Bess Heath is born to a life of privilege, one bound by Edwardian convention and a duty to marry well.But in 1915, on the verge of her eighteenth birthday, she returns home from school to an unfamiliar scene - the elegance of the life she once knew has vanished, her father is a broken man, jobless and losing hope, and her mother is struggling to keep the family afloat. Isabel, the lively, charismatic sister Bess has always relied on is almost unrecognisable. Her engagement called off, she languishes in her bedroom, brooding and refusing to eat. And all the while the society Bess has always known faces its own transition - one where the magnificence of Niagara Falls is threatened by the power companies that seek to harness its power for themselves. Forced into an early adulthood, Bess finds solace with riverman Tom Cole, against her family's strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and guileless, Tom has as uncanny knack for reading the Niagara's whims and a reputation for daring rescues on the river. He understands better than anyone the awesome and potentially devastating power of the falls and consoles her through a tragedy that nearly ruins her. But as their lives become more fully entwined, Bess is forced to make a painful choice between what she wants and what is best for her family...
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About the Author:
Cathy Marie Buchanan was born and bred in Niagara Falls, Ontario. She has had many of her short stories published in Canadian literary journals. The Day the Falls Stood Still is her first novel.
From Publishers Weekly:
Set against the backdrop of WWI and Niagara Falls, this debut tells the story of young Bess Heath and her struggle to navigate a quickly modernizing world. A child of privilege, Bess sees her fortunes change when her father loses his job. Cast into poverty, her family disgraced, Bess tries to hold things together while her sister slips into depression, her father drinks and her mother withdraws. After another tragedy strikes, Bess finds comfort in the love of Tom Cole, a river man with a mysterious connection to the falls. Overcoming the deep privation of the war and their own limited means, the two begin building a life together and renew their commitment to each other and their family. Based loosely on the history of Niagara river man William Red Hill, the book incorporates mock newspaper articles with limited success, but does integrate some detailed depictions of domestic life and fascinating natural history into an otherwise uneventful romance. (Sept.)
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- PublisherHutchinson Radius
- Publication date2010
- ISBN 10 0091925967
- ISBN 13 9780091925963
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages320
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