Catherine Gildiner, After the Falls

Talking Leaves…Books will host Niagara Falls native and best-selling author Catherine Gildiner to celebrate the U.S. release of the second installment of her memoir, After the Falls: Coming of Age in the Sixties (Viking Press). Too Close to the Falls has been one of our favorites here since its publication a decade ago (Catherine read here upon its release); we know plenty of readers have been waiting, like we have, to hear more of her story. The reading and signing will take place on Monday, November 8 at 7 pm at our Main Street store. Copies of the books will be available for purchase; the event is free and open to the public.

We begin in 1960; twelve-year-old Cathy McClure has just been thrown out of Catholic school for-among other transgressions-filling the holy water fount with vodka. In the hopes of giving Cathy a fresh start away from their small town, the McClures leave behind Niagara Falls and the family pharmacy to start over in suburban Buffalo. But life in a subdivision and a school filled with "pubescent cheddar" holds little appeal for a girl who began working at four and smoking at nine. As the quaint world of 1950s America recedes into history, Cathy dives headfirst into the 1960s. Along the way, she adopts many personas with gusto-vandal, HoJo hostess, FBI suspect, civil rights demonstrator- but when tragedy strikes at home, Cathy must take on her most challenging role yet.

As candid and compelling as Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Jeanette Walls's The Glass Castle, After the Falls is an irresistible account of one girl's coming-of-age during a tumultuous era and the moving tale of a rebellious spirit learning what it means to be a daughter.

“Her restlessness and a fundamentally outspoken and argumentative nature regularly catapult her further than simple teenage trouble, and she frequently fails at the standard American girlhood, often with comic results. The conflicts between the narrator's individuality and conformity propel her into her first relationship at the same time that the seismic shifts in American society, culture, and politics hit home with ever-increasing force. On the page as in life, comedy, tragedy, and elegy live right on top of each other, and as with most remarkable memoirs, the straightforward, honest voice and perspective are steady even in the most painful moments.” Publishers Weekly

“….As much as a coming of age story, this is a love story twice told—the love story of Gildiner’s parents and the love story of a daughter and a father. This is a wonderful book to start a new year of reading.” —The Chronicle Herald

Catherine Gildiner wrote her doctoral thesis on the influence of Darwin on Freud, and has been a clinical psychologist in private practice for several years. She has written psychological advice columns for a Canadian women's magazine and numerous newspaper articles on a wide range of subjects. Her first book, Too Close to the Falls, was published in Canada, the US and the UK to wide acclaim. Her first novel, Seduction, was on Canadian and Dutch bestseller lists and was also published in Germany, Bulgaria and in a French language edition. She lives in Toronto.