What do you think?
Rate this book
From Where I Fell
An anguished email from Pamela Robinson in Australia to her ex-husband in Paris accidentally ends up in the inbox of New York State teacher Chrisanthi Woods. Chrisanthi is sympathetic to Pamela's struggles and the women begin to tell each other the stories and secrets of their lives.
Pamela, responsible for raising her three sons, must re-invent the meaning of home following her divorce, and Chrisanthi, her dreams long dampened, must find home by leaving it. Temperamental opposites, their emails turn into an exhilarating and provocative exchange of love, loss and fresh beginnings, by turns amusing, frank and confronting.
Pamela, responsible for raising her three sons, must re-invent the meaning of home following her divorce, and Chrisanthi, her dreams long dampened, must find home by leaving it. Temperamental opposites, their emails turn into an exhilarating and provocative exchange of love, loss and fresh beginnings, by turns amusing, frank and confronting.
352 pages, Paperback
Published March 2, 2021
21 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Susan Johnson
15 books63 followersSusan Johnson was shortlisted for the 1991 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for her novel Flying Lessons, shortlisted for the 1994 National Book Council's Banjo Award for the novel A Big Life and shortlisted for the National Biography Award 2000 for her memoir A Better Woman. Her other books include Hungry Ghosts, Messages from Chaos, Women Love Sex (editor and contributor) and Life in Seven Mistakes. The Broken Book was shortlisted for the 2005 Nita B Kibble Award; the Best Fiction Book section of the Queensland Premier's Literary Award; the Westfield/Waverley Library Literary Award, and the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal Award for an Outstanding Australian Literary Work. Her last novel, My Hundred Lovers, was published in 2012 to critical acclaim.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This author is entered with 2 spaces.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This author is entered with 2 spaces.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
May 7, 2021
4.5★
“Oh my God, how excruciating! I’m not in the habit of pouring my heart out to strangers.”
And pour her heart out, she did. Pamela recently left her husband, and she assumed his new Gmail address would be similar to his old Hotmail account. Nope. A woman who is also Chris X Woods now has that email address and received Pamela’s nostalgic message to the father of her three boys, saying how sorry she was about how they split up and remembering happier times. Embarrassing! [This does happen.*] :)
Pamela apologises at length and finishes by saying she lives in Sydney, Australia – where does Chris live?
“Hi Pamela, we’re in upstate New York. Did you hear back from your ex? Take care, Chris.”
And that question, plus the little personal message to Take Care, is enough to spark a penpal relationship that sees both women through a number of very different trials. Pamela is having trouble with her eldest boy, Raphael, who has just turned 16, which is what prompted her initial email to her ex. Raf and the two younger boys miss their dad (the ‘real’ Chris) who lives in Paris and says he never wants to see Pamela again. Pamela admits she blew his life up.
I do enjoy epistolary novels, all told through correspondence, because it’s like eavesdropping, catching bits of random rumours, listening to someone pouring out their life story on a long plane trip. Pamela holds nothing back and seems to sob on the pages, while Chris vents her fury about her mother (Greek) and the Syrian migrant woman with two girls whom she’s trying to help, plus her dealing with the feuding couple who live up the road and seem to communicate with each other only through Chris.
It rings so true that at times you want to shake one of them and say “JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF!” Occasionally one of them will lose patience and actually have a dig at the other, and then the other may not respond for a while. Yet they remain ‘friends’.
When Pamela tries to commiserate with Chris about her mother by saying, “Everyone’s house is built of cobwebs and ghosts – as St Augustine says, the dead are invisible – they are not absent …”
Chris replies immediately:
“Hey Pamela, I’m the Greek here, remember? It’s my crazy Greek mother who gets hysterical if I leave my shoes on their sides because it brings bad luck. Mom wouldn’t step over me or Dora when we were kids playing on the floor because it would stunt our growth. We weren’t allowed to whistle in the house growing up because it attracted rats. God forbid if one of us whistled at the kitchen table because that brought the devil himself. You think I don’t know about ghosts? You think I don’t know about the dead hanging from our necks? Us Greeks practically invented dying.”
If you’d like to sneak a look at someone’s emails or diaries, this becomes a page-turner. You do want to know where it’s going to lead. Both women are guilty (as are all women, of course - just ask any man) of going about things the wrong way, and they have real, flesh-and-blood people who remind them of that. They don't really want to hear it from each other. In Pamela’s case, she needs help with her boys (I mean serious help), while Chris is being targeted by a neighbour who drops leaflets everywhere telling the world how awful Chris is, let alone a mother who prefers her sister to her.
Parts of it are warm and familiar, like coffee with friends, but other parts are very uncomfortable, like late-night, possibly drunken revelations that you’d rather not remember the next day. I was glad these weren’t MY problems … but I did feel a need to keep reading to see what was going to happen. I like where it ended up, too.
I didn’t notice until I got the book that Australian author Susan Johnson's dedication is In Memory of Gillian Mears, another Australian author whose work I’ve enjoyed, but who sadly died far too young of MS a few years ago.
Thanks so much to Allen and Unwin for the preview copy which I’ve enjoyed so much.
*[P.S. On a personal note, these things DO happen. I occasionally receive emails intended for a man in New Jersey (US) and a couple of women in the UK who have the same email address I do BUT, they forgot to tell their friends to put their middle initial in. I got the address without it, so I've had receipts for truck parts, itineraries for cruises (back in the day), clothing receipts and catalogues for a woman in Georgia (US), and I even 'met' one of the women as Pamela and Chris met because this woman has relatives in Australia and felt a certain kinship with me.]
P.P.S. I just heard the author interviewed, and she said that what happened to her is that she sent an email to the wrong address, and she and that person are still corresponding ten years later. She didn't mention either of them revealing secrets though! But this is just to say, it does happen! :)
One more postscript. I just discovered this tribute to Gillian Mears written by Susan Johnson. It helps explain why this book is dedicated to her. https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/w...
“Oh my God, how excruciating! I’m not in the habit of pouring my heart out to strangers.”
And pour her heart out, she did. Pamela recently left her husband, and she assumed his new Gmail address would be similar to his old Hotmail account. Nope. A woman who is also Chris X Woods now has that email address and received Pamela’s nostalgic message to the father of her three boys, saying how sorry she was about how they split up and remembering happier times. Embarrassing! [This does happen.*] :)
Pamela apologises at length and finishes by saying she lives in Sydney, Australia – where does Chris live?
“Hi Pamela, we’re in upstate New York. Did you hear back from your ex? Take care, Chris.”
And that question, plus the little personal message to Take Care, is enough to spark a penpal relationship that sees both women through a number of very different trials. Pamela is having trouble with her eldest boy, Raphael, who has just turned 16, which is what prompted her initial email to her ex. Raf and the two younger boys miss their dad (the ‘real’ Chris) who lives in Paris and says he never wants to see Pamela again. Pamela admits she blew his life up.
I do enjoy epistolary novels, all told through correspondence, because it’s like eavesdropping, catching bits of random rumours, listening to someone pouring out their life story on a long plane trip. Pamela holds nothing back and seems to sob on the pages, while Chris vents her fury about her mother (Greek) and the Syrian migrant woman with two girls whom she’s trying to help, plus her dealing with the feuding couple who live up the road and seem to communicate with each other only through Chris.
It rings so true that at times you want to shake one of them and say “JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF!” Occasionally one of them will lose patience and actually have a dig at the other, and then the other may not respond for a while. Yet they remain ‘friends’.
When Pamela tries to commiserate with Chris about her mother by saying, “Everyone’s house is built of cobwebs and ghosts – as St Augustine says, the dead are invisible – they are not absent …”
Chris replies immediately:
“Hey Pamela, I’m the Greek here, remember? It’s my crazy Greek mother who gets hysterical if I leave my shoes on their sides because it brings bad luck. Mom wouldn’t step over me or Dora when we were kids playing on the floor because it would stunt our growth. We weren’t allowed to whistle in the house growing up because it attracted rats. God forbid if one of us whistled at the kitchen table because that brought the devil himself. You think I don’t know about ghosts? You think I don’t know about the dead hanging from our necks? Us Greeks practically invented dying.”
