Fall River

by Meredith Miller

'The river stares up at her from between rows of moored boats without blinking or rippling. She gives it back her best poker face, not letting on about the falling men and drowning girls and the poison leaking into the water behind her eyes. '

One young woman disappears and another returns home from London. Alice has turned to the river looking to drown the voices in her head. Khadija has come home to uncover the terrible history hidden under its surface. The London train screeches through while the rest of the town is still asleep along the banks of the Tamar. They'll wake up that morning to find that everything, and nothing, has changed. Sooner or later, the river pulls them all. Sooner or later, someone falls...
In this small-town drama, past and present relationships collide, weaving multiple narratives packed with intrigue and authenticity. Meredith Miller skillfully crafts a dark and unfolding psychological mystery, blending lyrical storytelling, a cast of strong female characters and a fresh perspective on contemporary society.

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2024

About the author

I grew up in the suburbs of Long Island, in New York. I've lived all over America but these days I live and teach in Wales. I'm a published academic now writing fiction (and still a lot of critical stuff). I like to write novels featuring hard-boiled women. I also love language, sometimes to distraction.

I made this profile as an author, but I really enjoy being a reader here. I am happy to answer questions about my books, but also just to chat about whatever people are reading. I love nineteenth-century novels, geeky non-fiction and contemporary genre stuff, when it's well written.

Reviews

[andshe.reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book, finished it, and then thought to yourself, "You need to read it again?" This was one of those books for me. The storyline demands your attention like a toddler does. You simply can't lose focus for even a second, so don't even think about skimming the pages.

The main themes I picked up throughout the storyline are relationships, coming into your own, past and present employment, family, and most of all, love.

Fierce and powerful unconditional love has been weaved through all the characters, and that to me is what bound them together, especially through all the tough times. I found so much depth in each individual character that it was impossible not to feel completely pulled into their lives.

The writing was on a whole different level to many books I've read. It was beautiful, raw, and practically lyrical in the way the author described this Cornish town. I haven't watched many plays, but I literally could see this being performed on a stage. The emotions I felt were just so pure.

Sometimes, there just aren't the words to even express how good this book was. An absolutely outstanding read!

A huge thank you to the publisher Fly on the wall press for reaching out and having me on the book tour.

[Wendy(Wendyreadsbooks) Robey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fall River is one of those reads that pulls you in and refuses to let go.
The river flows through the heart of community and through the individual lives, and there’s a pull from the community holding them together.
Alice’s story is fascinating and her relationship with the river a complicated one.
Each of the characters is drawn to the river, the one constant in their lives and community, and I enjoyed seeing Khadija move away but be drawn back to look behind the curtains at what lies within.
Each of the women shown have such strong ties to eachother, and these links hold strong through tragedy and hope.

[J Fearnley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice’s story opens the way into a book which I found fascinating, funny, heartbreaking, heartwarming and captivating.

Alice hears voices from the river and as a teenager that’s a lot to cope with. Tamara hears the voices too but she is older and has learnt to listen and cope with them. Alice struggles and is unable to resist going to the river and giving herself up to it. Tamara feels she should have done more to help Alice, is it too late now?

Khadija is leaving London going home to Saltash, to her family, because she has come to realise that the big city hasn’t got any more answers than anywhere else. Saltash has both the women she loves and is a place that she can just as easily get answers to her questions about the asbestos that killed so many including some she loved. There’s a lot about men dying and not just from that killer dust. Craig is one of them and his death is a thorn in Khadija’s side. She had gone to London to study law, she found a friend, Farah but with the study over and Farah on her own road there’s not enough to keep her.

Fall River is full of wonderful characters – Alice, Khadija, Tamara and Carol, Jo, Tina and Nora.

