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The Year She Fell
by
Alicia Rasley (Goodreads Author)
The tragic mystery at the heart of their family has finally surfaced . . .
When Presbyterian minister Ellen Wakefield O'Connor is confronted by a young man armed with a birth certificate that mistakenly names her as his mother, she quickly sorts out the truth: his birth mother listed Ellen on the certificate to cover up her own identity, but also because Ellen is, in a way...more
When Presbyterian minister Ellen Wakefield O'Connor is confronted by a young man armed with a birth certificate that mistakenly names her as his mother, she quickly sorts out the truth: his birth mother listed Ellen on the certificate to cover up her own identity, but also because Ellen is, in a way...more
Kindle Edition, 318 pages
Published
November 15th 2010
by Bell Bridge Books
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I can't believe I read this whole book, but I am cheap (free on Kindle), stubborn (to a fault? perhaps), and curious (about how the author would make this work out). This started off pretty good, actually... and then it was like the author couldn't figure out how to fit it together, so she just flipped POV and trod over the same ground repeatedly until she got to the end. Kind of like what you might do as a writing exercise when you're stuck, not when writing an ACTUAL BOOK.
I also thought it ver...more
I also thought it ver...more
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This book was a big surprise to me. When I started reading it at first I lost interest pretty fast. After a chapter or two I decided it just wasn't for me and I removed it from my kindle. A few days later though I got onto the Cloud Reader on my PC and began to read it. Why? I don't really know.
After reading it for a while in class I was hooked. I began to enjoy it and wanted to hear the rest. This book ALWAYS surprised me. When I thought I'd figured it out, something would shift in the story li...more
After reading it for a while in class I was hooked. I began to enjoy it and wanted to hear the rest. This book ALWAYS surprised me. When I thought I'd figured it out, something would shift in the story li...more
When Ellen Wakefield O'Connor is confronted by a young man with a birth certificate that mistakenly names her as the mother, she quickly tries to get to the truth behind it. She learns the birth mother was trying to cover up her identity, but eventually, Ellen learns she is related to the child. The father is Ellen's husband Tom. Soon the secrets of the past threaten to tear them apart, and other long buried family secrets come to light also.
This story of love, loss, and betrayal is told by the...more
This story of love, loss, and betrayal is told by the...more
I was hesitant with this book based on some of the reviews that I read, but I'm glad that I stuck with it.
The beginning I didn't like so much (Ellen's point of view). I liked the first chapter, it was intriguing but then I felt like it went off course. However, the more I read, the more I really liked the book. I think it all came together really well in the end.
I do agree with some of the other people's reviews about the ending, that it was sort of lame and that it almost felt like a copout be...more
The beginning I didn't like so much (Ellen's point of view). I liked the first chapter, it was intriguing but then I felt like it went off course. However, the more I read, the more I really liked the book. I think it all came together really well in the end.
I do agree with some of the other people's reviews about the ending, that it was sort of lame and that it almost felt like a copout be...more
I enjoyed reading this book. The main thread, the search of a birth mother, a cause of death and the truth, was revealed in surprising twists and turns, and with some amusing diversions. I worked out the cause of death quite early on, and was surprised when no-one picked up on the massive death scene clue (not even the author, apparently). I took longer in working out the birth mother, but that was due to information availablility.
To contrast with the main story threads, there were lighter momen...more
To contrast with the main story threads, there were lighter momen...more
Another free Kindle download that I wouldn't normally read but I found myself liking. Part mystery, part crazy rich family, part too-much-family-drama. The novel is set in the mountains of West Virginia, and the Wakefields are richest family of their town. The book is told from several different perspectives: the 3 Wakefield sisters Ellen, Laurie and Theresa, as well as Ellen and Laurie's men: Tom and Jackson. Mrs. Wakefield is the social matriarch of her town, and has done a LOT of lying to pro...more
Read as a free kindle download. This is not the kind of thing I would usually read, but after a chapter I was drawn in by the curious circumstances surrounding the character of Ellen.