If you’d like to sneak a look at someone’s emails or diaries, this becomes a page-turner. You do want to know where it’s going to lead. Both women are guilty (as are all women, of course - just ask any man) of going about things the wrong way, and they have real, flesh-and-blood people who remind them of that. They don't really want to hear it from each other. In Pamela’s case, she needs help with her boys (I mean serious help), while Chris is being targeted by a neighbour who drops leaflets everywhere telling the world how awful Chris is, let alone a mother who prefers her sister to her.
Parts of it are warm and familiar, like coffee with friends, but other parts are very uncomfortable, like late-night, possibly drunken revelations that you’d rather not remember the next day. I was glad these weren’t MY problems … but I did feel a need to keep reading to see what was going to happen. I like where it ended up, too.
I didn’t notice until I got the book that Australian author Susan Johnson's dedication is In Memory of Gillian Mears, another Australian author whose work I’ve enjoyed, but who sadly died far too young of MS a few years ago.
Thanks so much to Allen and Unwin for the preview copy which I’ve enjoyed so much.
*[P.S. On a personal note, these things DO happen. I occasionally receive emails intended for a man in New Jersey (US) and a couple of women in the UK who have the same email address I do BUT, they forgot to tell their friends to put their middle initial in. I got the address without it, so I've had receipts for truck parts, itineraries for cruises (back in the day), clothing receipts and catalogues for a woman in Georgia (US), and I even 'met' one of the women as Pamela and Chris met because this woman has relatives in Australia and felt a certain kinship with me.]
P.P.S. I just heard the author interviewed, and she said that what happened to her is that she sent an email to the wrong address, and she and that person are still corresponding ten years later. She didn't mention either of them revealing secrets though! But this is just to say, it does happen! :)
One more postscript. I just discovered this tribute to Gillian Mears written by Susan Johnson. It helps explain why this book is dedicated to her. https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/w...
April 30, 2021
I am still scratching my head about the likeness of this novel to my life which is uncanny. This story is a funny and frustrating account of two women who begin an accidental online correspondence as the simple result of a typo. I say frustrating as it is in a way, both women a bit nutty in their own way, and their failings and foibles sometimes head shake worthy!
I feel I need to list all the things similar to my life, it is really quite funny to me. This correspondence is something I would do, and am. The up and down nature of interpersonal relationships, I work in a library, I live in Sydney, my brother has lived in Ashfield. My teenagers are device mad (as is my just turned nine year old who shares the same age of one of the women’s boys) who tends to share my bed, as does he here.
I have had physical alterations in relation to screen time ‘issues’. Recently I have started an online friendship, or whatever we are going to call it. Pen pal doesn’t seem right but really, that is what it is albeit without a physical pen and paper. More like laptop and typing, with a smart young English woman, and I have the definite tendency to overshare because I love conversation. We talk about all sorts, again, just like here.
Family dynamics are so very hard, this is captured, and I am pleased to see the refreshing honesty. Violence is real and often not discussed. Childhood trauma, marriage, and the hard questions. And to top it off, my surname is the same.
I am obsessed with one day visiting New York (alas I am not well travelled like our protagonists) and have enjoyed jumping online and figuring out the pronunciation of Schenectady, the upstate town which one of the women reside.
I struggled understanding there may not be a happy ever after here and have to put my big girl pants on for an open ended ending, but that, my friends, is what fiction is all about, and I can make up my own.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin Australia for my physical ARC to review, I enjoyed every moment of it.
..we miss you like a dream which left our eyes before we could remember.
My sorrows are under God's hand. Sometimes I don't even mind my sadness because without it I wouldn't know how big my love was.
No-one else.. had the right to claim my feelings - only I did, and I was the one with the responsibility to act on them.
.. I might drop dead of a heart attack if you turn up unannounced. There'd be no hello then, only one big goodbye.
I feel I need to list all the things similar to my life, it is really quite funny to me. This correspondence is something I would do, and am. The up and down nature of interpersonal relationships, I work in a library, I live in Sydney, my brother has lived in Ashfield. My teenagers are device mad (as is my just turned nine year old who shares the same age of one of the women’s boys) who tends to share my bed, as does he here.
I have had physical alterations in relation to screen time ‘issues’. Recently I have started an online friendship, or whatever we are going to call it. Pen pal doesn’t seem right but really, that is what it is albeit without a physical pen and paper. More like laptop and typing, with a smart young English woman, and I have the definite tendency to overshare because I love conversation. We talk about all sorts, again, just like here.
Family dynamics are so very hard, this is captured, and I am pleased to see the refreshing honesty. Violence is real and often not discussed. Childhood trauma, marriage, and the hard questions. And to top it off, my surname is the same.
I am obsessed with one day visiting New York (alas I am not well travelled like our protagonists) and have enjoyed jumping online and figuring out the pronunciation of Schenectady, the upstate town which one of the women reside.
I struggled understanding there may not be a happy ever after here and have to put my big girl pants on for an open ended ending, but that, my friends, is what fiction is all about, and I can make up my own.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin Australia for my physical ARC to review, I enjoyed every moment of it.
..we miss you like a dream which left our eyes before we could remember.
My sorrows are under God's hand. Sometimes I don't even mind my sadness because without it I wouldn't know how big my love was.
No-one else.. had the right to claim my feelings - only I did, and I was the one with the responsibility to act on them.
.. I might drop dead of a heart attack if you turn up unannounced. There'd be no hello then, only one big goodbye.
March 31, 2021
Single mother of three sons, Pamela Robinson from Sydney, Australia, composed an email to her ex-husband Chris, in Paris. But in doing so she mistyped the email address and contacted a Chris in New York. Chrisanthi Woods replied, acknowledging receipt of the email, but declaring she wasn’t Pamela’s ex-husband. And so, these two women continued to email one another, with Pamela pouring out her woes. Finally, Chris had had enough – no more please. But Pamela continued, begging this virtual stranger for forgiveness…
From Where I Fell by Aussie author Susan Johnson was definitely different – a novel comprising completely of emails – an epistolary novel. I’m sorry to say I was bored. I did read until the end (skimming a bit) to see if it continued in the same vein, I suppose. But the embarrassment of Pamela’s initial email didn’t stop her – she should have apologized to Chris and deleted the email address! In my opinion of course!
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
From Where I Fell by Aussie author Susan Johnson was definitely different – a novel comprising completely of emails – an epistolary novel. I’m sorry to say I was bored. I did read until the end (skimming a bit) to see if it continued in the same vein, I suppose. But the embarrassment of Pamela’s initial email didn’t stop her – she should have apologized to Chris and deleted the email address! In my opinion of course!
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2021
Perceptive observations on life, marriage, children, friendship.
A heartfelt email sent in earnest from a remorseful ex-wife...Pamela Robinson...in Australia, to her ex-husband in London, somehow goes astray and ends up in the inbox of a school teacher in New York.
The ex-husband, Christophe Woods, and the teacher Chrisanthi Woods clearly share similar names, hence the reason (apparently) for the errant email arriving at, not only the wrong address, but the wrong country!
Chrisanthi (aka Chris) reads the email and can’t help but feel for the plight of the estranged sender.
She writes back to let her know that her email had gone astray and landed in her inbox in New York by mistake.
She confesses to having read it and extends her sympathies to Pamela’s plight.
Thus begins an almost daily exchange of emails between Pamela, in Australia, and Chris, in New York, where they share their deepest feelings of longings and desires and sadnesses, and sometimes happiness.
Total strangers until now, sharing...often unsolicited and unwelcome advice along with laughter and sympathy.
Over time their relationship grows haphazardly between ups and downs, and at times gets a bit tetchy, even at times to breaking point, as they learn each other’s individual traits...though Pamela in particular is adamant that their friendship will prevail and so they continue to “pour their hearts out” to each other through this amazing channel they have each come to depend on.
This is a story that many might identify with in this age of technology...at least in some part, as social media becomes more and more a part of our everyday lives and friendships formed and forged in cyberspace become as important as any “real life” connection...dare I say even more so, just like pen pals of old, there is a certain kind of intimacy shared by pen pals that doesn’t seem to translate in person to person relationships, people being more inclined to express their truest feelings in writing? Possibly because it’s a [seemingly] more fragile connection when such a void as time and distance divides these souls, where a sense of urgency seems to prevail.
There were moments where I was wringing my hands and others where I could feel Pamela’s panic, and still other moments where shock and then grief seemed to be pulling in every direction.
