Angel Falls

by Tim Wynveen

Benoni Van Buskierke, the mournful bon vivant, needs to explain. After forty years of blocking out the pathetic details of his early life, a tragedy summons him back home to Angel Falls. There, finally shaken from his emotional exile, he decides it is time to tell the story of his family. More than unwitting, in the demise of so many loved ones. A powerful story of a man sifting through his past in order to make sense of his life.

267 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[David Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became aware of this book because of a CBC review which compared it to Little Fires Everywhere. And it defintely does have a plot twist which has somthing in common with LFE. It's a really satisfying book. A first novel... and this shows a little i think in that its not quite as well executed as LFE.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing in this book is just beautiful. It surrounds you with the story in simple descriptive phrases. The story is edgy and emotional and very sad.

[Daysleeper236 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book through a free interlibrary loan from Guelph Public Library.

This is an epic, sweeping, cinematic masterpiece about a family that implodes under the weight of a terrible secret. A beautifully written, heart-wrenching and deeply confessional tale, every word has meaning, and every page is saturated with the truth that the narrator so desperately wants to share with the world. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. One of the best novels I've read in years. Highly, highly recommended.

Favourite quote....

"By writing this story I have had to reassess my own private myths and rituals, and now, after thirty years of cult life, I have taken my first tentative step toward rehabilitation, free of the alien perspective, free of my morbid attachment to Guenther and all other pretenders to the throne. By describing how my family perished, I watched them gradually come to life, as if in entering my thoughts, they had been reborn - a kind of resurrection for us all. For the first time I feel human; for the first time I grieve." - p. 266-267