I loved the start of this book and found the writing style and creativity of the author hard to resist. At the end, however, I found that I had been entraced into spending a lot of time reading a book I found ultimately distasteful and offensive. A book loaded with tragedy is climaxed when a teenage lesbian love-affair comes out of no-where and then is tragically cut-off. The awful way in which the affair was interupted was disturbing, no doubt, but at the same time I was very disturbed and saddened by the unrealistic and unhealthy "love affair" going on between the two teenagers. The author has talent, but she needs to tie that talent to wisdom and themes that ring with much more depth and truth then this.

Had I known that this sad book was about incest, I never would have purchased it.

Talk about dysfunctional families! This crew takes the all-time prize. Filled with family secrets, passion, secrets, and shame, Ms. McDonald's novel tells the rich saga of five generations of a coal-mining community family in Nova Scotia. It truly is an epic, lasting about 700 pages, but every page is a gem.

This is an intensely deep book that is impossible to put down from start to finish. It is the twisted story of a family in the early 1900's. The author's writing is artfully realistic. All of the characters are memorable and superbly written, leaving a lasting effect on the reader. This book isn't for those who are easily shocked or offended because the author tackles difficult topics like racial tension, homosexuality, incest, and religion. This isn't a quick read because there are hidden secrets and riddles intermingled throughout the book and I had to pay close attention to absorb them all.

It was one of thoes books that I couldn't put down although I cringed with each passsing page. It gave me nightmares. It was real.

This book is a bit dark, but it's honest, intriguing, and so complex. It's a whirlwind story which twists and turns through a beautifully written story. I could not put it down; it's one of my all-time favorites.

Am I the only one who found this book boring for 250 plus pages? I didn't like this book, not because it was sad. That's real life, and it WAS beautifully written, but because there was so many long, long passages of BORING sections that did not further the story line whatsoever...

A husband ignores his child-bride to fawn over his beautiful, talented daughter. Another daughter, not as beautiful or talented, takes the place of his unwanted sexual feelings toward the eldest. Four sisters live an isolated life created by a father who battles his own demons, and a woman loses touch with reality because her husband no longer sees her. This book is dark and disturbing and sad. Perhaps it is real life for some, which makes it all the more disturbing. A book about incest, misplaced dreams, and broken lives. Too dark for me.

This was a very strange, disgusting book. It was well written, however. I just don't like reading about incest. Why did Oprah hail this as being such a good novel? I am just bothered by the whole book.

With eloquent words, and an intricately passionate story, this book took me into a whole new world. While some books I read pass through my memory through the years, this book will always stay in my mind.

I read the reviews before I started reading the book. I wish I had not...
This book is very well written. However it is not for speedreaders. I found myself having to read every single word just to appreciate it the way it deserved.

Overall it was a great read. I grew very interested early in the book with the characters. They are very different and unique from each other and although the book is very dark it is not thrown out in your face. It is described and written all very subtly...

I would recommend it...but only to people who I know would appreciate it.

I gave this book only 3 stars because for me, it was a really depressing read. While beautifully written, in a way that you could really "see" what the author was talking about, the content was just sad, depressing, and I struggled to get through it. I do have to say that most of the other women in my bookclub LOVED it.

Many layers to this book; all compelling. Can not put the book down until the end; then you want to read it again.db

This is the author's first novel, and she writes beautifully. She uses a lot of Arabic words in the beginning of the book, which might be confusing to some. However, I found this to be one of the strong points of the book. It is always interesting to read words in the character's native language, and not many authors do that.

The story starts with, "They're all dead now. Here's a picture of the town where they lived...Look down over the street where they lived...Here's a picture of their house as it was then...In the back is the kitchen where Mumma died. Here's a picture of her the day she died. She had a stroke while cleaning the oven...Here's a picture of Daddy. He's not dead, he's asleep." I liked the opening of the novel and found it captivating. It also brings to mind our own end. A morbid and depressing thought, one that is carried throughout the book.