There are some inspired gems of advice and really insightful quotes delivered throughout the dialogue between Pamela and Chris over the course of their online communications...I was saving some to add here but I think they are best read in the context of their delivery.
I very much enjoyed this story, though it pushed a few buttons and tugged on a few heartstrings. It felt legitimate...maybe because it was like reading someone’s letters.
It certainly gave me pause for reflection now and again, and if a book can do that then it’s definitely got something going for it.
I gave it 4⭐️’s I would recommend this to friends as an insightful read especially long distance friends.
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
A heartfelt email sent in earnest from a remorseful ex-wife...Pamela Robinson...in Australia, to her ex-husband in London, somehow goes astray and ends up in the inbox of a school teacher in New York.
The ex-husband, Christophe Woods, and the teacher Chrisanthi Woods clearly share similar names, hence the reason (apparently) for the errant email arriving at, not only the wrong address, but the wrong country!
Chrisanthi (aka Chris) reads the email and can’t help but feel for the plight of the estranged sender.
She writes back to let her know that her email had gone astray and landed in her inbox in New York by mistake.
She confesses to having read it and extends her sympathies to Pamela’s plight.
Thus begins an almost daily exchange of emails between Pamela, in Australia, and Chris, in New York, where they share their deepest feelings of longings and desires and sadnesses, and sometimes happiness.
Total strangers until now, sharing...often unsolicited and unwelcome advice along with laughter and sympathy.
Over time their relationship grows haphazardly between ups and downs, and at times gets a bit tetchy, even at times to breaking point, as they learn each other’s individual traits...though Pamela in particular is adamant that their friendship will prevail and so they continue to “pour their hearts out” to each other through this amazing channel they have each come to depend on.
This is a story that many might identify with in this age of technology...at least in some part, as social media becomes more and more a part of our everyday lives and friendships formed and forged in cyberspace become as important as any “real life” connection...dare I say even more so, just like pen pals of old, there is a certain kind of intimacy shared by pen pals that doesn’t seem to translate in person to person relationships, people being more inclined to express their truest feelings in writing? Possibly because it’s a [seemingly] more fragile connection when such a void as time and distance divides these souls, where a sense of urgency seems to prevail.
There were moments where I was wringing my hands and others where I could feel Pamela’s panic, and still other moments where shock and then grief seemed to be pulling in every direction.
There are some inspired gems of advice and really insightful quotes delivered throughout the dialogue between Pamela and Chris over the course of their online communications...I was saving some to add here but I think they are best read in the context of their delivery.
I very much enjoyed this story, though it pushed a few buttons and tugged on a few heartstrings. It felt legitimate...maybe because it was like reading someone’s letters.
It certainly gave me pause for reflection now and again, and if a book can do that then it’s definitely got something going for it.
I gave it 4⭐️’s I would recommend this to friends as an insightful read especially long distance friends.
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
April 11, 2021
What a fun concept - Pamela, a newly divorced 50 something woman in Sydney sends an email to her ex husband, Chris, in Paris. Only, she gets the address wrong, and the recipient of the email was Chrisanthi (known as Chris) a woman in her 60s, in New York. Chrosanthi let’s her know in a reply email and even though Pamela is mortified, they strike up an almost daily exchange.
Pamela is soft, and a little needy. She’s an over-thinker. Chris is persnickety and abrupt, yet there’s a soft side to her too.
Their unlikely friendship has ebbs and flows via email over a y just over a ear. The way they describe the other people in their lives is wonderful - some vivid imagery within.
Neither of the main characters were particularly likable but the book was a good insight into parenting, family splits, deaths, and yearning to find your feet.
This is a beautiful reminder of women needing a space to vent about the minutiae of life. And also, that online friendships are valid friendships, no matter the age.
Personally, I’ve had penpals since my early teens and online friendships going back 25 years now. I got the power of written letters so much.
A short amusing read.the audiobook was great!
Pamela is soft, and a little needy. She’s an over-thinker. Chris is persnickety and abrupt, yet there’s a soft side to her too.
Their unlikely friendship has ebbs and flows via email over a y just over a ear. The way they describe the other people in their lives is wonderful - some vivid imagery within.
Neither of the main characters were particularly likable but the book was a good insight into parenting, family splits, deaths, and yearning to find your feet.
This is a beautiful reminder of women needing a space to vent about the minutiae of life. And also, that online friendships are valid friendships, no matter the age.
Personally, I’ve had penpals since my early teens and online friendships going back 25 years now. I got the power of written letters so much.
A short amusing read.the audiobook was great!
March 28, 2021
“How quickly our emails have come to seem like friendship distilled to its essence”
From Where I Fell is the ninth novel by Australian author, Susan Johnson. Recently divorced and now raising three boys on her own, fifty-one-year-old Pamela Robinson sends her ex-husband in Paris, Christophe Woods an email about their sons. Except, he’s not who receives it. Instead, from her cramped two-bedroom flat in Sydney’s inner-west, Pamela begins a dialogue with Chrisanthi Woods in Schenectady, NY.
The accidental connection between two very different women living very different lives soon becomes intentional as they share snapshots of their lives, present and, eventually, past, offer understanding, advice and moral support, philosophise and confess secrets, guilt and mistakes made. “…right now, emails to you are the only way I’m able to gather my thoughts, which burst from me, flying everywhere. Writing everything down is the only way I can catch them” On occasion, when the emails take a certain tone, they address each other as Plato and Socrates.
Pamela has to deal with two wrathful teens, and an eight-year-old who still wants to crawl into her bed at night. She admits “I’m in shock how fast a lifetime can be undone” and concedes that “In leaving my marriage I chose my happiness over theirs – in some unpardonable way I became the anti-mother.”
The challenge of maintaining authority over her towering man/boy who is exploiting his mother’s guilt, and keeping the peace between her two angry older boys is interspersed with the attentions of an attractive and erudite casual male acquaintance. Nocturnal enuresis, a kitten, domestic violence, therapy, and the practical help of good friends all form part of the narrative.
Chris, meanwhile, describes a life filled with an active but somewhat accident-prone husband, a difficult relationship with her often-toxic Greek mother, a dying friend, a constantly-sparring neighbour couple, and English lessons for Syrian refugee girls. A trembling dog, poisonous letters, a three-legged cat, bicycle lessons and a trip to Greece also feature.
The idea of constructing a complete novel of emails between two people remote from one another is certainly an unusual one, but in Johnson’s skilled literary hands, it succeeds. Their dialogue lasts over a year, and Johnson gives them wise words, insightful comments and impartial advice dispensed electronically, though not always well-received. “Isn’t it extraordinary that we can’t perceive the knots of our own lives but think we see – fully lit – the tangles of others?” Chrisanthi’s part has an Anne Tyler flavour, while Johnson easily evokes Pamela’s Australian setting.
Her descriptive prose often shines: Aware that in each situation we have the power to choose our response, for some situations Pamela asks “How can anyone pause for a quiet reflective moment to choose empathy or fury from an array of emotions laid out like so many different-coloured ties? I say smoke comes out of your ears quicker than you can pick a tie” and “How strange that our digital lives are so traceable, digital trails everywhere like snails leaving glistening tracks – floating out there in galaxies” are examples. A superb read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
From Where I Fell is the ninth novel by Australian author, Susan Johnson. Recently divorced and now raising three boys on her own, fifty-one-year-old Pamela Robinson sends her ex-husband in Paris, Christophe Woods an email about their sons. Except, he’s not who receives it. Instead, from her cramped two-bedroom flat in Sydney’s inner-west, Pamela begins a dialogue with Chrisanthi Woods in Schenectady, NY.
The accidental connection between two very different women living very different lives soon becomes intentional as they share snapshots of their lives, present and, eventually, past, offer understanding, advice and moral support, philosophise and confess secrets, guilt and mistakes made. “…right now, emails to you are the only way I’m able to gather my thoughts, which burst from me, flying everywhere. Writing everything down is the only way I can catch them” On occasion, when the emails take a certain tone, they address each other as Plato and Socrates.
Pamela has to deal with two wrathful teens, and an eight-year-old who still wants to crawl into her bed at night. She admits “I’m in shock how fast a lifetime can be undone” and concedes that “In leaving my marriage I chose my happiness over theirs – in some unpardonable way I became the anti-mother.”
