by Ann-Marie Macdonald
The epic story of four generations of the Piper family from
their remote home in Cape Breton, Canada to the roaring twenties in Harlem.
Reviewed by: A.F. Morrow
About A.F. Morrow
From the first sentence; "They're all dead now", this book is different from
other novels in the 'epic family genre'. It's not historical fiction, although
the impact of WWI, the depression, and in particular prohibition, are
considerable. Nor is it romantic fiction: although characters indulge in wistful
crushes and fervent religious sentiments of virtue, the Piper's romances range
from unlikely to disastrous. The story begins in the section aptly titled 'The
Garden', where Gaelic-speaking piano tuner James Piper succumbs to temptation
and elopes with beautiful Materia Mahmoud, the 13-year-old daughter of wealthy
Lebanese immigrants. In his mother tongue, the piano tuner sings the Song of
Songs to his child bride, prophetically, '...a garden inclosed is my sister, a
spring shut up, a fountain sealed'. Materia replies in her mother tongue
'Habibi, BeHebak', and it is clear very quickly that the lovers will never speak
the same language and that James' love for Materia has made of her 'a spring
shut up'. Her family disowns her, and with the birth of each of her daughters,
Materia retreats further into her memories, kneeling in reverie beside her
cedar-lined hope chest for hours.
Steeped in biblical reference and the messy realities of our diverse twentieth
century world, "Fall On Your Knees" deals with the vagaries and paradoxes of
class and race, family love and hate, and the lies that we tell ourselves in
order to survive. The complexities are everywhere: the Mahmouds do not consider
themselves 'non-whites', but the domestics working in the Mahmoud household know
differently; and many of the servants and coal miners in town readily whisper
the family secrets that James Piper is desperately eager to squelch.
It is this willingness to speak the truth that separates the haves from the
have-nots in the world of the Pipers. Those who speak their minds and wishes
retain their soul, while those who don't pay a high price. The black maid
Theresa, who bathes the elderly Mr. Mahmoud and cooks Egyptian delicacies better
than any of his daughters is unjustly cast out for stealing: yet Mr. Mahmoud
yearns for her and refuses to call her back. The virtuous Mercedes Piper, the
quinntessential 'good daughter', is a paragon of Catholic virtue, yet acts in a
manner diametretically opposed to the goodness she often espouses. (To describe
Mercedes' foibles would reveal one of the many delicious plot surprises.)
Confession, ultimately, is the driving force here. MacDonald has fashioned a
compelling web of characters, each of whom possesses a personality shaped in
some way by the ill-fated union of James and Materia. Had James considered the
consequences of removing young Materia from her family, he might not have run
off with her. Yet he blames Materia for the loveless state of their marriage in
subsequent years. In a crowd of characters who may not be what they seem, James
is the most guilty of self-deception: he sees himself as a successful man yet in
each phase of his life; as a piano tuner, decorated soldier, coal mining scab,
and bootlegger, he moves further from his desire to be a loving father and
closer to the isolation and guilt-ridden weeping that he abhors in Materia.
The message is simple; speak the truth with humility, lest the gods visit the
sins of the fathers upon the children. The only redeeming quality that the Piper
family of Cape Breton island have is the abiding love and faith that James'
daughters Kathleen, Frances, Mercedes, and Lily have in each other.
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Fall on Your Knees
Copyright © by A.F. Morrow, 2002
Reviewed by A.F. Morrow:
-- Fall on Your Knees - by Ann-Marie Macdonald
-- October Sky, originally published as Rocket Boys - by Homer H. Hickam, Jr.
-- I Know This Much Is True - by Wally Lamb
-- Mrs. Dalloway - by Virginia Woolf
-- My Dream of You - by Nuala O'Faolain
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