Ellen was a teacher for many years, then became a minister. With her teenage daughter away at summer camp, her world is turned upside down. When a boy barely older than her own child shows up with a birthcertificate baring her name. While dealing with the boy Ellen must try to get her sisters to help find what mig...more
Ellen was a teacher for many years, then became a minister. With her teenage daughter away at summer camp, her world is turned upside down. When a boy barely older than her own child shows up with a birthcertificate baring her name. While dealing with the boy Ellen must try to get her sisters to help find what mig...more
Jan 08, 2011
kim
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Book Club
Recommended to kim by:
Kindle
I downloaded this for free as a Kindle book. I got caught up in it immediately, to the point that I was willing to read it on my small iPhone screen. The story begins when a Presbyterian minister is confronted by a young man with a birth certificate showing her as his mother. She proves to him that this is impossible, since her only child was born just a few months later, and then notices he looks exactly like his father.....her husband. She goes back to her small WV hometown to think things ov...more
This book would have been better written in the style of Mary Higgins Clark. Take the five different viewpoints and weave them together in shorter snippets around the events instead of recovering old ground with each character. However, to give Alicia Rasley credit, each viewpoint does take you closer to the conclusion than the previous one, which creates the plot building effect. I felt the story had climaxed before we got to Theresa or Jackson. Theresa's viewpoint caught my interest at the poi...more
I thought this was a pretty good book. Story about 4 sisters, one who has passed away, and their relationship with their mom. The story starts out with the 3 remaining sisters going back to their family home because of concerns over their mom's health. Laura is an actress, Ellen is a pastor and Theresa is contemplating becoming a nun. The book gets into their relationships with each other and their partners. Theresa was adopted as a child and there's a nice twist regarding her adoption. Ellen is...more
I was skeptical as I started this book. as with so many ebooks the editing is not great and that always sets my radar off. As I read through. the first few chapters though, I became curious about how the mystery of young Brian's parentage would play out.
The author finally had me really interested and switched to another narrator. The POV change was annoying as much of the same ground was covered but not with the same memories.
Ultimately I found that I just liked some narrators more than others a...more
The author finally had me really interested and switched to another narrator. The POV change was annoying as much of the same ground was covered but not with the same memories.
Ultimately I found that I just liked some narrators more than others a...more
So far this book is reminding of "Secrets Sisters Keep". Rasley talks a lot about Psychology, but it seems like her depth of knowledge on the topic doesn't go beyond a rudimentary online search of Adler's theories on sibling birth order and a quick overview of a high school Psychology text book.
I'll keep reading, and let you know what I think when I finish.
*Update*
After a few chapters of Ellen's story, it switches to Laurie's story. This was a nice change and I think Rasley did a good job of g...more
I'll keep reading, and let you know what I think when I finish.
*Update*
After a few chapters of Ellen's story, it switches to Laurie's story. This was a nice change and I think Rasley did a good job of g...more
This book made me feel like I was holding on to the end of a rope that was swinging uncontrollably. There was SO much to it. Amazon says that it's 318 pages. I read it on my Kindle so I don't know if that's correct but it sure seemed a lot longer than that. Narrators switch throughout the book, which I liked, except there was a little too much wordy back story in some parts. Other parts were really far fetched but I guess that's why it's fiction. There was just SO much thrown at you..twists and...more
The cover picture and the title itself threw me for a loop, but it all made sense in the end. I don't often give 5 stars, but Alicia Rasley presents an intricately woven story that gives the reader complex characters, a fascinating plot, and varies the points of views in a sort of Jodi Picoult style. Secrets from the past surface to rattle a high class family whose ties to one another are tenuous at best. But awful secrets and how you handle them when they are discovered can strengthen bonds, cr...more
I really debated whether I was going to give this one 2 or 3 stars. I settled on 2.5. The story overall is pretty good, but there are parts (such as the kidnapping) that just don't fit. The story is told from several different people's points of view. While I enjoyed this method of storytelling, the whole thing just wasn't quite interesting enough. I found myself speed reading through three quarters of the book so I could hurry up and find out what happens in the end - get it over with. So while...more
Three sisters reunite out of concern for their mother's health and family secrets emerge one by one, resulting in changed lives for all. Some of them aren't who they thought they were! I liked the plot - it kept unraveling and changing. I did not like the chase scene at the end but then I've always hated chase scenes. Also in my Kindle version there were a lot of mistakes and I'm not sure if they were in the book edition but the grammatical errors and typos were distracting to me. All in all, so...more
Mar 03, 2011
Jocey
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
9th-grade-advisory-reading-shelf
The Year She Fell is a book about this women Ellen Wakefield and her family. Her family is really rich and are one of the founders and wealthiest families in the town she grew up in. In this book Ellen goes back home after learning that her husband had another child. That happened before there marriage. This book is manily about the families secrets which all come out.