The challenge of maintaining authority over her towering man/boy who is exploiting his mother’s guilt, and keeping the peace between her two angry older boys is interspersed with the attentions of an attractive and erudite casual male acquaintance. Nocturnal enuresis, a kitten, domestic violence, therapy, and the practical help of good friends all form part of the narrative.
Chris, meanwhile, describes a life filled with an active but somewhat accident-prone husband, a difficult relationship with her often-toxic Greek mother, a dying friend, a constantly-sparring neighbour couple, and English lessons for Syrian refugee girls. A trembling dog, poisonous letters, a three-legged cat, bicycle lessons and a trip to Greece also feature.
The idea of constructing a complete novel of emails between two people remote from one another is certainly an unusual one, but in Johnson’s skilled literary hands, it succeeds. Their dialogue lasts over a year, and Johnson gives them wise words, insightful comments and impartial advice dispensed electronically, though not always well-received. “Isn’t it extraordinary that we can’t perceive the knots of our own lives but think we see – fully lit – the tangles of others?” Chrisanthi’s part has an Anne Tyler flavour, while Johnson easily evokes Pamela’s Australian setting.
Her descriptive prose often shines: Aware that in each situation we have the power to choose our response, for some situations Pamela asks “How can anyone pause for a quiet reflective moment to choose empathy or fury from an array of emotions laid out like so many different-coloured ties? I say smoke comes out of your ears quicker than you can pick a tie” and “How strange that our digital lives are so traceable, digital trails everywhere like snails leaving glistening tracks – floating out there in galaxies” are examples. A superb read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
March 30, 2021
And why shouldn’t the minutia of women’s lives be examined and celebrated in domestic fiction? Men have been celebrating their own domestic lives for centuries! In her latest novel FROM WHERE I FELL (Allen and Unwin 2021), author and journalist Susan Johnson gives us a wise and generous literary account of the lives of two women and their extended families. She takes the notion of domestic fiction, sometimes belittled by (usually male) literary writers and completely owns it, defiantly daring anyone to assert that the intimate details of these lives are anything but vital, important, fascinating and engaging. The two women at the centre of the story share their turmoil, their inner thoughts, their fears, dreams, hopes, insecurities, idle gossip and astute observations with each other – strangers who have never met, and with the reader. Johnson breaks open stereotypes and sees vulnerabilities and hidden strengths, she parses the practical day-to-day goings-on of these two people and translates them into reflections and meditations on life that are full of wisdom and insight.
Australian woman Pamela Robinson, single mother of three boys, sends an anguished email to her ex-husband in Paris. Her life is spiralling out of control; she fears she is failing their sons. She despairs that ending her marriage was a mistake. She is paralysed by inaction. The email accidentally lands in the inbox of a woman in New York, a teacher, Chrisanthi Woods. Chrisanthi is happily married but immersed in her own dramas with her mother, her neighbours, her erstwhile friends. The two women – meeting by chance through the wonder of the internet – begin a strangely intimate interaction, sharing their thoughts and feelings as they do with no-one else close to them. Secrets and stories emerge. Pamela admits to her feelings of failure and her attempts to reinvent herself after her divorce. Chrisanthi, her own dreams long since extinguished, is contemplating leaving home to find herself again.
The women are polar opposites in many ways, which leads to exchanges that are temperamental, provocative, misunderstood and confronting. The sudden and superficial intimacy created by their personal communications inevitably leads to the sharing of many ideas and feelings that they might otherwise have kept silent.
But their emails are also funny, thought-provoking, exhilarating, fresh, smart, curious and open. They talk about love and loss, about hope and grief, about vanished dreams and daily drudgery. They compare notes on children and aging parents and partners. They recall memories long since tidied away. Because they are physically so far apart, and at the beginning, know so little about each other, this gives them a certain feeling of freedom to disclose issues and to discuss their feelings about events and circumstances that they wouldn’t dream of mentioning to anyone in their own inner circle of family and friends. They have created a safe space, and each woman uses this space in her own way. As time passes, there are missteps and miscommunications, long-buried secrets revealed, declarations of love and friendship, hilarious sharing of stories, the unburdening of loss and tentative steps towards self-exploration and self-identity. Pamela and Chrisanthi both examine their own regrets, their memories, their dreams.
Johnson uses the communication between these two women to thoroughly explore the intimate details of life as a middle-aged woman. While they are in their fifties and sixties, the two prove that the worth of their lives is as interesting, and perhaps richer, than when they were younger. They know more, they have experienced more. Their struggles are informed by their lives so far and all they have learnt, the mistakes they have made and the choices that have defined them.
Susan Johnson’s writing always focusses on the intimate details of people’s lives, often women. Her style is literary, in that she writes beautiful, meaningful and evocative sentences that will make you catch your breath, but it is also extremely accessible, in that you will recognise yourself or your friends and family members. She seamlessly goes from a seemingly banal and ordinary comment about daily life to a pitch-perfect and insightful perception about life in general and its meaning. The author’s international life experience enriches this novel with settings in Greece, France, America and Australia.
The ending, when it comes, is abrupt and unexpected. A shock. As readers, we have become immersed in the lives of these two very different women. We are cheering for them both. They have become our Scheherazades … telling us story after story, layering meaning, asking us to examine our own lives and to interrogate what we see. We begin the story by being dropped right into the middle of their lives, and we end it by being suddenly pulled out of their lives. It is a rupture and a wrench. It is like birth and death, a beginning and an ending. Like life, it is unpredictable and inexplicable. It leaves questions. It is the best kind of book – one that leaves us wondering ‘what happened next?’
Australian woman Pamela Robinson, single mother of three boys, sends an anguished email to her ex-husband in Paris. Her life is spiralling out of control; she fears she is failing their sons. She despairs that ending her marriage was a mistake. She is paralysed by inaction. The email accidentally lands in the inbox of a woman in New York, a teacher, Chrisanthi Woods. Chrisanthi is happily married but immersed in her own dramas with her mother, her neighbours, her erstwhile friends. The two women – meeting by chance through the wonder of the internet – begin a strangely intimate interaction, sharing their thoughts and feelings as they do with no-one else close to them. Secrets and stories emerge. Pamela admits to her feelings of failure and her attempts to reinvent herself after her divorce. Chrisanthi, her own dreams long since extinguished, is contemplating leaving home to find herself again.
The women are polar opposites in many ways, which leads to exchanges that are temperamental, provocative, misunderstood and confronting. The sudden and superficial intimacy created by their personal communications inevitably leads to the sharing of many ideas and feelings that they might otherwise have kept silent.
But their emails are also funny, thought-provoking, exhilarating, fresh, smart, curious and open. They talk about love and loss, about hope and grief, about vanished dreams and daily drudgery. They compare notes on children and aging parents and partners. They recall memories long since tidied away. Because they are physically so far apart, and at the beginning, know so little about each other, this gives them a certain feeling of freedom to disclose issues and to discuss their feelings about events and circumstances that they wouldn’t dream of mentioning to anyone in their own inner circle of family and friends. They have created a safe space, and each woman uses this space in her own way. As time passes, there are missteps and miscommunications, long-buried secrets revealed, declarations of love and friendship, hilarious sharing of stories, the unburdening of loss and tentative steps towards self-exploration and self-identity. Pamela and Chrisanthi both examine their own regrets, their memories, their dreams.
Johnson uses the communication between these two women to thoroughly explore the intimate details of life as a middle-aged woman. While they are in their fifties and sixties, the two prove that the worth of their lives is as interesting, and perhaps richer, than when they were younger. They know more, they have experienced more. Their struggles are informed by their lives so far and all they have learnt, the mistakes they have made and the choices that have defined them.
Susan Johnson’s writing always focusses on the intimate details of people’s lives, often women. Her style is literary, in that she writes beautiful, meaningful and evocative sentences that will make you catch your breath, but it is also extremely accessible, in that you will recognise yourself or your friends and family members. She seamlessly goes from a seemingly banal and ordinary comment about daily life to a pitch-perfect and insightful perception about life in general and its meaning. The author’s international life experience enriches this novel with settings in Greece, France, America and Australia.
The ending, when it comes, is abrupt and unexpected. A shock. As readers, we have become immersed in the lives of these two very different women. We are cheering for them both. They have become our Scheherazades … telling us story after story, layering meaning, asking us to examine our own lives and to interrogate what we see. We begin the story by being dropped right into the middle of their lives, and we end it by being suddenly pulled out of their lives. It is a rupture and a wrench. It is like birth and death, a beginning and an ending. Like life, it is unpredictable and inexplicable. It leaves questions. It is the best kind of book – one that leaves us wondering ‘what happened next?’