I always like to figure out what the title of a book means, and why an author chose that particular title. In one scene, Materia fell down on her knees and prayed to God for a baby boy. By having a baby boy, Materia (such a beautiful name, one I have never heard of before) thought she could regain her father's love, and that he might take her back. She had married James against her parent's approval, and thus exiled herself from them. She was still a child when she got married, but it was her who made advances on her yet to be husband. Her husband later realized what a mistake it was to marry a child, and refrains from sleeping with her. But that soon changes.

This story is told through five generations, though Kathleen, Mercedes, Frances and Lily Piper, all sisters, are the main characters in this novel. The book starts at the meeting of their parents as young adults.

This is a novel about the ugly things that can happen to a family. The story is a series of tragedies. It includes incest (a father having sex with his daughters and having a child from one of them), pedophilia (when Materia married James she was still a little girl), tragic deaths, murder (the mother seems to have murdered her daughter with a kitchen knife during a self caesarean attempt), parental neglect, physical and sexual abuse, World War I, transvestitism, homosexuality, the drowning of a baby (a six year old wants to baptize a baby, but ends up drowning him), lesbian relations, adulterous relations, and very disturbed and dark characters. Basically, all the ingredients of real life!

Incest is often not discussed in first rate novels. But here it is. James (Materia's husband) enlists in the army during WWI in part due to his sexual feelings for his daughter Kathleen, but later acts on these urges with Frances. Though depressing and graphic (and many readers were offended and put-off by this), this happens in real life. To have succeeded in ingraining such feelings of depression and disgust, the author has succeeded in her story! You and the story will find yourself as one, though on the other side of the line of morality. You will remain as an observer, and hopefully not as a participant.

Many readers will find this book very depressing. This is a book not to read if you are on Prozac! One reviewer comments, "Be prepared to seek professional help and possible medication after this novel. It is dark and depressing...

I have to say, that for me, a bestseller and Oprah Book Club Book are not recommendations; I am usually skeptical about books, which gained medial popularity, so I approached the debut novel of Ann-Marie MacDonald, the Canadian playwright and actress, "Fall on your knees" with wariness, but it turned out to be a delightful exception.

The novel's plot is intricate, surprising events come up with every turn of the page. The atmosphere feels like from a dream or a fairy tale, yet the stories of the protagonists are painfully realistic, rich and full of dark secrets, perversions, love gone wrong, nightmares and the subconscious instincts taking control over the morals. Indeed, the novel is so full of stories and threads that it feels like it could fill five novels...
The female characters are depicted especially profoundly and colorfully, although the most important influence in their lives is a man.

When in 1899, in rocky Nova Scotia, where the ocean is a part of every inhabitant's life, the young piano tuner, James Piper, convinces Materia, the thirteen-year-old daughter of Lebanese immigrants, to elope with him, marry and start a new life, it is as if a curse has been brought on him and his family. Materia's parents refuse to accept her marriage and break all the ties with her. Within a year, Materia gives birth to a daughter, Katherine, a beautiful, blonde girl idealized by her father. While Katherine grows exhibiting the talent for singing and James prepares her to be an opera diva, Materia becomes more and more estranged from her husband and child, whom she cannot love. Her only friend is the Jewish neighbor. James also withdraws from Materia and devotes himself (too much) to Katherine. Only when Katherine is a teenager, her two sisters, Mercedes and Frances, are born in quick succession. James goes to Europe to fight in the war, and escape his home demons, and when he comes back, he pursues the idea of making an opera singer of Katherine and tries his best to provide for his family...
When Katherine, at 19, leaves home to study singing in New York City, the inescapable succession of tragic events is started like an avalanche and cannot be stopped or reversed... Katherine does not come back home in a glory of a diva; she comes pregnant with the twins and refuses to name the father...

"Fall on your knees" can be read as a family saga, because it spans many years of the life in the Piper family, from 1899 to 1940's (continuously), hopping forward as far as 1970s. It is also the panorama of the Nova Scotia Society, with its mixed ethnicity (Irish, Jewish, Afroamerican, Lebanese) and conflicts typical for the times it takes place in. But the most interesting plane, at least for me, is the psychological study of a dysfunctional family, where all the possible relations are wrong...

