The Day the Falls Stood Still

Posted on 27 May 2018 by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Tom Cole, the grandson of a legendary local hero, has inherited an uncanny knack for reading the Niagara River s whims and performing daring feats of rescue at the mighty falls And like the tumultuous meeting of the cataract s waters with the rocks below, a chance encounter between Tom and 17 year old Bess Heath has an explosive effect When they first meet on a trolley platform, Bess immediately recognizes the chemistry between them, and the feeling is mutual But the hopes of young love are constrained by the 1915 conventions of Niagara Falls, Ontario Tom s working class pedigree doesn t suit Bess s family, despite their recent fall from grace Sacked from his position at a hydroelectric power company, Bess s father has taken to drink, forcing her mother to take in sewing for the society women who were once her peers Bess pitches in as she pines for Tom, but at her young age, she s unable to fully realize how drastically her world is about to change Set against the resounding backdrop of the falls, Cathy Marie Buchanan s carefully researched, capaciously imagined debut novel entwines the romantic trials of a young couple with the historical drama of the exploitation of the river s natural resources The current of the river, like that of the human heart, is under threat Sometimes it seems like the river is being made into this measly thing, says Tom, bemoaning the shortsighted schemes of the power companies The river s been bound up with cables and concrete and steel, like a turkey at Christmastime Skillfully portraying individuals, families, a community, and an environment imperiled by progress and the devastations of the Great War, The Day the Falls Stood Still beautifully evokes the wild wonder of its setting, a wonder that always overcomes any attempt to tame it But at the same time, Buchanan s tale never loses hold of the gripping emotions of Tom and Bess s intimate drama The result is a transporting novel that captures both the majesty of nature and the mystery of love.Also, download the free study guide Download The Day the Falls Stood Still – kino-fada.fr This is my debut novel Hope you love it On the shelves September 2009 in Canda and the US and February 2010 in the UK and Italy.What s is about Read on.Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, this is an epic love story as rich, spellbinding and majestic as the falls themselves.1915 The dawn of the hydroelectric power era in Niagara Falls Seventeen year old Bess Heath has led a sheltered existence as the youngest daughter of the di...A love story centered around the early 1900s when men in power were determined to harness the power of the mighty Niagara with hydroelectric power plants Tom Cole has loved the river his entire life but also loves Bess A love which will lead him to compromise his personal beliefs and convictions because the only way he can support his family is by working for the company that is against everything he believes in Bess is also divided in her heart over her need for financial security versus the A love story centered around the early 1900s when men in power were determined to harness the power of the mighty Niagara with hydroelectric power plants Tom Cole has loved the river his entire life but also loves Bess A love which will lead ...4.5 rounded up to 5.One of the greatest pleasures of reading is to be unexpectedly wrapped up in a book On the flip side there s the disappointment of over hyped books that do not deliver for the reader There are many books I have not read for fear of such a reaction, and then there are these other books that come along less frequently They make me suspend disbelief and wrap me up in another time, another life, another level of reality Such was my reading experience in this book The charact 4.5 rounded up to 5.One of the greatest pleasures of reading is to be unexpectedly wrapped up in a book On the flip side there s the disappointment of over hyped books that do not deliver for the reader There are many books I have not read for fear of such a reaction, and then there are these other books that come along less frequently They make me suspend disbelief and wrap me up in another time, another life, another level of reality Such was my r...Great readI recieved this book as a review copy from the publicist Started out very interesting, but I am putting it away halfway through It was too depressing A suicide, girl who s life is spiraling downward and sexual content I didn t want to read The book has an overall sad tone though it is poetic.This is the first novel by the author of the wonderful The Painted Girls, and it is a lovely one indeed I seem to have developed a literary crush on Cathy Marie Buchanan, her novels really sit quite well with me Though this novel is much quieter than her next one, it is the simple sort of tale that rivals such works as Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and Someone by Alice McDermott This is not the novel for ...We live in an age where nearly all of our threats are human Nature has no recourse against man made factories, bridges, levees, and weapons We are safe We are secure In the middle north of the country, though, nestled between the United States and Canada is a reminder that we are human but only human When I was a little kid I fell in love with Gordon Lightfoot s Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald There is something helplessly beautiful and tragic about the power and majesty evoked by lore surr We live in an age where nearly all of our threats are human Nature has no recourse against man made factories, bridges, levees, and weapons We are safe We are secure In the middle north of the country, though, nestled between the United States and Canada is a reminder that we are human but only human When I was a little kid I fell in love with Gordon Lightfoot s Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald There is something helplessly beautiful and tragic about the power and majesty evoked by lore surrounding the Great Lakes basin.While not as factual as Lightfoot s recount, Cathy Marie Buchanan s The Day the Falls Stood Still succeeds in capturing the breathtaking spirit of the rivers and lakes that contain the unshakable spirit in the heart of the north What begins as a typical society girl s junior year at a local prep school on the...This is a magical, well told tale about a young woman named Bess, a riverman named Tom, and the history of the Niagara Falls Bess meets Tom at the beginning of World War One when her family has fallen on hard times They both reside on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls in a town being overcome by hydroelectric power plants Bess comes from a family that made its riches from the power plants, whereas Tom strongly believes in the beauty of the river and leaving nature untouched This differe This is a magical, well told tale about a young woman named Bess, a riverman named Tom, and the history of the Niagara Falls Bess meets Tom at the beginning of World War One...I love Niagara Falls, every time I visit I am completely awestruck It is an amazing wonder to behold, it s literally breath taking If you have never been I would urge you to go I have seen much of the landscape the author describes in this book and I remember some of the folk lore from my many visits My family and I saw Jay Cochrane walk a tightrope to the Skylon Tower in 2005 Niagara Falls has a magic and wonder that is hard to describe.I really enjoyed this novel that incorporates so much I love Niagara Falls, every time I visit I am completely awestruck It is an amazing wonder to behold, it s literally breath taking If you have never been I would urge you to go I have seen much of the landscape the author describes in this book and I remember some of the folk lore from my many visits My fa...Good book with a wonderful and fascinating setting of Niagara Falls on the Canadian side The author carefully intertwines this setting into the story of a young woman, Bess, her family and husband Tom Cole the riverman The story takes place at a time when there are many changes to people s lives in terms of technology The power of the river is being harnessed to benefit people s lives for electricity yet the Falls and the river still have the power to take away people s lives It also t Good book with a wonderful and fascinating setting of Niagara Falls on the Canadian side The author carefully intertwines this setting into the story of a young woman, Bess, her family and husband Tom Cole the riverman The story takes place at a time when there are many changes to people s lives in terms of technology The power of the river is being harnessed to benefit people s lives for electricity yet the Falls and the river still have the power to take away people s lives It also takes place just at the onset and during the Great War a time when many returned to unemployment but also were ravaged as men they had seen the unspeakable and not many emerged unscathed The power of the falls and the horror of war somehow connect in this story I loved the way the ...

English
27 May 2018

Cathy Marie Buchanan