by Anne Marie MacDonald (512 pgs)
Rating: 4
The Piper family from Cape Breton starts ignominiously with a cross racial elopement of a young man (16) and a young Lebanese girl (13). Neither of them are truly ready for the responsibilities of married life and the girl particularly is not ready for the realities of motherhood. With their three daughters the family survives the first and second world wars, economic depression, and intercultural/racial misunderstanding.
Fall On Your Knees is an extremely well written book. MacDonald manages to cover sometimes shocking material in a way that doesn't feel like a play for shock value. This family has secrets and MacDonald's writing frames them and sets them up for discovery. It covers the history and time of pre war Canada in way that blends almost unnoticeably into the narrative.
Recommended to people who like family dramas or who have an interest in genealogies.
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