MacDonald, Ann-Marie

(Canadian, 1959– )

Ann-Marie MacDonald was already well known as an actress and scriptwriter in Canada before the publication of her first novel, Fall on Your Knees (1996, winner of the Commonwealth First Novel Prize). This beautifully written novel—in some ways a family saga—tells the story of the four Piper sisters, all of whom are unconventional, weighed down by poverty and religious uncertainty, yet determined to make their mark on a rapidly changing twentieth century. It is music that gives them hope, and ultimately takes it away, and the novel is haunted by a strangely compelling lyricism. It is difficult in places because of its breadth (it moves from turn-of-the-century Canada to New York in the 1950s), various plot-lines, and unusual narrative voice, but it is nevertheless both deeply moving and, in places, very entertaining.

Kate Atkinson, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie  SB