Synopses & Reviews
It is 1950 and, after a disastrous honeymoon night, Ariah Erskine's young husband throws himself into the roaring waters of Niagara Falls. Ariah, "the Widow Bride of the Falls," begins a relentless seven-day vigil in the mist, waiting for his body to be found. At her side is confirmed bachelor and pillar of the community Dirk Burnaby, who is unexpectedly drawn to her. What follows is a passionate love affair, marriage, and family a seemingly perfect existence. But tragedy soon takes over their lives, poisoning their halcyon years with distrust, greed, and murder.
Set against the mythic-historic backdrop of Niagara Falls in the mid-twentieth century, this haunting exploration of the American family in crisis is a stunning achievement from "one of the great artistic forces of our time" (The Nation).This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Review
"With inimitable virtuosity, Oates weaves the still potent lore of Niagara into her extensive narrative. Using imagery of the river and falls as a driving force, she creates a seamless and engrossing flow that in the end seems natural, inevitable." Washington Post
Review
"The story is part ghost tale, part love story, part history. That the prolific Oates manages to do so much in one book is a testament to her ambition as a writer." Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"The Falls...has the tension of suspense fiction and the melodrama of a gothic novel, but it's coupled with psychological insight and astute social commentary, proving that Oates, in her best work, continues to defy categorization." Los Angeles Times
Review
"A powerful indictment of corporate and government malfeasance, The Falls is also an important book and a gripping narrative that takes its place within a tradition of social novels....[A] delicious page-turner." Portland Oregonian
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including We Were the Mulvaneys; Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award; and the New York Times bestseller The Accursed. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.