Before the Fall

by Orna Ross

"A highly ambitious, engaging, and evocative novel and a hauntingly captivating read." -The Sunday Independent

What happens when a woman is haunted by the sins of her foremothers–and the men who betrayed them?

Facing the birth of her child, and single motherhood, Jo Devereux has spent the last six months in Mucknamore, the Irish village she fled twenty years ago.

A trunk of letters and diaries left by her grandmother and great-aunt has revealed a heartbreaking legacy of bitter secrets that have haunted the women of her family for four generations.

Now she must find out the ultimate truth: What other secrets and lies lie under her mother’s and grandmother’s unshakeable silence? How does it connect with her failed life as a gender-bending agony aunt in San Franciso? And what of Rory… her lost love, son of her family’s sworn enemies?

Will Jo’s mission to uncover the past unlock a possible future together? Or are they about to lose everything all over again?

As she pieces together the poisonous fragments of the past, Jo must now face into the guilt and shame that were her legacy and see how she might best redeem them in her own life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland, Mystery, Historical, Drama, Contemporary

260 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2012

About the author

Orna Ross is an award-winning historical novelist, poet, and founder-director of the global non-profit for self-publishing writers, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

An international bestseller, she enjoys book sales in 120+ countries worldwide and her awards include the Goethe Historical Fiction Grand Prize Award for fiction, Gold Literary Titan award for poetry, the Romantic Novelists Association's Indie Champion Award, The Writers' Digest's Top Websites for Writers, and The Bookseller's Top 100 people in publishing.

In what she describes as “the best move of my writing life”, Orna took her book rights back from her publishers in 2011. The experience has made her a passionate advocate for the commercial and creative empowerment of authors through self-publishing and selective rights licensing.

Reviews

[Lindsay♫SingerOfStories♫ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book more than the first. It delved into so many more issues--the gay community, AIDS, marital and familial struggles, mental institutionalization, feminism, immigration and racism. And oh, I thought I cried when reading the first book, I cried more here. I predicted the patronage from the middle of the first book, but the truth about what really happened with Dan I didn't see coming. I wanted a happy ending with Rory SO badly but I can see the bigger picture. This book isn't about what's easy; it's about what is right. It's also about living in the moment, and about loving in the moment. The message hit hard and close to home. Loved these two books more than I thought I would. ((Is there a third? Or is there a third coming? It says trilogy but I don't see it. This one wrapped up pretty nicely...though I would love to see Rory finally live up to the chase. Seriously, they're meant to be!!!))

[Colin Garrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1995, pregnant Jo Devereux is still living in Ireland. Caught between her relationship with former lover Rory and the desire to return home to San Francisco, Jo battles with the past and its possible impact on her future, as she unravels her family’s possible involvement in the death of Rory’s great-uncle, suffocated in Mucknamore’s notorious sinking sands. Writing her family’s history, she discovers how Granny Peg rescued Nora from a mental institute, only to trigger further problems with the O’Donovans.

Following on from the first book in this trilogy, ‘After the Rising’, the story flips between 1920s and 1990s Ireland, and 1980s San Francisco. The book is beautifully written and draws the reader into a web of history, lies and murder. The characters are all deftly drawn and really come alive off the page, taking us into the heart of their lives and the difficulties of each generation. The dialogue, particularity, is realistic in each setting and gives a real sense of who the characters were.

A superbly written tale that fully engaged me from the first page.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 4 out of 5]

It worked well reading this immediately after finishing 'After The Rising' 'After the Rising' as it follows on with events in Mucknamore seamlessly continuing the modern day (1995) story of Jo Devereux, who is still in Ireland researching into the family history and trying to deal with her feelings for her old love Rory O'Donovan.

As in the first volume of the trilogy the storyline jumps between locations and generations. Continuing the family dramas, though this time concentrating more on the characters of Peg and Norah and what happens to them in the 1920's. Besides being set in Ireland the contemporary part of the story also takes the reader to the USA where AIDS was starting to take a hold when Jo first went to live there in the 1980's.
As Jo comes to understand exactly what freedom cost the families and how the past has haunted three generations, she realises that once can never truly break free from family.
There is so much love and grief intertwined with mystery, which if you have read the previous volume I do not think you can fail to be moved by.