I like MacDonald's style very much. The novel alternates between past and present tense, the points of view are switched when each of the sisters steps forward as a main character, and Katherine's diary adds another perspective, unfolding the mysteries slowly and deliberately. There is nothing random about this book, every event is carefully thought over and serves its purpose. The cedar trunk, hiding objects, which the Pipers do not want in daylight, serves as a link between the family members, who associate its aroma with the family history. The novel despite its length does not bore the reader and the gloomy secrets of the Piper family stay in memory for a long time...

"Fall on your knees" is a poignant, full novel which touches the most serious, heavy subjects, yet it is not painful to read, maybe because there is a patina in the narrative, as if it was a story from the distant past. It discussed taboos, but without the scandalous, brutally straightforward manner of many contemporary debuts designed only to shock.

Ann-Marie MacDonald managed to create a great debut novel and show her ability as a storyteller.

An incredible and disturbing story about a fathers lust for his own daughter's and the tragedies that unfold as a result. Like other reviewers I'm at a loss for words on how best to describe the novel other than to say it is difficult to read at times, but you cannot stop yourself from tearing through the pages - it is that well written.

The only disappointing part of it, for me, was the ending. I was not crazy about how answers were revealed in one long chapter, thus the reason for not providing the full 5 stars. I still highly recommend this book, however, due to the beautiful language and the authors ability to craft such a powerful story.

This has been on my reading list for some time now, but for one reason or another I didn't tackle it until recently. I'm sorry I waited so long.

The story is incredible and disturbing, to say the least. Like other reviewers I'm at a loss for words on how best to describe the novel other than to say it is difficult to read at times, but you cannot stop yourself from tearing through the pages - it is that good.

The only disappointing part of it, for me, was the ending. I was not crazy about how answers were revealed in one long chapter toward the end, thus the reason for not providing the full 5 stars. I still highly recommend this book, however, due to the beautiful language and the authors ability to craft such an amazing story.

When James met his future wife he wanted to say "I know you". You would think this was the beginning of a true love story. You would be very wrong. There is a lot of love in this book, but most of it is selfish and some is just perverse. The loved ones are often abused and traumatized by those who love them. I think the book is also trying to say something about racism, but I can't quite figure out what. The only reason I was compelled to finish reading this book was to see if anyone survived. Noone really did. This book left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The number of reviews readers have been compelled to write testifies that this book weighs heavily on the mind.

Intriguing family saga of the impact of mental illness and spiritualism gone wrong. The dept of emotion within each character - parents and siblings - brings understanding to their seemingly irrational behavior. Strong characters draw you into their thinking and justification of their actions. MacDonald does a fine job of weaving the plot around historial events that lend added dimension to the complex relationships and the story overall. An excellent read.

This was Ms MacDonald's debut novel It is black and bleak and full of secrets. Peopled by flawed yet believable characters, this was one of the most amazing novels I read in 2003.

While the story starts on Cape Breton Island with James Piper (a poor Scots piano tuner) and Materia Mahmoud (the dauhter of a wealthy Lebanese family) and their relationship and elopement, the main story is of their daughters.

The childhood of the Piper sisters - Kathleen, Mercedes, Frances and Lily - is insightfully written and breathes life into the characters. Their lives on Cape Breton Island and then later in New York is an epic tale of love, pain and death, which also contains joy and triumph.

This novel is so rich in themes and in its development of characters it is hard to try to categorise it. So I won't. Instead, I'll recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good well written story but is also willing to explore some of the darker aspects of humanity.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is not my normal book. It is quite dark (Gothic may be accurate) but a page turner, not in the thriller sense but much deeper. The book starts out with a snapshot of a family then goes on to unfold the story of how that family got to be that way. The snapshot makes you keep reading to find out each characters situation. As I read, I kept turning back to it as each piece of the plot unfolded. I finished this 2 days ago and can't get it out of my mind, it was so twisted and multilayered. I keep thinking about the Piper characters and putting them into modern context or comparing them to people I know. While the story covers many issues (poverty, race, prohibition, children taking on adult responsibility, coping with death, incest, small town life, relgion, homosexuality, and the list goes on) it interveaves the topics so well that it is still one elegant, continuous story.

