there are many other themes running through the book. The plight of women during this period is masterfully woven into the story with unwed pregnancy, suicide, women working during the war, and women being given the vote during WWI if they had a husband or son overseas. The effect the war had on the women as they stayed home and wondered if their husbands would ever come home and the plight of the men who did come home who were wounded beyond repair and others who had unseen wounds, those of the mind that don't heal so easily. It is also a story of the environment as the whole history of the harnessing of the power of the Falls for electricity takes place during this time period. Sir Adam Beck, the government, the big business and everyone else it seems is so excited about more and more electricity at less cost that nobody seems to know what it is doing to the river itself, nobody but Tom that is, who knows the river like the back of his hand, and what he sees scares and saddens him. The characters all stand out wonderfully but it is Tom, a true hero, who captures your heart. A riveting book. I could hardly put it down and read it very quickly. It is emotional; there is sadness. I almost cried at the end, with a lump in my throat, mad, for a moment, at this tragedy we call life. An astounding first novel! Ms. Buchanan is a talented writer with a future ahead of her. I will be interested to see where she goes with her next novel. Highly Recommended! This one is certainly going to make my top ten list this year.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book!,
By Book Lover (Ontario) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Day The Falls Stood Still (Paperback)
I take issue with most of Schmadrian's critical comments. I found the characters in The Day the Falls Stood Still to be real and the point of view effective. The historical aspect was written into the novel in a smooth and natural manner. The politics of the time, the geography, the love story - all worked together to make a book that captured my interest immediately and held it from beginning to end.
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