291:. During her absence, James receives a letter from an "Anonymous Well-Wisher" suggesting that Kathleen may have gotten into trouble in New York. He brings her home where it becomes apparent that she is pregnant. Kathleen spends her pregnancy hidden in her family home, and dies giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Frances believes the babies must be baptized, and attempts to do so in the creek behind the house the night of their birth. James catches her, and believes she is trying to drown them. He drags her away and the male twin, named Ambrose by Frances, is accidentally left to drown in the creek. The female twin, Lily, contracts polio from the contaminated water in the creek, but survives the disease. Mercedes, Frances and Lily are all raised to believe Materia is Lily's mother. Materia dies and the remaining Piper sisters come to depend on one another for survival.
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love affair with the female black piano accompanist, Rose
Lacroix. The romance is a whirlwind, as both women fall madly in love with one another, going to jazz bars with Rose dressed as a man. James barges into Kathleen's apartment one day to find her in bed with Rose (whom he mistakes for a man). A furious attack on Rose leads to James' jealous rape of Kathleen, as his sexual desire for her finally overcomes him. This reveals Lily's true father. James eventually confesses everything to Frances, and soon after dies in his reading chair, peacefully. Frances finally reveals the family's darkest secrets to her sister Mercedes, who is firmly in denial. Frances dies as an elderly woman with the help of Mercedes, without ever knowing the actual fate of her child.
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eventually runs away and ends up in her
Lebanese uncle's pub as entertainment and a pint-sized whore. She discovers her long-lost grandfather's house, and then becomes obsessed with his African maid, Teresa. She stalks and seduces Teresa's brother, Leo, and becomes impregnated by him. She dreams of becoming a mother to a black child, but her son, Aloysius, is pronounced dead at birth and she becomes depressed. After this trauma, Frances and her father slowly reconcile and she even becomes something akin to a confessor for him before he dies years later.
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moonshiner as his primary income source, suffers a severe stroke and
Mercedes is slowly consumed by her role as care-taker in the family, becoming severe and controlling as she gives up on any life for herself outside of this role. This culminates in her deception involving Frances' illegitimate mixed-race child: who was in fact given up for adoption by his disapproving aunt. As Frances and their father grow closer in his old age, Mercedes resents their bond, feeling left out and snubbed after all the sacrifices she has made for her family.
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crib death shortly after. She is from here on in the novel referred to as "Other Lily". The novel then explores the girls' relationship with their troubled father; their secretive, silent mother; and friendships that grow between them as they try to figure out their family's strange and mysterious history. As
Kathleen grows older, she is perceived by her schoolmates as snobby, and they turn against her. Her father James is her only friend, and when he travels off to war, Kathleen is crushed.
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that he actually married "a child." Materia regrets marrying James, and does not take to her newborn child. James, however, ignores and neglects
Materia while spoiling and smothering Kathleen. Materia is taken in by the kind neighbor Mrs. Luvovitz, who teaches her to sew and cook. She grows to hate James and their daughter Kathleen.
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Materia senses danger in James' obsession with their daughter and sees it as her duty to keep him distracted and occupied (especially in the bedroom). James eventually impregnates
Materia three more times in quick succession. She gives birth to three girls, Mercedes, Frances and Lily, but Lily dies a
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to find a place to live. Working as a piano tuner, he meets and eventually elopes with 13-year-old
Materia Mahmoud, much to the anger of her wealthy, traditional Lebanese parents. Materia gives birth to their first daughter, Kathleen, and James subsequently becomes disgusted with his wife, realizing
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The novel ends in New York, as Lily makes her way to Rose's apartment. The two form a friendship and live together for many years, eventually visited by a young black man called
Anthony, bearing a gift from Mercedes Piper. He delivers a drawing of a family tree, made by Mercedes, finally revealing
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Kathleen's diary and old dress are sent home by her caretaker in New York, and after
Frances reads it, sends it with Lily to New York, to find Kathleen's lover. As Lily reads through the pages of the diary, we learn of Kathleen's vocal lessons, her instructor she calls the Kaiser, and her illicit
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Mercedes spends her time praying, taking care of the family and working hard at school. She flirts with the idea of a romance with the son of Mrs. Luvovitz, but drags her feet because his Jewish ancestry conflicts with her growing religious devotion and sense of propriety. James, who has become a
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Frances, beaten and all-but-disowned by her father, causes trouble in school, eventually getting herself expelled, despite
Mercedes' best efforts to keep her in check. Frances finds solace in her dolls, matinee movies, her late mother's old hope chest, and her darling younger sister Lily. Frances
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Lily, crippled by the polio she contracted, wears a leather brace. She loves Frances the most of everyone. Lily believes everything Frances tells her, and so believes Ambrose is her guardian angel, and often wishes for him to protect Frances after she left the house.