April 18, 2021
A beautiful use of epistolary form to capture two very different women. This book is all character and not much plot and I loved it for that. Johnson does a wonderful job conjuring these two women and filling their lives with pain, love, loss and hope. The two voices are so well differentiated that I never needed to refer to the email to or from lines. Like The Performance this is another wonderful book by an Australian writer richly filled with women’s interiority. And can we please talk about that ending?!
April 4, 2021
There’s something deliciously voyeuristic about reading this exchange, like looking at screenshots of a friend’s messages over drinks, though to this millennial mind the instant intimacy between the women (in their 50s and 60s) seems a little strange. Still, I was impressed by the way Johnson managed to create and combine two strong and unique voices. This would make for a fantastic dual-narrator audiobook!
My full review of From Where I Fell is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of From Where I Fell is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
March 6, 2021
It is so refreshing to read a novel that's about character!
From Where I Fell comes from the pen of Susan Johnson, long-time observer of the zeitgeist and wickedly funny about human failings. This novel explores a relationship that's becoming more common, one that's entirely digital. Like the relationship that I have with some of you, my readers, both on- and off-blog.
The relationship at the heart of the novel begins when needy, histrionic Pamela in Australia sends a cry of pain to an email address where she thinks it will reach Christophe Xavier Woods, her estranged ex-husband in Paris. Instead, chrisxwoods@ sent with hope via both hotmail and gmail, lands in the inbox of Chrisanthi Xenia Woods, in upstate New York. Instead of ignoring/deleting/blocking an unknown sender, Chris sends a kindly response. Chris is the kind of person who likes to help.
I used 'estranged' to describe the status of Pamela's marriage because when children are involved, a respectful relationship between divorced parents should continue in the best interests of the children. Everybody knows this, but it's not easy to do. Pamela's husband has used geography to opt out. He calls his children on the phone, but he has obliterated Pamela out of his life. He remains, however, a character in the novel, one who makes no explanation for his spiteful behaviour. Which affects his children as well as their mother. Who, guilt-ridden and anxious about parenting alone, is not exactly 'together' anyway.
Pamela responds to the kindness in the reply from Chris and a sustained correspondence develops. Small elements of cunning in the way this epistolary story unfolds are worth noticing. The women nickname each other Plato and Socrates, and some of their subject headings are called dialogues, recalling the form of prose known as Socratic Dialogues from the fourth century BC. Like the ancients, these two women discuss moral and philosophical problems which are eternal. But dialogues about their particular concerns were absent from the history of literature for centuries...
The two women seem like opposites, but they share common characteristics, not the least of which is that they are lonely. Pamela has no one else to vent to, and Chris, apparently secure in a marriage of long duration, doesn't have a BFF either. The reader can only speculate about this. Pamela has only recently relocated to Australia, but could easily vent to friends overseas. Why doesn't she? And Chris has lived in the same place all her life—you'd think she had the luxury of supportive friendships going back decades...
Part of the answer has to do with personalities carefully crafted by the author. Yet another battery of Pamela's anguished emails (eight, following already hurt feelings) gets a terse response from Chris:
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/03/06/f...
From Where I Fell comes from the pen of Susan Johnson, long-time observer of the zeitgeist and wickedly funny about human failings. This novel explores a relationship that's becoming more common, one that's entirely digital. Like the relationship that I have with some of you, my readers, both on- and off-blog.
The relationship at the heart of the novel begins when needy, histrionic Pamela in Australia sends a cry of pain to an email address where she thinks it will reach Christophe Xavier Woods, her estranged ex-husband in Paris. Instead, chrisxwoods@ sent with hope via both hotmail and gmail, lands in the inbox of Chrisanthi Xenia Woods, in upstate New York. Instead of ignoring/deleting/blocking an unknown sender, Chris sends a kindly response. Chris is the kind of person who likes to help.
I used 'estranged' to describe the status of Pamela's marriage because when children are involved, a respectful relationship between divorced parents should continue in the best interests of the children. Everybody knows this, but it's not easy to do. Pamela's husband has used geography to opt out. He calls his children on the phone, but he has obliterated Pamela out of his life. He remains, however, a character in the novel, one who makes no explanation for his spiteful behaviour. Which affects his children as well as their mother. Who, guilt-ridden and anxious about parenting alone, is not exactly 'together' anyway.
Pamela responds to the kindness in the reply from Chris and a sustained correspondence develops. Small elements of cunning in the way this epistolary story unfolds are worth noticing. The women nickname each other Plato and Socrates, and some of their subject headings are called dialogues, recalling the form of prose known as Socratic Dialogues from the fourth century BC. Like the ancients, these two women discuss moral and philosophical problems which are eternal. But dialogues about their particular concerns were absent from the history of literature for centuries...
The two women seem like opposites, but they share common characteristics, not the least of which is that they are lonely. Pamela has no one else to vent to, and Chris, apparently secure in a marriage of long duration, doesn't have a BFF either. The reader can only speculate about this. Pamela has only recently relocated to Australia, but could easily vent to friends overseas. Why doesn't she? And Chris has lived in the same place all her life—you'd think she had the luxury of supportive friendships going back decades...
Part of the answer has to do with personalities carefully crafted by the author. Yet another battery of Pamela's anguished emails (eight, following already hurt feelings) gets a terse response from Chris:
Re: A dream
From: Chris Woods
To: Pamela Robinson
Don't you get sick of talking about yourself all the time? (p.83)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/03/06/f...
March 13, 2021
This was just an amazing novel and I really did enjoy the audiobook narrator, she did a good job making the voices apart from each other. This is an story told in emails. Pamela first wrote to Chrisanthi by mistake as the thought she was sending to her ex husband Chris. And the friendship begins there, and through the emails you follow them in their life and the beautiful support and friendship that becomes of an email sent to the wrong person. Oh I loved it. If I had the book in my hands I would hug it. It's not very plot driven but characters are amazing and I love listening to them
May 16, 2021
I’d seen this new release around a lot and the cover & title drew me in. The format of the book was surprising - the story is told entirely through emails - but sadly I found the book itself frustrating.
The premise was a promising one; two women on opposite sides of the world begin exchanging emails after one, Pamela, mistakenly emails the other, Chris.
The relationship between the women is curious. Throughout, Chris is a mysterious and reluctant participant and I never understood what there was keeping the relationship going.
Like Chris, I found Pamela to be irritating and too willing to over-share and over-analyse with a stranger. Chris, however, kept her cards way too close to her chest for the women’s relationship to be an equal friendship.
Chris was super mysterious and with so much mystery behind one character, I really expected the story to build to something - some peak in their relationship, a conflict or a resolution - but that never came.
The email format meant it was a reasonably quick read, but when I reached the frustrating conclusion to this book I was left wondering what it all meant.
The premise was a promising one; two women on opposite sides of the world begin exchanging emails after one, Pamela, mistakenly emails the other, Chris.
The relationship between the women is curious. Throughout, Chris is a mysterious and reluctant participant and I never understood what there was keeping the relationship going.
Like Chris, I found Pamela to be irritating and too willing to over-share and over-analyse with a stranger. Chris, however, kept her cards way too close to her chest for the women’s relationship to be an equal friendship.
Chris was super mysterious and with so much mystery behind one character, I really expected the story to build to something - some peak in their relationship, a conflict or a resolution - but that never came.
The email format meant it was a reasonably quick read, but when I reached the frustrating conclusion to this book I was left wondering what it all meant.
January 28, 2021
Johnson has evoked a kaleidoscope of memory through the shifting tense of the overshared and the unsaid. This book is a warm and heartbreaking story of friendship, family turmoil, motherhood, and the moments that shape who we are. It left me clinging on to the final pages.
May 28, 2021
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
Susan Johnson is the author of both fiction and non-fiction titles. I read Johnson’s last novel The Landing back in 2015. From Where I Fell is an epistolary format novel, it is bold, daring and current, placing the spotlight on our emphasis on email communications. It follows an honest series of conversations that derive from an accidental email situation, igniting an unlikely friendship between two women on opposite ends of the globe.
