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The Day the Falls Stood Still (2009)

by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
85914724,955 (3.82)174
Fiction. Literature. HTML:

Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, this epic love story is 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 director of the Niagara Power Company. After graduation day at her boarding school, she is impatient to return to her picturesque family home near Niagara Falls. But when she arrives, nothing is as she had left it. Her father has lost his job at the power company, her mother is reduced to taking in sewing from the society ladies she once entertained, and Isabel, her vivacious older sister, is a shadow of her former self. She has shut herself in her bedroom, barely eatingâ??and harboring a secret.

The night of her return, Bess meets Tom Cole by chance on a trolley platform. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to himâ??against her family's strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and fearless, he lives off what the river provides and has an uncanny ability to predict the whims of the falls. His daring river rescues render him a local hero and cast him as a threat to the power companies that seek to harness the power of the falls for themselves. 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 and her future.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Niagara Falls, at a time when daredevils shot the river rapids in barrels and great industrial fortunes were made and lost as quickly as lives disappeared, The Day the Falls Stood Still is an intoxicating debut novel… (more)

  1. 20
    Niagara: A History of the Falls by Pierre Berton (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Excellent non-fiction coverage of this locale; easy reading
  2. 21
    Ahab's Wife or, The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund (booklove2)
  3. 00
    The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (jenreidreads)
  4. 00
    Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins (DetailMuse)
    DetailMuse: Similar narrative voice; a deep love story in the early days of atomic power
  5. 00
    City of Light by Lauren Belfer (chazzard, bnbookgirl, jordantaylor)
    jordantaylor: Both books revolve around Niagara Falls and the development of electricity, though in my opinion "City of Light" is by far the stronger of the two.
  6. 00
    The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates (bnbookgirl)
    bnbookgirl: takes place in same area
  7. 00
    Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery (moonsoar)
    moonsoar: Another Canadian book during WWI with that same small-town feeling.
  8. 23
    Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (jennyellen22)
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» See also 174 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 148 (next | show all)
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect with this book. It was an impulse buy; I had never heard of the book before, but the plot sounded somewhat interesting. Once I started reading, though, I could not put it down. The narrator wasn't the most compelling character, but I loved the language the author used, the almost dreamlike storytelling narrative, and the overall plot in which the Niagara River was the unspoken main character of the book. ( )
  wisemetis | Jan 14, 2023 |
This book is everything a great HF book should be. Beautiful writing, characters you want to hug and not let go of, and a story so captivating you don't want to put the book down.

The story begins in the early days of WWI, in Niagara Falls Canada. Bess is a 17 year old girl brought up in society, expected to do all the "right" things a girl of her station should do: marry the right man, become a mother and carry on. Tom is "the river man", a fisherman and the man who pulls the "floaters" from the river when called upon. No spoiler, to tell you they fall deeply in love.

If you know me at all, you know the romance genre (whether historical or any other embedded tag) is not my go to book. However, this book is so much more. The author was raised in Niagara, the story loosely built on a real-life river man and his family. Her research and knowledge of the area and time is what earned the 5 star rating.

If you like a great story, characters that grab you and take you away-Read this book-I loved it. ( )
  JBroda | Sep 24, 2021 |
I really enjoyed this book. Having lived on Grand Island, NY, for the past 11 years, I'm familiar with Niagara Falls and some of the stories that were told in the book. It was kind of cool to see familiar things in a novel.

I felt for the struggles Bess endured. She's a very strong woman, whether she thinks that of herself or not. She is someone to emulate, I think. ( )
  ssperson | Apr 3, 2021 |
What a snivelling self-centred wuss. The protagonist is a caricature of what must be the stereotypical teenager of the late 1910s and she never grows out of it. Her story is also so predictable that it lacks imagination. It feels like little more than a vehicle to tell some fictional versions of Niagara Falls history. Which are interesting, but not in this trite novel that encapsulates every cliche about that time period. Of the story had been of the male protagonist of the story, that might have been more interesting. Recommended for teen girls who have not read much about that time period. Everyone else should take a pass. ( )
  LDVoorberg | Nov 22, 2020 |
The Day the Falls Stood Still is a spellbinding historical fiction novel set on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls from 1915 -1923, the time just before and after World War I. The story is told in a first person narrative by Bess, who is seventeen when we meet her. She's at the end of her school year at Loretto Academy but knows something is wrong when her mother attends the ceremony alone. Her father has been dismissed from his job as Director of the Niagara Power Company and taken up drinking. Her sister, Isabel has been abandoned by her fiance and a recluse in her bedroom. Her mother has taken up dressmaking for her former friends in society and now, unable to afford her final year in boarding school, Bess will need to apprentice as a seamstress with her.