Alice and Charlie are seeing each other and Alice going missing is devastating for him. Nora, Charles – as she prefers to call him – is her grandson, can see that. Nora wants to provide for him, she loves Charles unlike her son, Andrew, who she has never taken to. Andrew’s wife, Tina, has long ago stopped caring for him too. Andrew only cares for himself. Andrew only cares about getting what he wants anything else he does is simply to that end. That’s not the reason Tina is a Samaritan she cares about people but it’s a good reason to keep her out of the house. A house she stays in because she loves her son.

Then there’s Jo, she pregnant. She’s with Ben although the baby isn’t his – biologically. Ben’s a lovely guy protective and kind he does jobs about the house for Tamara his aunt. Jo, Alice and Khadija are cousins. Jo is a filmmaker, if you will, posting on Vimeo scenes of life and characters she comes across. She did it for her college presentation, she’s good at it and dreams of becoming a famous filmmaker.

Carol is Khadija’s mum, her father was Moroccan long gone though Khadija is wondering if she could find him and explore that part of her heritage. Andrew Osbourne, Nora’s son, is head of the academy where Carol works. Her job along with other support staff is being TUPE’d several have already been made redundant. She gives Khadija a tin box from Craig’s sister, Beth. Khadija was with her the night Craig went off the bridge into the river Tamar. Beth is not in a good place hasn’t been since her brother died. What did happen that night? Was he really so upset about Khadija leaving that he took his own life?

Alice’s mum, Debbie, is Carol sister. Jo and Khadija’s aunt. Debbie and her husband Pete have taken Alice’s disappearance badly, as you might expect, so Jo and Khadija are helping out as they can.

Khadija loves Tamara, calls her aunt Tammy although they’re not blood related. She often sat with Micky, Tammy’s husband, reading when he couldn’t get out of bed anymore because of the asbestos that was killing him, a horrible long drawn out death that no one should have had to suffer. She knows that the class action lawsuit was settled but there are answers she needs. It’s not fair that there hasn’t been anyone held to account. That they have all just carried on getting rich off the backs of ordinary people is disgraceful. It’s time someone gave them a taste of their own medicine!

There’s a lot covered in this book though complex it flows beautifully like the river that is so central to its story, it covers six years ebbing and flowing through 2016 to 2014, 2012, 2010 and back again. Washing its way through the stories of these women until their memories and investigations merge so that the truth comes bursting out and they are finally able to get their own kind of justice.

This book will live with me a long time. It’s beautifully written, has a great sense of place, a wonderful array of characters, the plot, subjects and themes though not always easy and often devastating are written in such a well crafted manner that they make the whole book a joy to read.

Simply put it’s well worth reading, I highly recommend.


Thanks

Huge thanks to Isobel for the invitation to read Fall River by Meredith Miller and to Honno for a copy of Fall River in order to read and share my thoughts on.

[Chiara Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful glimpse into a small town and the interconnectedness between generations of people that made it theirs. For better or for worse, no matter how much we hate the place we come from, there is always something pulling us towards it.

This book is a beautiful and clever journey into the lives of the strong women of a small town in Cornwall, and by extension their men. It is hard to explain how much I loved this book for different reasons, be it the mystery underlying the story, the love and hate between the protagonists and the emotions I felt rising up within me at the description of Saltash. I felt at home in that little town, because I also come from a little town, albeit in a different country. It made me realise even more how small the world really is and how every story is in reality different and the same.

It is difficult to fully write down what I experienced reading this book, not only because of how real it feels and how it is beautifully written, but also because it’s difficult to label, and maybe that’s just as well. So it can be savoured by anyone without preconceptions.

I loved the twists and the mysteries throughout the book, even more so because they fit in perfectly within the narrative, without making so much fuss, with their reveal fusing seamlessly with the protagonists’ internal conflicts, resulting in one big story instead of several threads.

I love water and I felt the strong connection of the characters to the river, ruling so much of their lives. In a way this book is a superb still of a small Cornish town, with the river at the centre and its perfect still surface shining, whilst underneath the water continuously passes through tangles of algae, mud and chattering ghosts.