Pamela Robinson is a woman who is at her wits end. We meet Pamela as she desperately reaches out to her ex-husband in Paris following the demise of their marriage. But Pamela’s email never reaches her ex-husband and in a twist of fate, it lands in the inbox of a woman living in New York. A teacher by the name of Chrisanthi Woods comes across the email and she is compelled to reply to this virtual stranger, who is expressing a great deal of heartache. This is the beginning of a year long exchange between these two very different women, who will never meet in person, but they will share their secrets and stories with one another. Gradually, as the emails bounce back and forth, we learn about Pamela’s difficult new role in supporting her three sons alone. While Chrisanthi has her own personal issues linked to her family life and hopes for the future. Big decisions are considered and discussed over the course of this pivotal year for the two women. Confessions are made, truths are expressed, fears are revealled and plans are put in place. Connective and raw, From Where I Fell is a considered novel from an original storyteller.
From Where I Fell is a creative and innovative fiction title. I enjoy epistolatory based novels, especially in the historical fiction genre, but From Where I Fell uses this correspondence format in the present day. I could easily envisage an accidental email exchange occurring in our current society. We live in a world where we have become reliant on internet and email communications to connect with people from one continent to another, due the impact of COVID-19. I liked the fact that Chrisanthi, the incorrect recipient of Pamela’s original email, didn’t choose to simply ignore Pamela’s email. This sets in motion a continued exchange of emails over the course of a year between these two strangers.
It is quite ambitious to take on a storyline focused on character and email communication exchanges. I admired Susan Johnson’s willingness to tackle quite a different and bold story idea. For some areas of the novel, I think that the author pulled off the exchanges between Pamela and Chrisanthi very well. It didn’t seem stilted or forced. There was definitely a sense of authenticity and connection that the reader could draw on. I did feel a little inappropriate being a watcher in a sense, as we are privy to some very honest and revealing moments between the two women. Johnson exposes a variety of different email responses, from heartbreaking confessions, angst ridden musings, curt responses and supportive feeds. I did falter in my emotional responses to these exchanges, I moved from frustration, to sadness, empathy, relief and anger! From Where I Fell was a readable novel that I was able to shift through very quickly, but it seemed to challenge me.
Susan Johnson closes off her novel with the same character that began the email mismatch situation a year earlier, but things are left unsaid with an open conclusion. Therefore the audience needs to read between the lines in terms of what the future holds for these two women. I think I admired the author’s creative flair with this novel, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
From Where I Fell is book #47 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge
Susan Johnson is the author of both fiction and non-fiction titles. I read Johnson’s last novel The Landing back in 2015. From Where I Fell is an epistolary format novel, it is bold, daring and current, placing the spotlight on our emphasis on email communications. It follows an honest series of conversations that derive from an accidental email situation, igniting an unlikely friendship between two women on opposite ends of the globe.
Pamela Robinson is a woman who is at her wits end. We meet Pamela as she desperately reaches out to her ex-husband in Paris following the demise of their marriage. But Pamela’s email never reaches her ex-husband and in a twist of fate, it lands in the inbox of a woman living in New York. A teacher by the name of Chrisanthi Woods comes across the email and she is compelled to reply to this virtual stranger, who is expressing a great deal of heartache. This is the beginning of a year long exchange between these two very different women, who will never meet in person, but they will share their secrets and stories with one another. Gradually, as the emails bounce back and forth, we learn about Pamela’s difficult new role in supporting her three sons alone. While Chrisanthi has her own personal issues linked to her family life and hopes for the future. Big decisions are considered and discussed over the course of this pivotal year for the two women. Confessions are made, truths are expressed, fears are revealled and plans are put in place. Connective and raw, From Where I Fell is a considered novel from an original storyteller.
From Where I Fell is a creative and innovative fiction title. I enjoy epistolatory based novels, especially in the historical fiction genre, but From Where I Fell uses this correspondence format in the present day. I could easily envisage an accidental email exchange occurring in our current society. We live in a world where we have become reliant on internet and email communications to connect with people from one continent to another, due the impact of COVID-19. I liked the fact that Chrisanthi, the incorrect recipient of Pamela’s original email, didn’t choose to simply ignore Pamela’s email. This sets in motion a continued exchange of emails over the course of a year between these two strangers.
It is quite ambitious to take on a storyline focused on character and email communication exchanges. I admired Susan Johnson’s willingness to tackle quite a different and bold story idea. For some areas of the novel, I think that the author pulled off the exchanges between Pamela and Chrisanthi very well. It didn’t seem stilted or forced. There was definitely a sense of authenticity and connection that the reader could draw on. I did feel a little inappropriate being a watcher in a sense, as we are privy to some very honest and revealing moments between the two women. Johnson exposes a variety of different email responses, from heartbreaking confessions, angst ridden musings, curt responses and supportive feeds. I did falter in my emotional responses to these exchanges, I moved from frustration, to sadness, empathy, relief and anger! From Where I Fell was a readable novel that I was able to shift through very quickly, but it seemed to challenge me.
Susan Johnson closes off her novel with the same character that began the email mismatch situation a year earlier, but things are left unsaid with an open conclusion. Therefore the audience needs to read between the lines in terms of what the future holds for these two women. I think I admired the author’s creative flair with this novel, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
From Where I Fell is book #47 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge
July 9, 2021
Two women on different sides of the world happen upon each via a wrongly addressed email. The novel sounds easy in that it consists of the train of emails that chart the development of the ultimately deep friendship between the two women. The author Susan Johnson said in an interview on RNs The Bookshelf, that writing the novel in this format was a difficult undertaking but the novel is proof that her effort was worth it.
August 1, 2021
When you read a book and wish you had the the concept for the structure i.e. the story told through the exchange of emails of women on opposite sides of the world. Loved it. Through FROM WHERE I FELL we see how easy and important it is to connect with each other through sharing stories.
April 14, 2021
What a lucky find, I was just thinking how much I liked novels written in letter or diary form when I picked up ‘From where I fell’. It’s actually in email form, plain text, no emojis or abbreviations. It worked for me, something about the epistolary novel allows you to quickly get close to the characters’ lives. In this case, it’s Pamela in Sydney, and Chris in Schenectady, New York State. Family life bothers both women to differing degrees. The difference here is that they don’t know each other at the start, so we see a developing friendship. There’s real depth to this novel, I enjoyed it a lot.
March 1, 2021
Thank you Allen & Unwin for sending us a copy to read and review.
A story told completely via email loses none of the rawness, emotion and drama as a conventional one.
Cyber relationships seem to form readily these days and in this case true traits of friendship both good and bad appear as naturally as conventional ones.
Pamela accidentally emails Chris thinking it was her ex husbands email address. Chris let’s her know she is not her ex but is drawn to the content and the author.
A friendship begins, they reveal inner thoughts and worries, become testy with each other but above all else form a bond.
It was interesting to observe as in real life friendships, that Pamela was more affectionate signing off with a kiss and possibly more needy at times.
Chris kept it honest and did not wish to exchange photos but was a loyal listener and offered immeasurable advice.
Reflective of life they each have their own problems and face demons.
But having each other as they acknowledged was a life line for sanity and sharing the load.
I found this concept fascinating and the content and style appealed.
Duly noting the dates and subject headings I followed this fun filled relationship through with anticipation and few laugh out loud moments til the heart wrenching end.
A story told completely via email loses none of the rawness, emotion and drama as a conventional one.
Cyber relationships seem to form readily these days and in this case true traits of friendship both good and bad appear as naturally as conventional ones.
Pamela accidentally emails Chris thinking it was her ex husbands email address. Chris let’s her know she is not her ex but is drawn to the content and the author.
A friendship begins, they reveal inner thoughts and worries, become testy with each other but above all else form a bond.
It was interesting to observe as in real life friendships, that Pamela was more affectionate signing off with a kiss and possibly more needy at times.
Chris kept it honest and did not wish to exchange photos but was a loyal listener and offered immeasurable advice.
Reflective of life they each have their own problems and face demons.
But having each other as they acknowledged was a life line for sanity and sharing the load.
I found this concept fascinating and the content and style appealed.
Duly noting the dates and subject headings I followed this fun filled relationship through with anticipation and few laugh out loud moments til the heart wrenching end.
