Review: The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

My Summary:

The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan is a dual love story. A love story between a young couple, Bess and Tom and Tom's love for Niagara Falls. It's historical fiction, set between 1915-1923 and is set in Niagara Falls, Canada and during the early days of hydroelectric power. Bess is an upper class young girl of seventeen attending a boarding school when she is smitten with Tom from a lower class. Things change swiftly for Bess when tragedy strikes her family in many ways. Bess rejects a suitor of her own class to start a life with Tom.

Tom follows in the footsteps of his grandfather who had a connection and understanding to the Niagara River and became known as the river man. He has an innate ability to predict what will happen in the river and falls and becomes a local hero with his daring rescues.

My Thoughts:

I found the beginning of the book interesting, engaging and well written but the plot dragged out for me as the story unfolds. I found the accompanying black and white photographs and reference to real stories related to the Niagara interesting. I appreciate the beauty and nature of the falls and the effect hydroelectric power plants had on the falls and our environment. I found that the back and forth writing between the details of the hydroelectric power and other details just didn't flow smoothly within the major storyline. It felt forced and technical and took away some of the flow of the drama related to the characters in the story. I am one concerned with our environment and this story relates to our own world currently focused on environmental concerns. I am in awe of Niagara Falls and it's beauty and splendor. What I found lacking was the blending of this vital part of history with the human drama story between Bess, Tom and other characters. I found the ending predictable and expected the way it unfolded. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did.

For a different perspective of The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan, please check out these reviews at:

• Book Chatter
• Peeking Between the Pages
• Savvy Verse and Wit
• The Tome Traveller
  

FTC Disclosure: This is an Advanced Reading Copy that was sent to me as part of LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. I am an Amazon Associate.