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When The Fall Is All There Is
Ted Gray was the best thing ever to come out of Stockbridge, New Hampshire. A quarterback of surpassing skill and a student of limitless potential, Ted found his way to Yale and Columbia before slinking back home, victim of his own potential, of his own hubris.
WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS tells the tale of a young man of talent, of intellect, of destiny…and yet aware of the cost of all of these. Ted Gray conquered his small town and left to conquer the world. Except he learned, to his peril, that the world is not so readily conquered. The world fights back. And with Ted, it sent him back to Stockbridge, tail between his legs, a man-boy defeated, a prodigal son who failed to achieve the requisite heights. Back home, a failure in his own mind, he coaches football and teaches history and falls in love with Jill Ward, a woman with her own disappointments. Will Ted reclaim his lofty destiny? Or will he embrace something more human and ultimately more satisfying?
A novel of love and failure, WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS explores Ted’s efforts to understand his fall from grace, to come to terms with a lesser life, a smaller life, a life with value despite its smallness. Echoing Frank Deford’s Everybody’s All-American, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, and Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You, AFTER THE FALL summons the small-town New Hampshire ethos of John Irving and marries it to the narrative density of Sherwood Anderson or Thomas Hardy. This is a novel that celebrates and deconstructs place, that roots and tethers its characters, that seeks to transcend setting and fails.
WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS is a contemporary fiction novel by author Joe Pace, whose novel MOSS earned the 2023 Hawthorne Prize for Fiction and was recognized as the 2023 Fiction work of the year by the New Hampshire Writers’ Project.
WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS tells the tale of a young man of talent, of intellect, of destiny…and yet aware of the cost of all of these. Ted Gray conquered his small town and left to conquer the world. Except he learned, to his peril, that the world is not so readily conquered. The world fights back. And with Ted, it sent him back to Stockbridge, tail between his legs, a man-boy defeated, a prodigal son who failed to achieve the requisite heights. Back home, a failure in his own mind, he coaches football and teaches history and falls in love with Jill Ward, a woman with her own disappointments. Will Ted reclaim his lofty destiny? Or will he embrace something more human and ultimately more satisfying?
A novel of love and failure, WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS explores Ted’s efforts to understand his fall from grace, to come to terms with a lesser life, a smaller life, a life with value despite its smallness. Echoing Frank Deford’s Everybody’s All-American, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, and Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You, AFTER THE FALL summons the small-town New Hampshire ethos of John Irving and marries it to the narrative density of Sherwood Anderson or Thomas Hardy. This is a novel that celebrates and deconstructs place, that roots and tethers its characters, that seeks to transcend setting and fails.
WHEN THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS is a contemporary fiction novel by author Joe Pace, whose novel MOSS earned the 2023 Hawthorne Prize for Fiction and was recognized as the 2023 Fiction work of the year by the New Hampshire Writers’ Project.
238 pages, Paperback
Published November 23, 2024
5 people want to read
About the author
Joe Pace
5 books36 followersJoe Pace is a writer of science fiction, historical fiction, and short stories. He studied political science and history at the University of New Hampshire, and his writing reflects his ongoing academic and practical interest in both.
Joe has also served in elective office, taught American history, and worked in business banking. His eclectic interests range from pro football to comic books to ballroom dancing to making the perfect hand-rolled meatball.
As a storyteller, he seeks to weave classic science fiction with political intrigue full of memorable characters in the tradition of Isaac Asimov, Piers Anthony, George R.R. Martin, and Star Trek.
Joe was born and raised in seacoast New Hampshire and still considers it home, even as he wanders about the country with his wife, Sarah, and their two sons, Bobby and Xavier.
His novel MOSS won the Hawthorne Prize for Fiction and was the recipient of the NH Writer's Project award for Fiction in 2023. He continues to write in the hopes that you'll enjoy his words as much as he does.
Joe has also served in elective office, taught American history, and worked in business banking. His eclectic interests range from pro football to comic books to ballroom dancing to making the perfect hand-rolled meatball.
As a storyteller, he seeks to weave classic science fiction with political intrigue full of memorable characters in the tradition of Isaac Asimov, Piers Anthony, George R.R. Martin, and Star Trek.
Joe was born and raised in seacoast New Hampshire and still considers it home, even as he wanders about the country with his wife, Sarah, and their two sons, Bobby and Xavier.
His novel MOSS won the Hawthorne Prize for Fiction and was the recipient of the NH Writer's Project award for Fiction in 2023. He continues to write in the hopes that you'll enjoy his words as much as he does.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 14, 2025
Joe Pace’s When the Fall Is All There Is hit me like a punch to the gut. It’s a novel about failure, but not the kind that comes from a lack of effort. It’s the kind that creeps in despite talent, intelligence, and hard work—the kind that haunts a person. Ted Gray was once the pride of Stockbridge, New Hampshire. Quarterback. Valedictorian. Class president. A golden boy destined for greatness. But instead of conquering the world, he ends up right back where he started, a man with a past too big for his present. The novel follows Ted as he wrestles with his own shortcomings, navigating the expectations of a town that once saw him as its shining star.
