The Falling Woman

by Shaena Lambert

Thought-provoking and heartrending, The Falling Woman resonates long after the book has closed and is a collection to read again and again.

Shaena Lambert’s remarkable debut short story collection, part of our new Vintage Tales series, examines the universal themes of love, loss and healing. All ten stories, whether they are set in the dry, sage-covered hills of the Okanagan or on the serenely polluted shores of Lake Ontario, are linked thematically by an archetypal the falling woman. She rushes through the air upside down, transformed by what she has seen, or is about to recognize. Never quite fallen — always in transition — she insists on plunging into the marching down Main Street topless; seducing married men; exploring the shadowy losses that predate her birth but still manage to stamp her being.

Shaena Lambert’s perceptive eye and flair for evocative and sensual prose bring the under-surface of relationships — between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives — to brilliant light.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

I started writing fiction in 1992, when my son was a toddler, a leap into the unknown, and frightening, as at that time I was a single mother. But with the help of an explorations grant from the Canada Council, I was able to keep writing. I have lived in Vancouver, Toronto, New York and the Okanagan, but for the last decade I have been back on the West Coast, in Vancouver, where many of my stories are set, living with my husband, Bob Penner, and my two (now grown ) children. I've written four books, Petra, Oh, My Darling , Radiance, and The Falling Woman, stories. My work has been nominated for the Danuta Gleed, Rogers Writers Trust, Ethel Wilson and Evergreen awards, Frank O'Connor Award for the Short Story and been published in Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia. I also teach writing on a freelance basis -- please visit my website, for thoughts on writiing.

Reviews

[Ann Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gutsy and intriguing collection of short stories.

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collection from a Canadian author, who spreads her tales across many provinces, numerous family relations and a slew of complex frictions, feelings and outcomes. Truly satisfying to read something this beautifully penned.

[Sapphire · Rating 2 out of 5]

These stories were good and very interesting but some of the subject matter just wasn't my thing (mentions of sex, but that kind of to be expected). I was able to relate to most of the things explored which was pretty surprising to me as I don't usually connect to so many pieces of one person's work. My only real complaint is that all of them had the tone and I got a bit bored of it after a while, it was a depressed tone which goes well with the stories themselves, but it was hard to read as a collection.