Just like the first volume this is written in a flowing expressive style and left me knowing a little more about Irish history. Still looking forward to reading the third title in the trilogy, recommended to fans of historical fiction.

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[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orna Ross has a gift for storytelling and her writing is superb. While Before the Fall didn't have the same impact for me personally as her previous book, After The Rising, it's a must-read to appreciate the full outcome of this compelling generational tale with its accompanying mystery. And what an eye-catching, gorgeous cover!

3.5 stars

[Barb Reimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Layers of stories about women who face the struggles in Ireland, the relationships those struggles create and destroy, and the women lives that evolve from that history. There is more than one story being told here but the women are related which I think makes reading the book more compelling. I am ready for the third in the trilogy. Well worth the time.

[Judie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than the first.

[Dawn Lennon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the second book in the series, Ross doesn't disappoint. Actually, she does a extraordinary job tying up the myriad of questions that impelled me to read book two, right after reading book one. There was no momentum lost, a good reason not to delay between the two books.

Ross's ability to weave her story on multiple levels is both impressive and alluring. Both books really constitute a family mystery; as the mystery unfolds, the reader experiences the discoveries bit by bit, over time. There is no bombshell chapter here; instead there are insights and understandings that ooze through wonderful writing.

But this is not just a book about finding the truth behind events. It's a book as much about the true complexities behind human behavior...the motivations, the enigmas, the imprints made by family, the pain of mistakes and hard decisions, and how learning about love is the greatest personal mystery that we all face in some form or another.

I found Ross's ability to capture the underlying truths that her characters discover about themselves as powerful as the revelation of a family secret that was about what drives us to act upon unspeakable loss, injustice, and the power of cause.

[Carol Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orna Ross' novel "Before The Fall" is a story that spans three generations and three countries with sweeping grandeur. It is a story of love won and lost, hate, secrets kept and secrets revealed, war, birth and death, family dysfunction, and fierce independence. I was compelled to read far into the night for want of knowing what was to come next. I highly recommend Ms. Ross' novel, set in Ireland, the U.K., and the United States. Her use of the Irish language is genuine and intriguing which helps promote bonds with each of the characters. They literally come alive as they speak! As a Registered Nurse, I am delighted to say that Ms. Ross accurately describes the medical procedures performed during childbirth as well as the thoughts and feelings of the new mother-to-be, Jo Devereaux. I am anxious to read "After the Rising," the prequel to "Before the Fall," although stand alone books in their own right. Ms. Ross has a gift...it's yours for the taking...open it and enjoy!

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like this as much as the first book in the series. It did answer most of the questions I had about the family situation and the Irish troubles except for two.

First of all, about Rory. He was one of the O'Donovans but who were his parents. Never did find the answer to that question. Did I miss it somewhere? As well, I never understood why Jo's mother disliked her so. There never was a valid reason that I could see.

Jo was rather an unsympathetic character. She made a mess of her life and I'm not sure the next chapter was really going to be much better. I liked Granny Peg. She did what she thought she had to do. That's about the best one can do is the world the way it has been for centuries.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a complex book to read and get into. Listening to it with the text-to-speech facility on the Kindle was difficult because there were no breaks between the historical and modern sections. This is a problem with this feature of Kindle which has yet to be resolved if blind users are to get the full benefit out of it. Nevertheless, the story was well constructed and had a satisfying end. i recommend it to readers who are familiar with Irish history; for myself, I found the up-to-date sections more accessible and the characters easier to sympathise with.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before the Fall is a sequel. I hadn't read the first book, but this book is still perfectly fine as a stand alone novel. Before the Fall is a wonderfully written novel about three generations of family. Orna Ross is a great author and not only was this book good, it's made me want to find out more about Irish history. It was easy to get into and of course I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. It's a good decent book worth reading.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister had bought me this book and with her sense of reading I felt hesitant. Then I started reading and I got hooked. It was like I couldn't turn a page down. REALLY cool book but it was a little sad.

[Terry]

Free on Kindle today 4/3/12

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took awhile for me to get into this book. It was a good read over all, though. It is a sequel, which I didn't realize until after beginning it. I do think I will read book one, also, though.