I rarely review a book, but decided to since this book hasn't left me even though I'm halfway through the next. I believe everybody is accurate when they say that they cannot really find the right words to describe this book. All I can come up with is Wow, like when you hear some completely unexpected news about someone that goes against what you thought of them and you just can't put it into context or even categorize it in your brain, yet all you can do is keep thinking about it.

James is an eighteen-year-old piano tuner who has recently lost his mother and whose abusive father has been gone for years. He falls desperately in love with Materia, the twelve-year-old daughter of one of his clients. They elope and Materia's family disowns and curses her and her children.

Within a year the couple has their first child, Kathleen, and the romance has gone from their relationship. James wonders if Materia was always so fat, so unpleasant, so utterly stupid. Materia misses her family and deeply regrets her marriage. To James, though, his daughter Kathleen is an angel. He adores her and brings her everywhere. She is beautiful and sweet and at eighteen months old begins to show signs of an impressive musical talent. James decides she will be an opera singer, and he is determined to give her every opportunity possible.

When Kathleen is twelve, James begins having incestuous thoughts about her. Materia notices, and in an attempt to save her daughter she begins seducing her husband, producing two more daughters, Mercedes and Frances. James recognizes his weakness, though, and decides to join the army and go fight in World War I. As soon as he returns home, he sends Kathleen to New York to study opera. It is not long before Kathleen is home again, though, and scandalously pregnant.

When several tragedies strike the family in quick succession, permanent roles are set for Mercedes and Frances. Mercedes is the responsible and deeply religious one who will hold the family together. Frances is the bad one, the troublemaker who will tear the family apart. Despite their differences, both girls have terrible secrets that will continue to affect their family through the next generation.

This book was very well written, with vivid characters. I especially liked Frances, who was willing to take any punishment necessary to protect her family and to create a safe haven for her little sister.

Parts of this book were awkward, though. The first few pages, describing the Piper home, didn't make any sense until much later in the book. I was left very confused and had to flip back later to place it in a time frame. I didn't like that Kathleen's story was eventually told long after the fact in the form of a diary. I feel this is an overused device and is a cop-out for an author who is unable to figure out how to integrate a person's narrative into the larger story. It was likely supposed to be a shocking revelation, but, really, how many people hadn't figured out the secret of Lily's birth by then? Kathleen had been out of the story for so long by then that I was no longer interested in the details of her life in New York.

For the most part this story is delightfully action packed - full of surprises - unexpected turns and twists that keep the reader open mouthed. It is the story of a highly dysfunctional family in New Waterford, Cape Breton Island.
The author's writing style is different, yet very effective. The way Catholicism is worked in here is quite interesting, as is the predicament Lebanese find themselves in. Please don't call them coloured or Arab. They would like to be considered European.
I am still not sure about the character Rose. What exactly is the author saying here?
Also Lily driving,then walking down to New York to meet Rose...what was the point here?
I have to admit that at times I was left with an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

This book sat on my to-read shelf for a couple of years and now I don't know why it took so long for me to get to this one. It is hard to believe this is a first novel for this author. What a wonderfully well-written book with all of the ingredients to keep you picking it up every chance you get. The characters are still with me - a week after finishing it. The ending is totally unexpected; though, when you think about it, not really! Anyway, highly recommended reading - especially if you've got a big chunk of time (vacation, planeride, etc.) as it would flow best if read fairly continually. Loved it!!

I remember that this book actually crept into my dreams when I was reading it! And whilst this was not always welcome :) I absolutely could not put the book down!

It was so descriptive and so touching....

I have never read a novel that was so poetic and fluid and beautiful and even funny in places, yet so very, very dark and solemn.
I highly recommend this book..

It is not easy reading I must caution, but it is certainly a very good read! This author is a wonderfully gifted woman...

Okay the book is depressing, it's an Oprah Book Club book so of course it's going to be incredibly depressing. But it was beautifully written and the characters were so complex and detailed that it was disappointing as it fell apart at the end. Although the childhood and teenage years of the sisters are complex and engaging their adult years are described very briefly in a few pages. The detail of their lives stop abruptly. It switched to Kathleen in New York which I think is one of the best parts of the book because I was completely surprised and at least most up until her return to Canada it wasn't depressing. It would have been an amazing book if it hadn't given up on the characters. Also, there's no real explanation for Lily outcome.