As Bess and her mother struggle with her luggage, they meet Tom Cole who carries their trunk to the streetcar. Tom is a local riverman who catches fish for pay, pulls dead bodies out of the river, and works nights in the saloon. Her parents disapprove of Tom but they continue to meet each other each other every afternoon when Tom walks home from the river. They fall in love and marry and through poverty, anxiety, and tragedy as they forge a life together.

Tom loves the river, but the only jobs available are involved in the destruction of it and his cherished Falls. What will come first in his priorities, his family or his ethics? Tom, a man of strength and conviction, is an expert on the Niagara Falls area and uses his knowledge of the dangerous environment to rescue the desperate and foolish who fall victim to the dangers. The author fictionalizes real life river man, Red Hill in the character Tom Cole. Many stories and myths about the river are real, though told through some fictional characters. The book is also beautiful to look at with pictures of the Niagara Falls area at the beginning of many of the chapters .

I loved the historical detail and the magic and danger of Niagara Falls, which becomes a character of its own. The author describes the historical context of Canada and the early conflicts that arose between environmentalism and the utilization of new sources of energy. The characters are dynamic , the setting is colorful and the historical detail fascinated me. There is both joy and sorrow in this story, with a lasting emotional impact. It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.
( )
  Olivermagnus | Jul 2, 2020 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Buchanan, Cathy Marieprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Sarkar, ShubhaniCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
White, KarenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
[We are here at Niagara Falls] to declare that the awful symbol of Infinite Power, in whose dread presence we stand - these visions of Infinite Beauty here unfolded to the eye, are not a property, but a shrine - a temple erected by the hand of the Almighty for all the children of men; that it cannot be desecrated... that [we] mark out the boundaries of the sanctuary, expel from the interior all ordinary human pursuits and claims, so that visitors and pilgrims from near or far may come hither, and be permitted to behold, to love, to worship, to adore. - Oration delivered by James C. Carter at the opening of the New York State Reservation at Niagara Falls, July 15, 1885
Dedication
For Dad, who walked with me in the Niagara Glen
First words
The stone walls of Loretto Academy are so thick I can sit curled up on a windowsill, arms around the knees tucked beneath my chin.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:

Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, this epic love story is 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 director of the Niagara Power Company. After graduation day at her boarding school, she is impatient to return to her picturesque family home near Niagara Falls. But when she arrives, nothing is as she had left it. Her father has lost his job at the power company, her mother is reduced to taking in sewing from the society ladies she once entertained, and Isabel, her vivacious older sister, is a shadow of her former self. She has shut herself in her bedroom, barely eatingâ??and harboring a secret.

The night of her return, Bess meets Tom Cole by chance on a trolley platform. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to himâ??against her family's strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and fearless, he lives off what the river provides and has an uncanny ability to predict the whims of the falls. His daring river rescues render him a local hero and cast him as a threat to the power companies that seek to harness the power of the falls for themselves. 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 and her future.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Niagara Falls, at a time when daredevils shot the river rapids in barrels and great industrial fortunes were made and lost as quickly as lives disappeared, The Day the Falls Stood Still is an intoxicating debut novel

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Book description
Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, The Day the Falls Stood Still 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 director of the Niagara Power Company. After graduation day at her boarding school, she is impatient to return to her picturesque family home near Niagara Falls. But when she arrives, nothing is as she left it. Her father has lost his job at the power company, her mother is reduced to taking in sewing from the society ladies she once entertained, and Isabel, her vivacious older sister, is a shadow of her former self. She has shut herself in her bedroom, barely eating—and harbouring a secret.

The night of her return Bess meets Tom Cole by chance on a trolley platform. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to him—against her family’s strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and fearless, he lives off what the river provides and has an uncanny ability to predict the whims of the falls. His daring river rescues render him a local hero and cast him as a threat to the power companies that seek to harness the power of the falls for themselves. 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 and her future.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Niagara Falls, at a time when daredevils shot the river rapids in barrels and great industrial fortunes were made and lost as quickly as lives disappeared, The Day the Falls Stood Still is an intoxicating debut novel.
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Hyperion and Voice

2 editions of this book were published by Hyperion and Voice.

Editions: 1401340970, 1401341365

Tantor Media

An edition of this book was published by Tantor Media.

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