June 1, 2021
A separated mother of three boys, Pamela, is living in Australia and is at her wits end when she sends an email to to her ex-husband in Paris however, the email actually ends up in the inbox of New York State teacher Chrisanthi (Chris) Woods and there begins an email conversation between the two women. The novel is solely comprised of their email correspondence, a modern day epistolary novel, set over the period of a year.
There was much to enjoy in this novel but there were times when the emails felt too contrived and a moment about half way through when I just sighed and thought - how much more of this can I take. And yet, through the email conversation we do get to know more about the characters, their lives, the joys and the pain they have, and continue to experience and yet I wanted more. I looked for deeper meaning, the characters attribution of themselves as Socrates and Plato for example. I grew angry at Pamela's lack of filter, her constant neediness - perhaps a sign of good writing, perhaps not. Chris and her didactic, good and constantly giving nature. Characters, both opposite and alike, well designed to move the story forward as it explored issues of marriage, family, children, grief and more. The open ended finish to the novel was interesting and there were at least three different interpretations at my bookgroup. And this, by the way, was a good bookgroup book with, somewhat surprisingly, many themes to discuss.
Susan Johnson is an Australian author and has a long catalogue of fiction and non-fiction titles with many shortlisted for various awards. This is the first of her novels that I have read and I if I am honest it did not inspire me to read others. I suspect this will be a novel that many will love and relate to while others, including myself will give it 2 or 3 stars and move on.
There was much to enjoy in this novel but there were times when the emails felt too contrived and a moment about half way through when I just sighed and thought - how much more of this can I take. And yet, through the email conversation we do get to know more about the characters, their lives, the joys and the pain they have, and continue to experience and yet I wanted more. I looked for deeper meaning, the characters attribution of themselves as Socrates and Plato for example. I grew angry at Pamela's lack of filter, her constant neediness - perhaps a sign of good writing, perhaps not. Chris and her didactic, good and constantly giving nature. Characters, both opposite and alike, well designed to move the story forward as it explored issues of marriage, family, children, grief and more. The open ended finish to the novel was interesting and there were at least three different interpretations at my bookgroup. And this, by the way, was a good bookgroup book with, somewhat surprisingly, many themes to discuss.
Susan Johnson is an Australian author and has a long catalogue of fiction and non-fiction titles with many shortlisted for various awards. This is the first of her novels that I have read and I if I am honest it did not inspire me to read others. I suspect this will be a novel that many will love and relate to while others, including myself will give it 2 or 3 stars and move on.
February 16, 2021
The story - of two women - is masterfully told through a series of emails. The women are unknown to each other, as the email correspondence begins with an email which has reached the wrong person.
Despite this, the women keep communicating, revealing more about each other's lives as the novel progresses. The voices of the two women captured in the emails are each distinct and you get a strong sense of their individual personalities. It is beautifully written, poignant and wry.
I was surprised at how well this structure works for creating narrative tension and revealing the lives, challenges and psychological insights of the two main characters. It's an insightful examination of family relationships - particularly parent and child - and friendship more broadly.
Despite this, the women keep communicating, revealing more about each other's lives as the novel progresses. The voices of the two women captured in the emails are each distinct and you get a strong sense of their individual personalities. It is beautifully written, poignant and wry.
I was surprised at how well this structure works for creating narrative tension and revealing the lives, challenges and psychological insights of the two main characters. It's an insightful examination of family relationships - particularly parent and child - and friendship more broadly.
April 20, 2021
I love this book--it is my favourite novel of the year. Johnson, the great observer of marriage and love, is at the height of her powers in those novel about an email correspondence between two strangers, who get to know some very surprising things about each other. It is funny, wise, fresh and wickedly observant about people and what it is like to be alive.
Read
April 7, 2021Did not finish.
The premise was excellent but the execution was terrible. Pamela was so needy and whiny that it was off putting and unenjoyable.
The premise was excellent but the execution was terrible. Pamela was so needy and whiny that it was off putting and unenjoyable.
June 17, 2021
From Where I Fell is a wonderful epistolary novel that explores all the big things of life. What is friendship? How do we live? Who are we living for? How can we make decisions? How do we save our children, ourselves, from unraveling with life's mess? The story begins with Pamela emailing her ex, but unsure of what his new email is she guesses what it should be and her email lands in the inbox of Chris, a woman in America. This begins a year-long conversation between two women who are dealing with their own issues. There are times of friction between them and Susan Johnson explores how Pamela and Chris navigate their differences and their similarities. It is easy to see yourself and your friendships on the page. It is also easy to fall for Pamela and Chris through their heartbreaks and joys as they help each other sort through their messy lives.
This book made me want to correspond with my friends more.
This book made me want to correspond with my friends more.
September 18, 2025
Listened as an audiobook.
I just can't make sense that the premise of this book would actually happen. A mis-typed email address leads to an online friendship between an Australian woman and American-Greek woman. The Australian woman is in her early 50s, with 3 sons and recently divorced (by her choice) husband who still lives in France. The American woman in her mid sixties and is the recipient of the misdirected email.
The details shared during the exchange doesn't feel unbelievable if the authors had known each other beforehand, but the intimacy around the content of emails, particularly the Australian woman seems far-fetched.
Thankfully it wasn't a very long book
I just can't make sense that the premise of this book would actually happen. A mis-typed email address leads to an online friendship between an Australian woman and American-Greek woman. The Australian woman is in her early 50s, with 3 sons and recently divorced (by her choice) husband who still lives in France. The American woman in her mid sixties and is the recipient of the misdirected email.
The details shared during the exchange doesn't feel unbelievable if the authors had known each other beforehand, but the intimacy around the content of emails, particularly the Australian woman seems far-fetched.
Thankfully it wasn't a very long book
November 8, 2021
I began reading From Where I Fell during the regional NSW lockdown and it was wonderful to be reading a dialogue between two women when I couldn’t go out and meet up with my female friends.
I’m not usually a fan of the epistolary novel but I was drawn in immediately and for me the strength of the book is the very different personalities of Pamela and Chris.
Pamela is newly estranged from her French husband and now living with her three boys in Sydney, trying to make a new life for herself and them. Chris, from upstate New York, is an older woman, married with no children. She receives an email meant for Pamela’s ex-husband. They begin corresponding and it’s marvellous how unlike they are. Pamela is over the top, often histrionic, struggling to raise her sons on her own. Chris is Greek with a very quiet husband (who we don’t find out much about) more reticent but it appears that she can’t stop trying to help everyone else.
Chris can actually be a bit abrupt at times and later in the novel I began to wonder how much she was holding back. Each woman definitely helps the other but there are disagreements too. Here is Chris losing her cool:
“For Christ’s sake, Pamela, why did you have children if you weren’t prepared to surrender? Everyone says people who don’t have children are selfish. I think it’s people having children for no good reason who are the selfish ones. I’m not sure we should keep emailing each other. My heart is banging so hard I feel like I’m having a heart attack. This isn’t good for me. Bye, Pamela.
It is after exchanges such as this one that you wonder what is going to happen next? The ending is quite a surprise, leaving this reader wondering if one of the letter-writers withheld a lot more than we, as readers, thought.
I’m not usually a fan of the epistolary novel but I was drawn in immediately and for me the strength of the book is the very different personalities of Pamela and Chris.
Pamela is newly estranged from her French husband and now living with her three boys in Sydney, trying to make a new life for herself and them. Chris, from upstate New York, is an older woman, married with no children. She receives an email meant for Pamela’s ex-husband. They begin corresponding and it’s marvellous how unlike they are. Pamela is over the top, often histrionic, struggling to raise her sons on her own. Chris is Greek with a very quiet husband (who we don’t find out much about) more reticent but it appears that she can’t stop trying to help everyone else.
Chris can actually be a bit abrupt at times and later in the novel I began to wonder how much she was holding back. Each woman definitely helps the other but there are disagreements too. Here is Chris losing her cool:
“For Christ’s sake, Pamela, why did you have children if you weren’t prepared to surrender? Everyone says people who don’t have children are selfish. I think it’s people having children for no good reason who are the selfish ones. I’m not sure we should keep emailing each other. My heart is banging so hard I feel like I’m having a heart attack. This isn’t good for me. Bye, Pamela.
It is after exchanges such as this one that you wonder what is going to happen next? The ending is quite a surprise, leaving this reader wondering if one of the letter-writers withheld a lot more than we, as readers, thought.