Okay the book is depressing, it's an Oprah Book Club book so of course it's going to be incredibly depressing. But it was beautifully written and the characters were so complex and detailed that it was disappointing as it fell apart at the end. Although the childhood and teenage years of the sisters are complex and engaging their adult years are described very briefly in a few pages. The detail of their lives stop abruptly. It switched to Kathleen in New York which I think is one of the best parts of the book because I was completely surprised and at least most up until her return to Canada it wasn't depressing. It would have been an amazing book if it hadn't given up on the characters. Also, there's no real explanation for Lily outcome.

This book is so dark... you'll wonder if you have what it takes to keep reading. Others have covered the story line; no need here. Sort of a "Drowning Ruth" kind of feeling to it, but even darker! Somehow, this author draws you in (about mid-way, really) and you have to keep going so you can understand the deep, dark secrets of this stricken family. Give it a shot.

I am an avid reader and read in a lot of different genres. This book, of all the books that I have read has touched my soul. I, like other reviewers, held the book for a long time when it was over. It was hard to leave the world that I was brought into by this book.

I read this book years ago and every time I go in the bookstore I go and touch the rind.

The story is epic and tragic. It demonstrates so well the way that tragedy in our childhood affects us our whole lives.

I highly recommend this book. Even though it is painful to read, it is a gift.

The world of this story is vivid, the characters are vulnerable and complex, and the writing is lyrical. I love the depth of each character's convictions and even though the story is tragic, if I could, I would live in the story with Frances forever.

MacDonald creates a gorgeous landscape--so wonderful that even with a few writing problems that would normally annoy me, I continued to read and enjoy and love everything on the page.

When I finished this book around midnight on a Friday night, I just sat and held it for awhile, sad it was over and needing to process the last bit I had read. Two days later, I went out and bought copies for my friends and started reading my own copy again. I missed those messed-up Pipers, and I missed the "Hurt So Good" feeling that came from this book.

Reading the story of the Piper family will cause you to experience
laughter, love, shock, and outrage. You will hurt and then heal, only to have your wounds torn open again. And yet, insanely enough, you will keep reading because you just can't help yourself.

MacDonald is an amazing storyteller. I still don't know how she managed to keep me reading page after page of her heartbreaking saga, but she did. There were times when I wondered why I was putting myself through it, times when I didn't think I could bear any more heartbreak or ugliness. At one point, after a series of events that seemed more than any family (or reader) could take, she almost lost me. I put it down, then found myself wondering about those people, and picked it up again. I had to know what happened. I stuck with it. I'm so glad I did.

In addition to her great storytelling, MacDonald's writing/word choice had its share of high points, too, Kathleen's singing debut being one of them. It was achingly beautiful. MacDonald keeps you reading when you think you can't, playing the reader like a conductor leads the orchestra, pushing, pulling, holding back, letting go. At the end of Maestro MacDonald's performance, you'll be drained. And in awe.

It was an awesome book. I have rated this book five stars because it was worth it. The story behind it is great. The characters are achingly human especially Lily and Frances. I hated James Piper the most. I did not like his attitude toward his daughter Frances. otherwise it was the best book. I enjoyed reading it a lot and i would recommend this to each and everyone on this planet. I read this book for my grade 11 english seminar and I loved it so much. I think everyone in my class also liked it after I presented to the class.

Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

Haunting, dream-like, eerie beyond comfort, and everything I want in a novel. MacDonald's voice is so unique that I was left in complete awe from plot to characters to dialogue.
"Fall" is laced with delicious word groupings I had to highlight in my book so I could love them again and again. This book is about faith and family, darkened and honest after many years of sin and mental disturbance. The people in this book leap off the page and into your soul. One will fall in love with the characters and then loathe or mourn them at the finish. The Pipers haunted me, and indeed, it was difficult to find another book as beautifully done as this. This book will stay with the reader, whether or not they liked it. And it is a lucky reader who appeases the fermenting story by picking it back up, regardless. If you didn't like it the first time, at the end of the second, you will love it.

