The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan is one of my favourite reads this year and by far my favourite Canadian historical since Frances Itani’s Deafening. In fact, The Day the Falls Stood Still reminded me a lot of Deafening. They share similar traits: a rural Ontario setting; a glimpse at the horrors of the warfront and the equally tumultuous climate on the Canadian home front and a love story that defies convention, space and any bounds.
It is this courtship, between renegade river man Tom and well-bred Bess as reflected in the unpredictable falls that drags the reader in, holds, and won’t let go. For this bittersweet story of love divided by societal restrictions and the Great War, the Falls, the whirlpool and the river become a stand-in for intensity, changing human emotion, beauty and even death.
Thoughtful ephemera (newspaper clippings of Tom’s legendary grandfather Fergus Cole and pictures of Niagara Falls during the first quarter of the 20th Century) add to the welcome historical atmosphere. Buchanan does not “cut and paste” her historical facts snipped from books and transplanted into the tale, rather she threads them seamlessly into Tom and Bess’ story so the reader is transported back to a place and time they inadvertently have nostalgia for. A nostalgia that rendered today’s Niagara Falls, all gaudy and Vegas incarnate, seem like a betrayal to Tom and his ilk.
Poetic prose, a narrative boasting enough reckless danger and love to loan itself to the description “rollicking yarn” and a dialogue born of the day prove this a carefully plotted tale. I wrote a friend mid-way through the first half exclaiming “LM Montgomery would love this book!” –she having been a reader easily transported; who hankered after being swept into waters at times safe and dangerous-- through character, romance, tragedy.
I especially enjoyed the exposition of faith: found and lost through God, through Nature, through Love. Buchanan doesn’t box in one conceptualization of religion rather, and here I note Montgomery again, explores its manifestation in numerous ways, feelings, thoughts.
I closed the book proud to add Buchanan to a rich Canadian tradition, scenes still embedded in my brain, the cavernous falls ringing in my ears.
My thanks to Harper Collins for a book I cannot utter a sentence this week without recommending.
It is this courtship, between renegade river man Tom and well-bred Bess as reflected in the unpredictable falls that drags the reader in, holds, and won’t let go. For this bittersweet story of love divided by societal restrictions and the Great War, the Falls, the whirlpool and the river become a stand-in for intensity, changing human emotion, beauty and even death.
Thoughtful ephemera (newspaper clippings of Tom’s legendary grandfather Fergus Cole and pictures of Niagara Falls during the first quarter of the 20th Century) add to the welcome historical atmosphere. Buchanan does not “cut and paste” her historical facts snipped from books and transplanted into the tale, rather she threads them seamlessly into Tom and Bess’ story so the reader is transported back to a place and time they inadvertently have nostalgia for. A nostalgia that rendered today’s Niagara Falls, all gaudy and Vegas incarnate, seem like a betrayal to Tom and his ilk.
Poetic prose, a narrative boasting enough reckless danger and love to loan itself to the description “rollicking yarn” and a dialogue born of the day prove this a carefully plotted tale. I wrote a friend mid-way through the first half exclaiming “LM Montgomery would love this book!” –she having been a reader easily transported; who hankered after being swept into waters at times safe and dangerous-- through character, romance, tragedy.
I especially enjoyed the exposition of faith: found and lost through God, through Nature, through Love. Buchanan doesn’t box in one conceptualization of religion rather, and here I note Montgomery again, explores its manifestation in numerous ways, feelings, thoughts.
I closed the book proud to add Buchanan to a rich Canadian tradition, scenes still embedded in my brain, the cavernous falls ringing in my ears.
My thanks to Harper Collins for a book I cannot utter a sentence this week without recommending.
note: visit the Savvy Reader for an audio discussion with Cathy Marie Buchanan
6 comments:
Isn't this a fantastic book? I loved it! I was going to review it today, but haven't got that far yet.
I really must read Deafening! It is on my TBR pile...
I totally need to read this. Like really badly.
great work! Thanks for promoting our awesome city!
The book is beautiful and makes me want to go to Niagara Falls. Confession: I usually just get to Niagara on the Lake and stop: I don't like the gawdiness of the downtown core. However, if I could strip away the ornate modernization and haunted houses and somehow unearth Buchanan's Niagara, I definitely hanker after those falls.
Thanks for you thoughful review of my book, Rachel. Maybe my Niagara Falls top ten whill inspire a visit to Niafara Falls. Nothing gawdy on the list. http://cathymariebuchanan.com/2009/08/cathy%e2%80%99s-niagara-falls-top-10/
Wow. Horrified by my poor typing/spelling above!!!
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