Thanks to the author, Honno Welsh Women Press and Kenyon Author Services for a copy and this is my honest opinion.

[rina dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One young woman disappears as another returns. Fall River is a novel about the disappearance of teenage Alice and the ramifications it has on her family and the wider community in a small town in Cornwall called Saltash.
Khadija has come home from London to come to terms with her own past and the trauma that she's buried deep down inside herself.

There's some books that you read that just inhabit your soul, and this breathtaking novel is one of those books. The characters become like family, and the community of people feels like your very own, I was so emotionally invested in this story from the first page until the very last.
Meredith Miller writes in such a beautiful lyrical prose that it's almost haunting. The sense of place is so strong I was immediately transported to Cornwall. The thing that really made me love this book was the storytelling, though. Fall River is such an intricately told story of the resilience and strength of women and how important both family and community are. Fall River is nothing short of stunning. I could easily have read another 300 pages. I'm always grateful that I get to review books for publishers sometimes because it makes me aware of gems like this, which I might not have ordinarily picked up.
A story of loss and longing but also a story of the scars the industrial past of the town left behind. I highly recommend Fall River.

[Al Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started really strong but fell off in the last few chapters for me. I still gave it 4 stars because there’s just something about it that got me. I don’t know whether it was the writing style or the nostalgia the setting gave me. It will take a place on my limited ‘to read again’ list, which is pretty high praise!

Another issue that lost it a star for me was the editing. I felt that the ending was rushed and you could tell this by the editing - I can’t decide if there are a few typos in the later chapters or whether it’s an unusual use of language. But the fact that I can’t tell makes me think that it hasn’t been as well edited at the first chapters. Miller’s use of language really paints a picture and I feel the ending was let down by the editing rather than the author.

Overall, if you like a creepy tale with prose which are reminiscent of classic gothic literature but with a modern twist, you’ll enjoy this.

[Fatguyreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fall River is the story of the disappearance of teenager, Alice, from a small town in Cornwall called Saltash, just as her cousin moves back after working and studying in London.

It's a read that's main themes are love, relationships and family.

The descriptions of small town Cornwall are top notch and as you read along, you really feel part of that. We've been on holiday to Cornwall many times so I particularly enjoyed this read.

For me, the storyline flowed well and didn't drag at all. Characters were well developed with good depth and I read this in two sittings.

4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.

[Debbie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis: One young woman disappears and another returns home from London. Alice has gone into the river hoping to drown the voices in her head. Khadija is looking to uncover the secrets hidden beneath its surface. At dawn on leap year morning, they pass over and under the water, unaware of each other. The rest of the town remains asleep along the banks of the river. They’ll wake up that morning to find that everything, and nothing, has changed. Sooner or later, the river pulls them all. Sooner or later, someone falls.

Review: From the very beginning, an all encompassing sense of mystery and foreboding builds. For the people of Saltash, the river is omnipotent and it certainly is in the story.
The cast of strong female characters are bound together: sisters, mothers and daughters, cousins, best friends. So much shared history: love and loss. I particularly liked Tammy and her straight talking attitude, her stoicism in the face of the shared tragedy of the asbestos poisoning, her spiritual abilities and her affinity with the river. Nora was another character who I was drawn to because of the steady way that layers were peeled away and we got to know her true character. Khadi was superbly portrayed and I got a real sense of knowing her. I loved her caring nature and her determination to uncover the truth about the asbestos and make those responsible accountable.
The overall writing is a joy and I often found myself pausing to appreciate and absorb what I was reading. This really is a book to savour for its rich and evocative language.

[Freya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written prose and fantastic female characters

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is Fall River, by Meredith Miller, about? At the most basic level, it’s about events before and after troubled 15-year-old Alice Tregidga disappears from the small Cornish town of Saltash, just as her 25-year-old cousin Khadija Sleep happens to move back after a few years studying Law and working in London.

