The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Buchanan

The library book group will meet this Friday, September 3 at 10:30 a.m. to discuss The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. The heroine of the book is Bess Heath, whose schooling at the Loretto Academy boarding school abruptly ends after her junior year when her father loses his job as director of the power company on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Bess becomes a dressmaker, but it is a life that she chooses so that she can be with Tom Cole, the grandson of the legendary man who could predict disasters on the falls and saved dozens of people who ignored his predictions (based on real-life riverman William Hill).

An interview with Buchanan and discussion questions can be found on the publisher HarperCollins' web site. Be sure to check out the author's post, 10 Things You Never Knew About Niagara Falls, from her blog tour last year. Another guest post from the tour, Peeking Between the Pages, will give you a look at the stunning historical photos that are reprinted in the book - click on them to see them in much greater detail. Cathy Marie Buchanan's web site has an interactive map of the landmarks of Niagara Falls which is also interesting.