The message in this book is that everything truly is not what it seems. Their family seems so perfect but as the secrets come o...more
The message in this book is that everything truly is not what it seems. Their family seems so perfect but as the secrets come o...more
I downloaded this book as a free KINDLE read from Amazon. It was a good story and kept my interest throughout, adding a few twists and turns that kept me guessing. The characters were well-defined and interesting. I did figure out the ending, but not until the last few chapters. The author used different characters to narrate the story, which I typically enjoy, however this time there seemed to be a lot of backtracking when the character changed. It made parts of the book just a tad redundant fo...more
This was a free download for my Kindle and is the story of a wealthy family in West Virginia. Three sisters are reunited over concerns about their mother's health, and all are escaping something by returning home. The main theme in the book has to do with secrets and if we are better off knowing the truth or is it better to keep things hidden from one another. I liked it, but the point of view switches five times. While I liked being able to see the events from each character's view point, it do...more
Jan 20, 2011
VLynch
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contempary-fiction,
drama
This book started out very interesting. A young man looking for his real parents, and finding out the mother listed on his birth certificate is a lie. I was completely wrapped up in this book and then.... it started telling the story from different points of view. The wife, the husband, the sister, the other sister, the young man, the sister's high school boyfriend, etc. Holy cow, I actually expected a few side notes from the neighbors cat! Great story, but too long and too much "junk". After I...more
Wow! a first person novel, the story advances one first person point of view at a time. Starting with Ellen, the minister being approached by a 18/19 year old kid who has a birth certificate saying that she's his mother and discovering he's her husband's son and her husband won't tell either of them who the real mother is. Just as you think with each point of view that this major marital secret is being solved more explosive secrets bubble up.
Suspenseful, well written and explosive. I felt like...more
Suspenseful, well written and explosive. I felt like...more
For a free book, this really wasn't bad. It feels like a juicy day-time soap opera that's compelling and cheesy at the same time. It's a mystery set in a small college town in West Virginia. It's a bit trashy: who got who pregnant? did so-and-so die by accident? by suicide? by - gasp - murder?
The only thing that drove me nuts is the author recounted the exact same situations from different character's points of view. Although interesting to hear what the characters thought, it became very redun...more
The only thing that drove me nuts is the author recounted the exact same situations from different character's points of view. Although interesting to hear what the characters thought, it became very redun...more
A free download for my Kindle (that is no longer free!) & I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. Instantly hooked me..a young boy looking for his birth mother & finds the woman whose name is on the original birth certificate. She's a minister, but knows she's not the mother & can prove that because she had a daughter months before his birth. But why is her name on the birth certificate? Ah...a good read for the mystery, love, suspense & entertaining. I really did love this b...more
This book starts out from the point of view of Ellen (Wakefield) O'Connor, as she finds out a deeply buried secret about her husband Tom. From there it moves through several different characters points of view, as more secrets are unearthed about the old rich family that Ellen belongs to in West Virgina.
I'll be honest, the jumping around of points of view annoyed me. I normally love it when a story is told by many characters, but in this instance once you left a characters point of view, you ne...more
I'll be honest, the jumping around of points of view annoyed me. I normally love it when a story is told by many characters, but in this instance once you left a characters point of view, you ne...more
This book was 2.5 stars for me. It was a decent read... but I had a hard time getting past some of the inconsistencies at the beginning. The biggest one was what I assume was a mistake... the story begins with a young man looking for his birth mother, who was incorrectly listed on his birth certificate. The first time the birth certificate is referenced, the boy was born in 1986. Then throughout the rest of the book, Ellen, the main character keeps mentioning that the boy must have been conceive...more
Not normally the sort of book I'd pick to read as I prefer fantasy and sci-fi, but it was the most interesting sounding of the Kindle free books at that time. I have no regrets whatsoever though because I enjoyed it from start to finish and only put it down when it was time to sleep. The twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing as to who was the bad guy, and even though the perspective of the narrative changes a lot, I still had time to care about each of the main protagonists. I would reco...more
This was an enjoyable read. Rasley does a great job of portraying complicated family relationships in a realistic manner. The story itself was touching and while the ending felt just a tad bit over the top, it was the most satisfying conclusion the story could have come to. I loved the characters for their fallibility and each point of view felt unique. I would definitely recommend reading this one. For Kindle readers, it is currently available for free in the Amazon Kindle Store.
This book kept me reading. I wasn't a big fan of the storytelling style. It was told from the perspective of several different characters and each time you switched characters, the story would essentially "start over" based on their experience. While each one's story was certainly interesting, I was getting really impatient to find out what happens. The ending was kind of lame and seemed more like an easy way of ending the story, as opposed to making it interesting.
What to say about this book... well... it was kind of hard to read to be honest. It just did not keep my interest very well until about halfway through and then I couldn't put it down. Not because at that time I was enticed by the story or the writing but just because I needed to know the answer.to the mystery. What was most frusterating was that the mystery would almost be solved and then it changed perspectives and start from the beginning. I'm glad it's over.
The story actually started out fairly interesting, but then took turns to the ridiculous and unbelievable. After rehashing the same events from several characters points of view, I wondered who would be next, the dead sister? When I downloaded this free kindle book I thought it might be the drama of a family dealing with an unexpected turn of events in their life. It was more like a soap opera, "When the Stomach Turns", to borrow from Carol Burnett.
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