The Day the Falls Stood Still
Book Club Picks

Book Club Picks: The Day the Falls Stood Still

Bess Heath is happily ignorant. She loves her school, her friends, her family. When she is suddenly hit with the realization that all is not as it seems, she isn't sure quite how to react.

After returning home to find her father a jobless drunk, her sister wasting away in her bed, and her mother sewing for food, Bess begins to think anything is possible. It is this reason that propels her to pursue a relationship with the handsome Tom of the river. She has found true love for sure. If she embraces it she may lose all she holds dear, but if she doesn't she may live to regret it.

Book Club Picks: The Day the Falls Stood Still Opinion

This is a subtle story of true love and also the fragility of life. The writing is serene which perfectly compliments the strength and beauty of Canada's Niagara Falls, the novel's backdrop. It is not a fast-paced read, rather, it is a coming-of-age story spanning the most impressionable years of young Bess's life.

If you are a hopeless romantic, the love story of Bess and Tom is hard to match. However, there is much sadness for the characters. Knowing that Tom is based on a real man makes the events of his life far more tragic. I actually ended the book wishing desperately for a different ending but not because it wasn't the perfect fit for the story, but because it was hard to bear.

True love, and terrible loss are always good discussion starters at a book club meeting. Also, the information about Niagara Falls in the early 1900s is very interesting and worth reading.

Book Club Picks: The Day the Falls Stood Still Discussion Questions

1. Is it fair of Kit to stop speaking to Bess? Why or why not?
2. Do you like Bess's mother? Explain.
3. Would Bess have always blamed Tom if he had made a different choice and lost Jesse to the whirpool?

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