April 27, 2021
I often enjoy the exchange-of-letters style (aka epistolary form) and this one is so well done. Each woman has a very distinct voice, and while there is no real plot to speak of, it’s a wonderful character driven novel. Pamela and Chris are unlikely friends, yet they are perfect pen pals.
July 29, 2021
3 1/2 light, easy to read. Quite enjoyed it.
May 3, 2021
I love epistolary novels, I always have. This is written entirely as emails back and forth between Pamela, a recently divorced woman living in Australia trying to raise her three sons with various challenges, and Chris (short for Chrisanthi). Chris is a woman who lives in New York who struggles with her disapproving Greek mother and who finds herself involved with the lives of the various people she crosses paths with. Pamela accidentally emails Chris thinking it’s the email address of her ex-husband and when Chris replies to gently tell her she has the wrong address, Pamela keeps emailing her anyway.
I think there’s something about a crossed connection like this, accidentally emailing the wrong person and then pouring out your troubles to them. They’re anonymous, they don’t know you or anything about you, have no preconceived ideas and don’t need to mollycoddle you either. Chris is half a world away, Pamela doesn’t know her or really anything about her and even whatever Chris tells her could not necessarily be the truth. But for Pamela, who has recently moved back to Australia with her three boys (two teens and a younger one, around eight) who were all born overseas, she has little in the way of support. She’s really struggling with her eldest child in particular, who has not taken the divorce and move very well. In Chris, Pamela doesn’t always find a sympathetic ear, but she does find someone she can confide in unfiltered. She doesn’t need to sugarcoat things or hide her true feelings. And Pamela has a lot of feelings.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Pamela, she’s chosen to end her marriage to Chris (of the same name as the person she ends up emailing) and is now basically solo-parenting as he’s stayed behind in France. Chris (the ex-husband) seems to deeply resent Pamela and is resisting all her attempts at communication, which made me feel for her as she does desperately need some help, particularly with Raf, their eldest, who is 16. Even if Chris has a lot of negative feelings towards Pamela over the marriage, what she’s going through in parenting is very difficult and honestly, he should be assisting her, especially when things take a very bad turn. Pamela has a lot going on, she still has a lot of complex feelings over the ending of the marriage and she’s very given to overthinking and overanalysing and literally reexamining every decision she’s ever made or thought she’s ever had.
On the other hand, the Chris-of-the-emails seems very different. She’s often short with Pamela, terse at times, and has little patience for some of Pamela’s ramblings about her marriage and decisions. She seems very practical although the further into the communication we get, the more Chris lets little snippets of herself and her life slip, although she never dives as deeply into sharing as Pamela does, I don’t think. She shares things but not necessarily those deep thoughts and feelings. You have to piece her thoughts and feelings together mostly from the things she shares. Whereas Pamela is an open book, every thought she has tumbling out of her brain and through her fingers into the email.
Because they do not know each other, they do not know each other’s sensitive subjects, things best left alone or the things that will trigger each other, so it’s sometimes a communication that offends or touches on things that the other is not yet ready to hear or cannot talk about. Chris in particular, is quite blunt, very no-nonsense whereas Pamela comes across much more of a dreamer in her emails, and as I mentioned, very given to rambling on about whether or not she’s done the right thing. She’s very open almost immediately, where as Chris is much more closed at first, has to be drawn out by Pamela, almost coaxed into sharing things about herself and her life.
I sped through this in an afternoon, the format is so inherently readable and getting to know both women felt so easy. I became so invested in both their lives – poor Pamela and the struggles with sons who are bigger, stronger than she is and with little authority to exude over them. With two sons myself (one of whom will be a teenager this year) I’m always drawn into stories about the ups and downs of parenting. Pamela has so much love for her sons (even when some do little to deserve it, frankly) and you can tell that she’s so grateful for the outlet of being able to email Chris. And Chris on the other hand, is a much harder to person to feel like you’re getting to ‘know’ but I was invested in the story of her mother and the neighbour and the young girls from Syria that she was helping. And even more enjoyable was Chris slowly opening herself up to a place of trust with Pamela, where she felt she could tell her more intimate things. Pamela leaps in right away but Chris is much more of a slow burn to confession.
I really enjoyed this. And I’m still thinking about the ending.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review***
I think there’s something about a crossed connection like this, accidentally emailing the wrong person and then pouring out your troubles to them. They’re anonymous, they don’t know you or anything about you, have no preconceived ideas and don’t need to mollycoddle you either. Chris is half a world away, Pamela doesn’t know her or really anything about her and even whatever Chris tells her could not necessarily be the truth. But for Pamela, who has recently moved back to Australia with her three boys (two teens and a younger one, around eight) who were all born overseas, she has little in the way of support. She’s really struggling with her eldest child in particular, who has not taken the divorce and move very well. In Chris, Pamela doesn’t always find a sympathetic ear, but she does find someone she can confide in unfiltered. She doesn’t need to sugarcoat things or hide her true feelings. And Pamela has a lot of feelings.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Pamela, she’s chosen to end her marriage to Chris (of the same name as the person she ends up emailing) and is now basically solo-parenting as he’s stayed behind in France. Chris (the ex-husband) seems to deeply resent Pamela and is resisting all her attempts at communication, which made me feel for her as she does desperately need some help, particularly with Raf, their eldest, who is 16. Even if Chris has a lot of negative feelings towards Pamela over the marriage, what she’s going through in parenting is very difficult and honestly, he should be assisting her, especially when things take a very bad turn. Pamela has a lot going on, she still has a lot of complex feelings over the ending of the marriage and she’s very given to overthinking and overanalysing and literally reexamining every decision she’s ever made or thought she’s ever had.
On the other hand, the Chris-of-the-emails seems very different. She’s often short with Pamela, terse at times, and has little patience for some of Pamela’s ramblings about her marriage and decisions. She seems very practical although the further into the communication we get, the more Chris lets little snippets of herself and her life slip, although she never dives as deeply into sharing as Pamela does, I don’t think. She shares things but not necessarily those deep thoughts and feelings. You have to piece her thoughts and feelings together mostly from the things she shares. Whereas Pamela is an open book, every thought she has tumbling out of her brain and through her fingers into the email.
Because they do not know each other, they do not know each other’s sensitive subjects, things best left alone or the things that will trigger each other, so it’s sometimes a communication that offends or touches on things that the other is not yet ready to hear or cannot talk about. Chris in particular, is quite blunt, very no-nonsense whereas Pamela comes across much more of a dreamer in her emails, and as I mentioned, very given to rambling on about whether or not she’s done the right thing. She’s very open almost immediately, where as Chris is much more closed at first, has to be drawn out by Pamela, almost coaxed into sharing things about herself and her life.
I sped through this in an afternoon, the format is so inherently readable and getting to know both women felt so easy. I became so invested in both their lives – poor Pamela and the struggles with sons who are bigger, stronger than she is and with little authority to exude over them. With two sons myself (one of whom will be a teenager this year) I’m always drawn into stories about the ups and downs of parenting. Pamela has so much love for her sons (even when some do little to deserve it, frankly) and you can tell that she’s so grateful for the outlet of being able to email Chris. And Chris on the other hand, is a much harder to person to feel like you’re getting to ‘know’ but I was invested in the story of her mother and the neighbour and the young girls from Syria that she was helping. And even more enjoyable was Chris slowly opening herself up to a place of trust with Pamela, where she felt she could tell her more intimate things. Pamela leaps in right away but Chris is much more of a slow burn to confession.
I really enjoyed this. And I’m still thinking about the ending.
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review***
May 23, 2025
"don't you ever get sick of talking about yourself all the time" SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK pamela was so annoying but unfortunately thats just sydneysiders.
also wtf happened to chris
also wtf happened to chris
March 16, 2021
This book was really different in the way it was written as it starts with a woman getting an email from a stranger, on the other side of the world, who's ex husband has the same name. She writes back and they continue to share their life stories. At first I didn't know if I liked the email format that occurred between these two women but I got used to it pretty quickly.
They share stories of divorce, children, grief, rivalry and of course friendship. They were two unique women who could talk quite openly to each other despite having ever met. I think this is quite a common thing now.
It was a pretty easy to read book in the end.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
They share stories of divorce, children, grief, rivalry and of course friendship. They were two unique women who could talk quite openly to each other despite having ever met. I think this is quite a common thing now.
It was a pretty easy to read book in the end.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews