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Search - Fall on Your Knees
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Book Description:
A family pays the wages of lust in this memorable first novel, for it is most often lust that leads to unsuitable if not unholy couplings in the Piper family of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in the early part of this century. Eighteen-year-old piano tuner James Piper is so smitten with 12-year-old Materia Mahmoud that he entices her from her traditional Lebanese family to marry him. Before she's 14 the untutored Materia gives birth to Kathleen, the beautiful and gifted child whom she is unable to love but whom James takes to his heart. There are more daughters: Mercedes, the good girl who becomes the little mother; Other Lily, who dies unbaptized when one day old; Frances, the bad girl who becomes a bawdy entertainer and worse; and Kathleen's daughter, Lily, the saintly crippled girl who will learn the secrets and find resolution and redemption. Actress-playwright MacDonald is a talented storyteller with a crisp yet lilting prose style that captures equally well the atmospheres of World War I trenches and Harlem jazz clubs. -- Michele Leber, BooklistMembers who requested this book also requested:
Set on stormy Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia, Fall on Your Knees is an internationally acclaimed multigenerational saga that chronicles the lives of four unforgettable sisters. Theirs is a world filled with driving ambition, inescapable family bonds, and forbidden love.
Compellingly written, by turns menacingly dark and hilariously funny, this is an epic tale of five generations of sin, guilt, and redemption.
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Genres:Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Audio Csst), Audio CD (Abridged), Hardcover
Top Member Reviews
Leigh P. (
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
Disturbing, engaging, dark tale of a family that's not quite "right" - the only one that is seemingly well-adjusted is the one who we read about in letters from long ago, when she was alive and living far away from the family. The eerie reason for the disjointed familial relations you won't discover until the end of the book. I was left with a "Sixth-Sense" type feeling, where I was forced to think back on what I'd read in a different light.
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
I cannot find the words to describe this book. I didn't like it at first, but then I was unable to put it down and unable to forget it after I finished it. Definitely one of the most gripping novels I've ever read. It will make you laugh, it will repulse you, and it will horrify you, all the while keep you reading it. It's the first Oprah book I've read, but it won't be the last.
Megan S. (
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Haunting and engrossing. I could not put it down until I was done and then I was sad the story was over. You have to stick with it to enjoy it.
Cindy C. wrote on 7/10/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book was hard for me to put down, its well written and the characters have great depth to them. Although the ending left me feeling a bit confused, I still enjoyed every minute of it. Gives you a nice glimpse into life on a small island in Canada with people who originally came from Scotland. You won't regret this one.
ANNA S. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This family epic demonstrates how tragedy in our childhood can affect our whole lives. This very dark and beautifully written story is sometimes painful to read...... but you won't beable to tear yourself away from it. It will touch you and stay with you a very long time!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
One of my all-time favorites. This was out of print when I read it-- a coworker gave it to me who also loved it. I sent an email through Oprah's website because I thought it was tragic that people could no longer get this fabulous story. (I NEVER feel that strongly to actually email!) Well, two months later Oprah's selection was... take a guess. Coincidence? Well, I choose to take credit for supplying the world with all those additional copies. (You're WELCOME. LOL)
Stephanie M. from PLAINFIELD, CT wrote on 10/23/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is my absolute favorite book! I reread it every year or two and always find something new in it. The characters are amazingly complex, the storyline is engrossing and shocking. I find myself thinking about it for weeks after finishing it every time! FANTASTIC!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I picked it up because it was suggested by Oprah... I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!!! I was very stressful and disturbing but also SO difficult to turn away from. Despite it's taboo themes "Fall On Your Knees" was a very good read! Definately Recomend it!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
My mother recommended this book to me and I have to say, I found it very disturbing. Tell me about disfuntional families! We know they exist but this one tops them all. I've never thought things like this would happen, where were social services? Why didn't anyone do anything about this? I don't know if this is fiction or real, but it is heartbreaking to say the least.
Lori S. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Dark, very dark... not the best family dysfunction story, but a good one :)
Rate These Member Reviews
Carol H. from CINCINNATI, OH wrote on 8/25/2008...This is an amazing book. Characters are compelling and believable, and the story line kept me glued to the pages. Sophisticated AND readable.
I had an very unusual reaction (for me) to this book: I really wish I had never read it. It is that disturbing. And I don't think I've ever said that about a book.... Yes it is well-written, yes you can't forget it once you're done, but...! To me, it was just heart-breaking.
If the mark of a good book is you can't forget it once you're done, then this is a good book -- but I wish I had never gone there.
IOW, very well-written, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Very interesting read. Compelling. A can't put down book. Loved the way it was written. The characters become alive from the pages! Thought provoking story. Will get more of this authors books.
Not a memorable book for me, good read, but nothing stands out for me to comment on. Would not read again.
What a great thought provoking read! Very deep, dark and humerous!
Maria Y. from CLIFTON PARK, NY wrote on 4/28/2007...Family saga about how family secrets are revealed. Was chosen by Oprah's book club.
Wendy M. from PORT ANGELES, WA wrote on 4/27/2007...Wonderful book
Terri F. from EPSOM, NH wrote on 4/16/2007...Loved this one - an oprah book club choice.
Very involved book - hard to keep track - I found it
very interesting but hard to keep up with - difficult read.