Fall on Your Knees

by Ann-Marie MacDonald | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0684833204 Global Overview for this book
Registered by JenLuvsBooks of Roseville, California USA on 5/9/2005
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by JenLuvsBooks from Roseville, California USA on Monday, May 9, 2005
One of my favorite books. I'm sending this to Wilmar in the Netherlands.

Journal Entry 2 by Wilmar from Leiden, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, June 20, 2005
Caught! Many, many, many times thanks JenLuvsBooks!
The book still looks so pretty, like it's never been read; I'm feeling a bit guilty that you sent me one of your all time favorites ...

Will read it a.s.a.p. and and after that send it on to someone else who has it on her/his wish list.

Journal Entry 3 by Wilmar from Leiden, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
I finally, finally, finished this book yesterday. I promised to read it a.s.a.p. and see what happens: a.s.a.p. becomes more than 1.5 years...

When I finally came round to start the book I finished it within a few days, but somehow it has taken a while before the book 'called' me that it needed to be read.

I like Ann-Marie MacDonald's style of writing. She writes easy, short and pointy sentences. I thought the story was gripping (I was really captivated and needed to read on!) but the various troubles are just too much. I think MacDonald could have left some of the terrible relations/subplots out of the book. Then it would still be worth reading. The story as it is made me feel awful from time to time (and then to think I gave this book to my mother for her birthday a few years ago... (I was told it was very good and I like the Dutch cover) - She reacted 'have you read it yourself!?'.

A funny thing is that I read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver just before this book. Also an epic story about 4 sisters who have an awful father...

Fascinating citation...
On Christmas Day 1914, the British and the Germans had laid down their arms, climbed out of their trenches, and walked into No Man's Land. They met halfway between the lines, and exchanged gifts. Not so strange, considering that never before had so many nice men with families and decent jobs volunteered to face each other under arms across distances as brief and static as twenty yards. Such chocolate. Such bully beef. The truce was completely spontaneous and not repeated in anything like those numbers again - somehow people can still get into the Christmas spirit when they've only been mowing each other down with ordinary bullets [...].

JenLuvsBooks, thanks so much for sharing! I will send it on to sombody who has it on their wishlist.

Cover description
The Piper family is steeped in secrets, lies, and unspoken truths. At the eye of the storm is one secret that threatens to shake their lives -- even destroy them.

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.

Amazon review for some details
This book has so much depth and intensity that it is difficult to find the words to review it with. From racial boundaries and war to familial issues, incest, religion and different levels of relationships, there is little this book leaves out. And yet, unlike some authors who try to tackle too much, Ms. MacDonald succeeds in covering it all beautifully.
This book is about multi-generations of a family from Nova Scotia. The most compelling stories lay within the four surviving children of the family -- four girls, each one incredibly different from the next. The parents of the girls are an interesting component of the book, as are the grandparents -- and the father plays a large, highly impactful, role in the lives of the girls. Some characters you will love others not, but undoubtedly no one in the Piper family will leave your mind for a long time.

The stories and plights of this family are unbelievable and breathtaking. The book brings in different twists, turns and surprises on every page, and I found myself having to turn back pages in order to gain new insights into what really happened. Nothing is ever what it seems, and nothing is what you expect it to be.

This book is incredible -- anyone who appreciates artistry in writing, and compelling stories that take you through a full gamut of emotions and thoughts -- that develop your mind as a reader, will love this book.

Finished February 12. 2007: MacDonald, Ann-Marie (1996). Fall on your knees. New York: Simon & Schuster [508 p.].

February 15. 2007: sent to WormyOne in the UK.

Journal Entry 4 by WormyOne from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Thursday, February 22, 2007
A big thank you to Wilmar for this book from my wish list.

The blurb reads:

"The Piper family is steeped in secrets, lies, and unspoken truths. At the eye of the storm is one secret that threatens to shake their lives - even destroy them.

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".


A review reproduced on the front cover suggests that the writing style has similarities to Joyce Carol Oates and John Irving, both of whom are writers whose work I enjoy, so I've got high hopes for this.

Journal Entry 5 by WormyOne from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wow! This is stunning. It's gripping, absorbing and moving. Train journeys flew by as I read it. It grows ever darker and more terrible as it progresses yet left me wanting more of the world (and the family) it created so vividly.

I agree with the reviewer cited above who said "This book has so much depth and intensity that it is difficult to find the words to review it with. From racial boundaries and war to familial issues, incest, religion and different levels of relationships, there is little this book leaves out. And yet, unlike some authors who try to tackle too much, Ms. MacDonald succeeds in covering it all beautifully".

An amazing, multi-layered first novel.

Released 16 yrs ago (3/7/2008 UTC) at Brighton Railway Station in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

On the seats nearest the ticket barriers, on the concourse at about 08:15.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.