First published 2009
Tom Cole stands on a trolley platform in 1915 Niagara Falls, Ontario, watching seventeen-year-old Bess Heath step down from the car. He feels the same electric pull she does, but their worlds stand oceans apart. Tom comes from working-class stock, though he carries the legacy of a local hero grandfather and possesses an rare ability to read the Niagara River's moods. Bess belongs to a family that has tumbled from society's heights after her father lost his job at the hydroelectric company and turned to alcohol. Her mother now sews for women who were once her social equals. As Tom and Bess navigate the rigid class boundaries that separate them, the river itself faces threats from power companies eager to harness its force with cables, concrete, and steel. The Great War looms over their community, bringing changes that will reshape everything they know. Against the thundering backdrop of the falls, their love story unfolds amid the larger drama of a natural wonder under siege and a world transforming around them.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: class-divide, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Period: 1915
307 pages · Hardcover · Voice