190:. The novel takes place in late 19th and early 20th centuries and chronicles four generations of the complex Piper Family. It is a story of "inescapable family bonds, terrible secrets, and of miracles". Beginning in
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all the incest, illegitimate children, crib deaths and affairs that make up the Piper family. Anthony is revealed to be Frances' long-lost son Aloysius, and Lily sits him down to tell him all about his mother.
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Kathleen befriends her younger sisters, and James returns from war a shadow of his former self, but still feels an attraction to his eldest daughter. He sends her to
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to train with a highly-regarded voice instructor and to fulfill her dream of becoming an opera singer at the
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Parro, Gabriella. "Who’s Your Father, Dear? Haunted Bloodlines and Miscegenation in Ann-Marie MacDonald’s
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in 2002. As of 2014, it has been published in 23 territories and translated into 19 languages.
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and ending in New York City, the troubled Piper sisters depend on one another for survival.
536:"Theatre adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald's novel Fall on Your Knees to hit stage in 2023"
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Georgis, Dina. "Falling for Jazz: Desire, Dissonance, and Racial Collaboration."
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for the stage. This adaptation premiered in Toronto in January 2023 as a
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562:"Two-part play based on epic Canadian novel coming to Grand Theatre"
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Gordon, Neta. "Twin Tales: Narrative Profusion and Genealogy in
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At the start of the 20th century, James Piper sets out across
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by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise.
428:, Volume 35, Number 2 (2005): 159-176. Web. 24, Oct. 2011.
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Nimble Productions purchased the rights to the work for a
496:"Fall On Your Knees wins Commonwealth first-book prize".
417:, Volume 35, Number 2 (2005): 177-193. Web. 24 Oct. 2011.
406:, Volume 35, Number 2 (2005): 215-229. Web. 24 Oct. 2011.
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Interview with MacDonald about the book on Oprah.com
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524:. Halifax, Nova Scotia. 7 August 2014. p. D9.
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500:. Hamilton, Ontario. 3 May 1997. p. W2.
471:"Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald"
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186:by Canadian playwright, actor and novelist
604:Highlights of Oprah's Book Club discussion
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520:"Fall on Your Knees Could Be TV Series".
341:'s Libris Award (date of award unknown).
259:Learn how and when to remove this message
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589:Ann-Marie MacDonald official website
426:Canadian Review of American Studies
415:Canadian Review of American Studies
404:Canadian Review of American Studies
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363:Book Club for July/August 2014.
339:Canadian Booksellers Association
234:too long or excessively detailed
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359:in 2002 and was chosen for the
330:Also in 1997, the book won the
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624:Novels by Ann-Marie MacDonald
19:For the Christmas carol, see
594:Publisher's official website
560:Belanger, Joe (2022-05-03).
332:Canadian Authors Association
230:This article's plot summary
198:through the battlefields of
16:Novel by Ann-Marie MacDonald
644:Novels set in New York City
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325:Commonwealth Writers Prize
130:Commonwealth Writers Prize
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639:Novels set in Nova Scotia
323:, MacDonald won the 1997
205:The book was featured by
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289:Metropolitan Opera House
498:The Hamilton Spectator
634:Alfred A. Knopf books
566:The London Free Press
375:TV program in 2014.
361:Amnesty International
327:for Best First Book.
619:1996 Canadian novels
522:The Chronicle Herald
451:National Arts Centre
447:"Fall On Your Knees"
391:National Arts Centre
355:It was selected for
94:Simon & Schuster
334:Award for Fiction.
188:Ann-Marie MacDonald
168:Publisher's website
48:Ann-Marie MacDonald
38:First edition cover
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27:Fall on Your Knees
629:Family saga novels
540:The Globe and Mail
477:. January 24, 2002
422:Fall on Your Knees
411:Fall on Your Knees
387:Fall on Your Knees
321:Fall on Your Knees
273:Cape Breton Island
192:Cape Breton Island
179:Fall on Your Knees
69:Cape Breton Island
383:Hannah Moscovitch
357:Oprah's Book Club
315:Awards and honors
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90:Knopf Canada
21:O Holy Night
367:Adaptations
346:shortlisted
337:It won the
200:World War I
196:Nova Scotia
73:Nova Scotia
62:Set in
613:Categories
571:2022-06-06
546:2022-06-06
456:2023-01-27
433:References
182:is a 1996
475:oprah.com
352:in 1996.
249:June 2022
86:Publisher
385:adapted
348:for the
156:35035930
75:, Canada
54:Language
239:Please
232:may be
162:Website
57:English
481:May 8,
126:Awards
113:Canada
44:Author
184:novel
118:Pages
483:2020
381:and
319:For
150:OCLC
137:ISBN
105:1996
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