Rating: 
Summary: Worth the time?
Review: Get out the iced tea, this was one of the dryest books I've read in years. You keep waiting to get to the "good parts"
Rating: 
Summary: No fun in this dysfunctional family
Review: I agree with the reader who says this work was 500 pages of despair. Pick your sexual perversion: it's probably in here. What a depressing "saga". I gave it two stars, however, because of its ability to evoke times and places and because of its epic nature.I also agree that Oprah's picks seem to be stuck on certain themes: race, family dysfunction, secrets. Can we move on?
Rating: 
Summary: "Oh what tangled webs we weave..."
Review: I had reservations about reading this book, but on the advice of a friend, took the plunge. Not to be facetious, but James Piper, the patriarch of this family saga, should never have gotten married, considering the grief he brought on his family. The style and quality of writing throughout is excellent; in her larger-than-life approach to multiple family tragedy, Macdonald has created a great melange of family-run-amok. In the beginning, a marriage takes place that is highly inappropriate, yet none of the characters question it, not even the girl's parents. From there, Macdonald moves along to domestic violence, incest, rape, etc. The four daughters in the story, daddy's girls all, have not the vaguest notion how to define themselves as healthy individuals. They bounce from one disaster to another, with no possibility of self-definition. At the same time, the author manages to give each girl a unique personality with the human qualities we all share, and each daughter has her own distinct characteristics. This first-time author may have saddled a horse she couldn't ride, as the story got bigger and more convoluted with each chapter, presenting many issues needing resolution by the end, which, although abrupt, revealed the long-buried family skeletons. I wish Macdonald had more faith in her readers, that the descriptive and stylish writing would carry us along with her to the final pages. I was somewhat disturbed by the way she used the black characters in the story, who appeared flat and one-dimensional. Certainly Macdonald has the talent to make all of her characters as fully fleshed as the Piper family. There was meager hope to be found in this saga, which, at one time or another, featured virtually every form of dysfunctional family antics, but for a first novel, it is impressive. I expect this author to write continually more satisfying novels as she refines her writing skills.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow Start BUT WORTH IT
Review: I can't say I loved this book from the get-go. Actually the first half laid important ground work for the amazing second half. This book is dark, methodical and quite funny. And this family's secrets just keep on coming! I would recomend this astounding read for anyone who loves a family hinged drama, most of which hinges on the most eye-poping behavior you can imagine. Give it a try - a slow start with a page-turning final 50 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I have read in ages!
Review: I have a tendency to read the books Oprah picks, and I usually end up liking them. This one had me fascinated from page 1 and until the very end. I had a hard time putting this one down, at night when I was reading in bed, I thought to myself.. "OK, just one more chapter".. got to the end of that chapter, looked at the bedside clock and, not listening to the little voice of reason that said "go to sleep", read yet another chapter. I am nuts about coming-of-age stories, and there are plenty of them here, all very well written. Some of the descriptions of people and places just about took my breath away.
Rating:
Summary: Good read.
Review: I enjoyed reading this book because it was told wonderfully and the writing was fresh and different. Some of the characters, such as Frances and Lily, are wonderfully developed. But at the same time, Kathleen and her father, James Piper, are not. By the end of the book, the reader cannot justify either character, nor have a clear understanding as to why they were the way they were. If you enjoy books where family secrets are revealed piece by piece, this is a good book for you. It certainly kept me guessing and made the ending worth the read. She is a good storyteller, but sometimes her characters are hard to believe.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Good, Good
Review: "Fall on Your Knees" is the epic journey of three generations of the Piper family. During the early 1900's on a small island in Nova Scotia, a young thirteen-year-old Arab girl develops a crush on the local piano tuner. Materia is from a wealthy Arab family who has immigrated to Canada from Lebanon. James is the descendant of poor Irish immigrates. The two elope, resulting in the banishment of Materia by her family for marrying poor and white. From this union spurs the turbulent and dysfunctional family dynamics that will haunt the Pipers for the next two generations. MacDonald has created a fictional piece that encompasses all aspects of human relations. She reveals her characters though their beliefs, their relationship to family, neighbors, and themselves. With near poetic writing, demonstrating both a command of language and a mastery of expression, the novel examines the role of religion, race, sexism, and class on an island where there is an abundance of them all. My only conflict with the novel is MacDonald's treatment of Ginger, a strong, black, hardworking, family man who is admired for his "goodness". Although I was quite impressed that she didn't use the character in an overtly stereotypic way, I feel she ultimately fell prey to a very stereotypic notion of a black man's desire for a white woman. A desire so overwhelming that in the face of all his "goodness" he's not able to overcome the stalker-like advances of a sly and bewitching Frances. Or, perhaps this isn't the case at all. Perhaps what MacDonald is saying is that no matter how good the man, he's still a man. The ability to read meaning into text based on one's experience is the only way to determine and MadDonald provides many opportunities for the alert reader to pull meaning from her text. "Fall On Your Knees" is wonderful reading and brilliant story telling. The author commingles narrative and first person voices with the ease of the most skilled of writers. The novel is as loving as it is tragic, as disturbing as it is compelling. It's romantic, and musical, supernatural and mystical. It's a journey well worth taking. Kudos to MacDonald for an incredible debut writing performance!
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat like Annie Proulx
Review: I had this given to me as a gift and I really did enjoy this. The story is of the Piper family and its secrets and the sisters that try to discover them and learn about themselves. I have read The Shipping News by Annie Proulx and if I was to recommend someone this book I would say it has the same style that Annie uses. The details are interwined with the plot that turns out like prose. Readers beware! the details might get boring for some but the dark history of the Piper family will keep a lot of you going.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Story, A Fresh Writing Style
Review: If this book does not captivate you, you don't like novels about a family's history through the generations. The style of writing as well as the story grips you and keeps you going through to the very end. After I finished this book I wanted to visit with all the girls in the novel. They were all interesting characters. Some Oprah's pick's have been disappointed,not this one. If you can't get to it right away, definately add it to your list of books to read. The story is written by a woman from Toranto, Canada. It takes place in the Nova Scotia area which provides a new geographic twist.
Rating:
Summary: Great beginning turned into a silly ending
Review: I was so impressed with this novel until about the middle of it. Instead of ending there - where it should have - the author dreamt up ghosts to keep it going. Then all the characters ("all" the characters) seemed to flip out and none of their "eccentricities" were set up properly. Then everyone became twisted except the one who the most selfish and horrible from the start. And every "secret" and twist of the plot were telegraphed so loudly, I wished I could turn my hearing down. I think this writer has a wonderful voice and quite an imagination, but the novel suffers from its length, its callous disregard for the characters, its tendency toward explotative "shocks" for titillation, and the extremely weak ending. I can only recommend the novel up until the birth of the twins (vague, on purpose!), after that the novel reads like a very twisted sort of Lady Chatterly's Lover meets Justine. Pass.
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