But it’s also about a town where everyone knows each other’s business, and the titular river that’s a touchpoint for them all, and local employment past and present, and class relations, and gender, and coming into your power, and so much more besides.

The main theme that struck me, though, was love – a specific kind you don’t see enough of in books, or, at least, not handled so expertly and evocatively.

The kind of love that binds together people whose lives are tough. The kind of love where relatives think and say damning things about and to each other, yet rarely seriously fall out, and jump to provide support when the chips are down, with no expectation of gratitude or anything in return, because who else is going to help? The kind of love where transgressions are easily forgiven, but never forgotten.

And there’s a lot to bind together the Sleep/Tregidga family – not just Alice and Khadija, but their other cousin Jo, Jo’s younger brother Dylan, and their mothers, who are sisters – as well as the town more widely. Key examples are being of the same generation, and employment – including at the old workplace that gave so many of the town’s men asbestosis.

As mentioned above, something all the characters have in common is the centrality of the River Tamar to their lives, whether that’s as something they can see from their windows, walk along to get to other locations, or as destination in and of itself. Accordingly, Miller keeps drawing our attention back to it with beautiful, lyrical descriptions and ingenious connections, creating an unshakeable sense of place.

Her descriptions of people, and the general vibe of the 2010-2016 period, are equally brilliant – by turns funny, thought-provoking, and spot-on. Each sentence is so meticulously and consciously crafted that it can get a little intense – there were times when I had to take a breather because it felt like I’d been gorging on a tremendously rich chocolate cake. This isn’t a book you can skim.

Accordingly, the various female principal characters are nuanced and distinctive, and I continued to think about them long after the ending of the book, which has the feel of the final scene of a play.

I particularly liked spending time with Nora, a quirky elderly curmudgeon who nonetheless has hidden depths and a newfound determination to right some long-running wrongs, and Tammy, an aunt-to-everyone figure whose psychic connection with the river’s many dead adds a supernatural element and can’t be fully explained away (as ever with stories, I want to believe!).

I found Khadija the most multi-layered, fascinating and “real” character, though. She’s breathtakingly outspoken, yet she feels like she has to set herself on fire to keep other people warm. She doesn’t feel completely welcome or at ease in Saltash, yet she cares about and defends it, and feels compelled to live there. Her known family has always met her needs, but she’s recently become curious about her father.

Other things that endeared me to Khadija: she loves a bit of digging and detective work. She’s been on the sharp end of that hopefully-dying attitude that if a man is really into you but you’re not feeling it, it’s your responsibility and why can’t you just give him a chance? She’s somewhere on the asexual spectrum, and (coming back to the “different types of love” thing) great representation to boot.

Fall River is rich, evocative, and memorable.

[Lisa Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that I have found a new go-to author and most certainly a publisher in whose hands I know that I am safe (you haven’t let me down yet @gwasghonnopress ). I’m just over half way through this absolute gem of a book and I don’t want it to end.

One young woman disappears and another returns home from London. Alice has turned to the river looking to drown the voices in her head. Khadija has come home to uncover the terrible history hidden under its surface. The London train screeches through while the rest of the town is still asleep along the banks of the Tamar. They'll wake up that morning to find that everything, and nothing, has changed.
Sooner or later, the river pulls them all. Sooner or later, someone falls.

This is a book that demands your attention and it draws you in instantly. Miller’s storytelling is sublime and her strong female characters are impeccably drawn.

A story of love, friendship and the true meaning of family. It’s surface is a small town psychological mystery; drawing on a community irrevocably damaged by an industrial whitewash. This is tempered by a spiritual narrative that evokes a more ethereal texture to a tragic past.

Underpinning it all is a graceful prose that gently exposes our cast of women, offering insight, humour and a pitch perfect meditation on loss.

Highly recommend!

[CJ Mason The Fallen Librarian Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite reads of 2024, my review is on my blog https://thefallenlibrarian.wordpress....