What do you think?
Rate this book
Head of Falls
"Set against the backdrop of a Lebanese-American mill town ghetto in the mid-1950s, this evocative work of historical fiction reflects a time when the emergence of television and the audacity of rock n’ roll sparked the spirit of the young, and opened for them a new world of hope and possibilities. Through the voice of a young girl, Earl Smith has masterfully written this fascinating story that will make you laugh and cry, and in the end, make you very glad you’ve read it." --- Linda Greenlaw
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 29, 2016
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 16, 2019
I recently went for a walk in Waterville. Waterville has changed a great deal in the nearly fifty years since I first walked its streets. It had already experienced considerable change in the twenty years before, which is the period described in this book. For me, the viewing of those key years in Waterville history through the the eyes of a teenage girl made me appreciate the city’s decline even more.
Falling water, abundant timber, and cheap labor was the reason for the city’s ascendancy. When improved transportation meant cheaper labor could be obtained elsewhere, capitalists couldn’t get out of town fast enough. Those left behind ended up competing for the remaining jobs, a downward spiral that has continued for generations.
Add to this the attraction of “free” parking and big box stores just a few miles away (not to mention Amazon), and the core city has significant problems. Mr. Smith does a great job providing context for the story he tells. I am familiar with some of the specific settings he provides, but many are gone now and others have been repurposed.
As an example, what used to be the post office is now something else. Although not mentioned in his book, the post office was a nice building in a central location. It was in the very core of downtown and many people would have visited it daily. Now those that use snail mail drive somewhere in their cars, likely meeting and greeting fewer people on the way.
Having walked the streets of the main characters’ lives made the book alive for me. Reading the few paragraphs of historical content at the beginning of each year covered in the book also did a great job of including me in the narrative.
I liked the characters, especially Angela, the lead character. How an aged white man (like me) could get so convincingly inside the head of a teen age girl, I do not know. The more peripheral characters were much more two dimensional and stereotyped. (Does every nerd have to have an acne problem?)
The story includes a mystery, whose solution is telegraphed so transparently that it is not a mystery. Mr. Smith concedes this by calling Angela “Nancy Drew”. I think he could have included tragedy without a transparent murder.
I cried when I read Little Women and I got a little teary when I read this book. This too may have been a literary trope. Or maybe I am just a sucker for stories about teenage girls and pianos.
Falling water, abundant timber, and cheap labor was the reason for the city’s ascendancy. When improved transportation meant cheaper labor could be obtained elsewhere, capitalists couldn’t get out of town fast enough. Those left behind ended up competing for the remaining jobs, a downward spiral that has continued for generations.
Add to this the attraction of “free” parking and big box stores just a few miles away (not to mention Amazon), and the core city has significant problems. Mr. Smith does a great job providing context for the story he tells. I am familiar with some of the specific settings he provides, but many are gone now and others have been repurposed.
As an example, what used to be the post office is now something else. Although not mentioned in his book, the post office was a nice building in a central location. It was in the very core of downtown and many people would have visited it daily. Now those that use snail mail drive somewhere in their cars, likely meeting and greeting fewer people on the way.
Having walked the streets of the main characters’ lives made the book alive for me. Reading the few paragraphs of historical content at the beginning of each year covered in the book also did a great job of including me in the narrative.
I liked the characters, especially Angela, the lead character. How an aged white man (like me) could get so convincingly inside the head of a teen age girl, I do not know. The more peripheral characters were much more two dimensional and stereotyped. (Does every nerd have to have an acne problem?)
The story includes a mystery, whose solution is telegraphed so transparently that it is not a mystery. Mr. Smith concedes this by calling Angela “Nancy Drew”. I think he could have included tragedy without a transparent murder.
I cried when I read Little Women and I got a little teary when I read this book. This too may have been a literary trope. Or maybe I am just a sucker for stories about teenage girls and pianos.
Displaying 1 of 1 review