Pace’s writing is razor-sharp, full of sentences that cut deep. The opening lines set the tone perfectly: “Stockbridge tasted like failure, merciless and bitter.” That bitterness bleeds into every scene as Ted moves through the town that once worshiped him. The details about Stockbridge itself, the war memorial, the rundown train station, the high school that still holds ghosts of his past make the setting feel alive. Pace has a way of making small-town nostalgia feel both comforting and suffocating at the same time.
What makes the novel really hit home is its brutal honesty about success and expectations. Ted isn’t a washed-up loser, but he’s not a winner either; he’s something in between, stuck in a limbo that’s painfully relatable. There’s a scene where he walks past his old high school, seeing his former self in every brick and blade of grass, and it’s heartbreaking. He’s not just mourning lost potential; he’s trying to figure out if he was ever that great to begin with. And then there’s Jill Ward, a woman from his past with a quiet grudge against him. Their interactions crackle with unspoken resentment and regret, adding another layer to Ted’s unraveling identity.
The sports element especially the football flashbacks is handled masterfully. The game commentary interwoven with Ted’s memories of the championship he lost is a gut-wrenching device. The repeated countdown of the final seconds, mirroring his fall from grace, builds a tension that lingers long after the scene ends. But it’s not really about football. It’s about the weight of expectations, about how a single moment can define a person even years later. Pace makes it clear: Stockbridge hasn’t forgotten Ted Gray’s fall, and neither has he.
I’d recommend When the Fall Is All There Is to anyone who’s ever felt the sting of falling short whether in sports, school, or life itself. It’s for people who know what it’s like to return home and feel like a stranger. It’s for readers who appreciate introspective, character-driven stories with a sharp emotional edge. Pace doesn’t offer easy answers, but he does offer a raw, powerful story about finding meaning when everything you thought you’d be is out of reach. This book lingers. It makes you think. And, like all great stories, it hurts in the best way possible.
Pace’s writing is razor-sharp, full of sentences that cut deep. The opening lines set the tone perfectly: “Stockbridge tasted like failure, merciless and bitter.” That bitterness bleeds into every scene as Ted moves through the town that once worshiped him. The details about Stockbridge itself, the war memorial, the rundown train station, the high school that still holds ghosts of his past make the setting feel alive. Pace has a way of making small-town nostalgia feel both comforting and suffocating at the same time.
What makes the novel really hit home is its brutal honesty about success and expectations. Ted isn’t a washed-up loser, but he’s not a winner either; he’s something in between, stuck in a limbo that’s painfully relatable. There’s a scene where he walks past his old high school, seeing his former self in every brick and blade of grass, and it’s heartbreaking. He’s not just mourning lost potential; he’s trying to figure out if he was ever that great to begin with. And then there’s Jill Ward, a woman from his past with a quiet grudge against him. Their interactions crackle with unspoken resentment and regret, adding another layer to Ted’s unraveling identity.
The sports element especially the football flashbacks is handled masterfully. The game commentary interwoven with Ted’s memories of the championship he lost is a gut-wrenching device. The repeated countdown of the final seconds, mirroring his fall from grace, builds a tension that lingers long after the scene ends. But it’s not really about football. It’s about the weight of expectations, about how a single moment can define a person even years later. Pace makes it clear: Stockbridge hasn’t forgotten Ted Gray’s fall, and neither has he.
I’d recommend When the Fall Is All There Is to anyone who’s ever felt the sting of falling short whether in sports, school, or life itself. It’s for people who know what it’s like to return home and feel like a stranger. It’s for readers who appreciate introspective, character-driven stories with a sharp emotional edge. Pace doesn’t offer easy answers, but he does offer a raw, powerful story about finding meaning when everything you thought you’d be is out of reach. This book lingers. It makes you think. And, like all great stories, it hurts in the best way possible.
February 1, 2025
Joe Pace does it again with a novel that gives real-life emotion to a fictional town and characters! The story is centered around Ted Gray returning to his home town, but along the way you get to meet so many others who call Stockbridge home—really making it feel like you know everyone in the small town. Ted’s life is underpinned by a passion for football and teaching history, which heavily influences the novel’s narrative. I’ve throughly enjoyed all 3 of Pace’s most recent novels, including this one, After Lisa, and Moss—truly a testament to Pace as a writer! Please keep on writing because I look forward to your new book each year!
December 27, 2024
Pace does it again. This story is even more relatable than the last. Although a work of fiction it feels so real it reads like nonfiction. You can feel the relationships, the local landmarks, the whole story as if it were your own home town. Pick this one up today for a quick read. You won’t regret it!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews