I honestly wasn't sure what to expect with this book. It was an impulse buy; I had never heard of the book before, but the plot sounded somewhat interesting. Once I started reading, though, I could not put it down. The narrator wasn't the most compelling character, but I loved the language the author used, the almost dreamlike storytelling narrative, and the overall plot in which the Niagara River was the unspoken main character of the book. ( )

This book is everything a great HF book should be. Beautiful writing, characters you want to hug and not let go of, and a story so captivating you don't want to put the book down.

The story begins in the early days of WWI, in Niagara Falls Canada. Bess is a 17 year old girl brought up in society, expected to do all the "right" things a girl of her station should do: marry the right man, become a mother and carry on. Tom is "the river man", a fisherman and the man who pulls the "floaters" from the river when called upon. No spoiler, to tell you they fall deeply in love.

If you know me at all, you know the romance genre (whether historical or any other embedded tag) is not my go to book. However, this book is so much more. The author was raised in Niagara, the story loosely built on a real-life river man and his family. Her research and knowledge of the area and time is what earned the 5 star rating.

If you like a great story, characters that grab you and take you away-Read this book-I loved it. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Having lived on Grand Island, NY, for the past 11 years, I'm familiar with Niagara Falls and some of the stories that were told in the book. It was kind of cool to see familiar things in a novel.

I felt for the struggles Bess endured. She's a very strong woman, whether she thinks that of herself or not. She is someone to emulate, I think. ( )

What a snivelling self-centred wuss. The protagonist is a caricature of what must be the stereotypical teenager of the late 1910s and she never grows out of it. Her story is also so predictable that it lacks imagination. It feels like little more than a vehicle to tell some fictional versions of Niagara Falls history. Which are interesting, but not in this trite novel that encapsulates every cliche about that time period. Of the story had been of the male protagonist of the story, that might have been more interesting. Recommended for teen girls who have not read much about that time period. Everyone else should take a pass. ( )

The Day the Falls Stood Still is a spellbinding historical fiction novel set on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls from 1915 -1923, the time just before and after World War I. The story is told in a first person narrative by Bess, who is seventeen when we meet her. She's at the end of her school year at Loretto Academy but knows something is wrong when her mother attends the ceremony alone. Her father has been dismissed from his job as Director of the Niagara Power Company and taken up drinking. Her sister, Isabel has been abandoned by her fiance and a recluse in her bedroom. Her mother has taken up dressmaking for her former friends in society and now, unable to afford her final year in boarding school, Bess will need to apprentice as a seamstress with her.

As Bess and her mother struggle with her luggage, they meet Tom Cole who carries their trunk to the streetcar. Tom is a local riverman who catches fish for pay, pulls dead bodies out of the river, and works nights in the saloon. Her parents disapprove of Tom but they continue to meet each other each other every afternoon when Tom walks home from the river. They fall in love and marry and through poverty, anxiety, and tragedy as they forge a life together.

Tom loves the river, but the only jobs available are involved in the destruction of it and his cherished Falls. What will come first in his priorities, his family or his ethics? Tom, a man of strength and conviction, is an expert on the Niagara Falls area and uses his knowledge of the dangerous environment to rescue the desperate and foolish who fall victim to the dangers. The author fictionalizes real life river man, Red Hill in the character Tom Cole. Many stories and myths about the river are real, though told through some fictional characters. The book is also beautiful to look at with pictures of the Niagara Falls area at the beginning of many of the chapters .

I loved the historical detail and the magic and danger of Niagara Falls, which becomes a character of its own. The author describes the historical context of Canada and the early conflicts that arose between environmentalism and the utilization of new sources of energy. The characters are dynamic , the setting is colorful and the historical detail fascinated me. There is both joy and sorrow in this story, with a lasting emotional impact. It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.
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