I read this book a few years ago and I am still trying to find one that compares. I can not stop thinking about how amazing this book was. If anyone has read this and knows another I might enjoy even half as much, please let me know. You HAVE to read this book. I am going to read it again since I can't find any others that are good after reading this one.

I found Fall, recently at a Goodwill. I knew nothing about the author, other than the Oprah label adheared to the book. So I thought I'd crack it and take a look-see! What a sad story. After speaking with a cousin who lives in Toronto and learning that this book may be based on real-life people, I am no longer surprised by its horror. There are families who struggle with issues like the ones presented here. People need to take their head out of the sand and acknowledge that our LEAVE IT TO BEAVER era is totally and completely over.... What a relief to say that.... If you want a happy goluck book for your summer vacation, this one is not it....However if you want to engage your mind, open the door to the dark side of families in difficult and trying situations, crack it open. See what you may learn!

This novel is, without a doubt, my favorite book ever! Ann-Marie effectively captures the difficulties of growing up during the depression in a small farm town, but she does so in a way that the uses these hardships merely as a background and focuses more on the struggles of simply growing up.

I think most people will be able to tell what they think of "Fall On Your Knees" after the first 200 pages or so. If it seems too sad and disturbing for you, you probably shouldn't finish it, since it never really gets any happier. I found the novel to be well-written and it kept me reading until the end, but the plot is so over-the-top depressing that I found it hard to become invested in the story. So many horrible things happen to the members of the Piper family and those who come in contact with them that at a certain point, I couldn't take the book seriously anymore. I just kept waiting for the next bad thing to happen, and as a result, I never really became emotionally invested in the book. It's certainly a page-turner, but at the end of reading it, I felt like I had wasted my time.

I read this book because it came to me highly recomended. I was a bit disappointed. The first 80 pages are incredibly boring but stay with it. I just finished the book and I'm not entirely sure what I thought about it. The story was powerful and complex but at times boring and confusing. I think that the story could have been shortened by about 100 pages. Overall it was alright, but there are definitely much better books out there.

I couldn't put it down. I will never, ever forget Francis, one of the most interesting and complex characters I've ever been introduced to in a novel -- completely original and tragi-comic. Yes, it's dark and there are some very disturbing scenes, including incest. If that bothers you, don't read it. I visited Nova Scotia shortly after I read the book, and I made a point to go to Sydney to see if it was anything like the book. It was the most dismal part of an incredibly beautiful island, and I could just imagine Francis hiking down the road in her dirty girl guide dress. Powerful.

(P.S. Those of you who complain that you wouldn't want to keep a book in your house that is full of horrible things that you wouldn't want your children to read - incest, rape, child abuse, suicide, dead babies, adultery, prostitution, religious fanatics doing bad things -- ought to get rid of your Bibles or store them on a high shelf. I seem to recall those topics being described in detail in the Bible stories I read as a child. Boy, did that screw me up!)

I read this book around two months ago, and I managed to finish it in a few days (considering I had my entire family over for the holidays, I think it's quite an achievement). The characters are bizarre and the story tackles complicated psychological issues. None of the characters are completely likable or unlikeable. All of them are complex individuals with huge issues and I couldn't help but keep reading to see where their actions might lead them. I think the author is creative in her storytelling, and she moved the story along skillfully. I enjoyed the writing, although it's not the type of story you read for pure enjoyment. It makes you think about the complexity of the human character.

One of the reviewers compared this book to a car wreck--you want to look away, but you just can't. I couldn't have said it any better. This is a fantastic tale that trancends its era and locale. I couldn't put it down, and was so affected by it, I couldn't begin a new book for days afterward. Today I remain in awe of the storyline, the characters motives and the depth of their dysfunction. Ann-Marie MacDonald is an author talented beyond description. Don't miss this one.

I just finished the book. Excellent! The book is so well written on a subject of "taboo..." You will find that even though the subject matter is difficult to deal with and face, you can't put the book down. You keep going back to read it because you feel as if you are there, watching what is going on and the need to know what is going to happen next to each of the characters...
The book does not diappoint. Read it, it's good.

It's been several years since I read this book and feel as though I really need to read it again. There is so much realism associated with this family. It is clear that Ms. MacDonald must first hand knowledge of a family like this. As someone who has worked with families in a support setting for more than 10 years, the multigenerational, secrecy, drama-ness of this story makes you wonder how fictional it really is.

It is a dark story, at times quite depressing. For those who do not believe families like this exist, I envy your naivety as I assure you, they do.

"Happy Birthday Mr. Sidney"

The next pick for Oprahs book club??

Haunting, beautiful, poetic and so real--I couldn't put it down, seriously. I hid in my dorm room and read this one night! The book was enchanting and a bit eerie at the same time--a great vacation read!

This IS the best book I have ever read!!!! The characters have made a lasting impression and they will live on with me forever. If you liked this book, read her second novel "The Way The Crows Fly" It is also excellent!

Last night at about 2am after I had been reading this book for several hours hoping that SOMETHING good would happen to someone I finally gave up and went to bed. I was depressed all the next day and finally decided it was because of all of the terrible images I was left with the night before. My mood improved dramatically during dinner when I figured out I could rid myself of this bummer book by burning it, not by simply throwing the whole thing into the fire, but by burning it page by sicko page and maybe page by burning page I can get my happy self back. The author should Fall On Her Knees and beg forgiveness for what she has put her readers through. Twenty minutes later: Okay - I really did it - I burned it and I feel much better. Diana Gabaldon - here I come!

I read this years ago, and I still remember it as one of my favorites. As has been mentioned, the writing is almost unbearably lovely. I think this is the only book that's really made my eyes stop on a passage because I was so arrested by its unique imagery. There's a running theme of music - in one case, the author compares a savage beating to a melody, in which each blow is a different note. I mention this part in particular, because it shows one of the author's major gifts - she can make the most awful, depressing subjects beautiful.

Don't be mistaken, this book IS dark. I've recommended it to several friends, and I don't think any of them got through it, because it was "too depressing." I myself don't usually enjoy gloomy books. I couldn't stand 'A Fine Balance', for example. I guess I found this one different because while many of the characters' lives are tragic, they're utterly fascinating and (again) quite beautiful. I do believe that they are all ultimately redeemed, though perhaps not in the way you'd expect.

This book is superb in many respects. First, as mentioned, the book is prose poetry. AMD is also merciless when describing her characters' inner life. I think this bothered a lot of people, but in my opinion, AMD got it right. Sometimes people fantasize (for example) about killing their loved ones, just for a split-second. The author somehow manages to be gentle too, even with her villains. Everyone is drawn sympathetically, even if they are monstrous.

I'm also a sucker for cross-cultural books, and this book is a smorgasboard of Judiasm, Catholicism, plain vanilla Christian, the Middle East and Canada. It's also sweeping in its range, covering multiple generations and getting deeply into the lives of at least ten different characters.

I do have to say I'm not crazy about the last section, but some people say that's their favorite part, so there you go.

One thing I never understood: the title. If the next reviewer happens to know, please post! Thanks.

I finished reading Fall On Your Knees two days ago. I miss the characters, the daughters especially, and continue to churn through the stories in my mind. I am now half way through another book, thinking that diving into a silly bunch of chick-lit would tear my mind away from the Pipers, but no such luck!

I agree with other reviewers who have said the story unfolds in a series of riddles. Although mostly chronological, the biggest twists are revealed out of sequence. I will need to reread the book, because I am still confused as to Frances' motives ... why was she hell-bent on pursuing Leo and the inevitable outcome? Why focus on the elder Mahmoud when it did not relate back to the denoument (example, was the "blue veil" scene real?)?

Although it is a long book, it is a series of complex storylines which required the luxury of voluminous details and gentle, slow storytelling. Contrary to another reviewer's statement that the love story between Kathleen and Rose seemed forced, I thought it was one of the most logical components of the book. I was clueless to the very end about Lily and Ambrose's parentage.

A well-earned five stars!