Rating: 
Summary: After In The Fall, anything I pick up seems second rate...
Review: This is a novel that has it all: well-developed characters that are sympathetic even when their actions are offensive; the moral question of slavery presented in a very thought-provoking and sometime troubling way; human failure; redemption; and finally, a prose that, once you catch its cadence and structure is truly a thing of beauty.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling and thought-provoking
Review: This is a book with an interesting premise that makes us look beyond the narrow parameters of our own lives and contemplate the difficulties of a black woman living in a white world in Vermont in an inter-racial marriage. The very act of a former female slave walking from Virginia to Vermont following the Civil War with a Union soldier who would become her husband is the type of prose that makes this book so interesting. The characters are well-defined and the plot flows easily. This was a random selection by me at the library, and I am now a confirmed Lent fan.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreakingly good debut novel
Review: If this is the freshman effort, bring on the follow-up! This is one of the most haunting, beautiful novels I've ever read. It has well-written dialogue and astounding descriptive prose. It's an excellent study of both a family and a nation in transition--which is a lot to ask of one novel--but Mr. Lent delivers with room to spare. It's not a "beach book" (it requires a little too much effort for that) but well worth the time. And the super, ambiguous ending sentence? What a great reward!
Rating: 
Summary: What a waste of my time
Review: I'm wondering if the people and pubs who wrote those rave reviews of Lent's "In the Fall" read the same book I did. I kept reading in the hope that it might get better. It didn't. And the big "secret" that supposedly doomed this family was so lame it was criminal. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning prose
Review: This is one of those rare novels that absolutely excited me in its restraint of words, of characters' motivations. Jeffrey Lent is able to move into those ambiguous spaces between people and weave his words around the wordlessness of their emotions. I found his stories of the first and third generations most absorbing, whereas the second generation was a reactive story - but what a read. Congratulations from one novelist to another!
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Summary: This book took me by suprise
Review: When I read the dust jacket I was intrigued; it's not often that an inter-racial romance involves a black woman and a white man and I wondered how the author was going to address the complexities of such an relationship which is difficult enough in these times. Then I looked at the author's picture and I thought, "wait a minute." It's not that I believe white men should not write about people of color. It's not my place to tell an author what they can or cannot write. But too often I have been offended or worse, disappointed with what I read. Too often the author falls into the easy cliches. A black woman is either a brava mamma or a hot mamma. The ugly secret of slavery has always been the sexual exploitation of black women (ask Thomas Jefferson). Because this country is unable or unwilling to come to terms with the terrible history of race, we live with the legacy of that ugly secret every day.The author of this book faced this issue with more courage, sensitivity and humanity than I could ever have believed possible. It will be a long time before I forget the story of Norman and Leah, one of the most beautiful and heart-breaking relationships I have encountered in years. Unlike the majority of people, I was very disappointed with Cold Mountain and my expectations for that book had been high. I didn't expect a lot from In the Fall, but I received so very much.
Rating:
Summary: A superbly crafted novel.
Review: In The Fall is a superbly crafted novel that presents a remarkable portrait of an American family through three generations. Beginnings at the twilight of the Civil War, Norman Pelham is a Union soldier that, wounded and near death, is discovered by Leah, a run-a-way slave. After Leah nurses Norman back to health they return together to Norman's family farm in Vermont as husband and wife, where they begin a family. As their children begin to approach adulthood, Leah finds herself compelled to return to the South to confront the demons she left behind many years before. Leah's journey will change her family's lives forever. Leah's secrets come to life with their grandson Foster is driven to retrace his family history. Dark secrets blister at the core of the Pelham family, transcendent bonds between men and women fuel their lives over the course of three generations and sixty years. The cost of confronting the past is as severe as the cost of fleeing from it. In The Fall is Jeffrey Lant splendid debut as an author of considerable stature, and will leave legions of enthusiastic readers looking eagerly toward his next book!
Rating:
Summary: Insight into the complexities of race relations in the US
Review: This is a beautifully wriiten book that delves into the complex issue of race relations in the guise of a family saga. The story was compelling, but the most interesting aspect of the book is that is makes one think about how complicated racial makeup is, and that any concept of race must take into account so much more than the skin-deep view. It is also a look at power, both political and sexual. and the close relationship of power and race. My only disappointment with the book was that there was very little elaboration on the schism between Jamie and his family and very little insight into his own feelings about his racial past and why he kept it hidden from those closest to him. Presumably it was because it was easier for him to "pass", but he did now seem like the kind of person to chose ease. I enjoyed the relationship of Foster and his dogs, and the positive view of women that pervaded the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Novel
Review: Many new novelists seem to think that they need to write in the first person, or spend an inordinate time putting themselves into any story, no matter how unlikely. I thought that In the Fall was one of the best books I have read in a long time. The main characters of the novel are shown in painful, unsparing detail, and the lives lived are often hard to read about. But you will, as the writing just keeps you reeled right in. I'm a dog person, and his descriptions of a young boy taking up dogs and dog training was just wonderful and (always surprising in a novel!) accurate. The descriptions of farm life in the late 19th, early 20th century, shown as grim yet oddly fullfilling, were enthralling. You can really lose yourself in this book, which is always a delightful surprise.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully slow
Review: True this book is a slow read and not an easy one at that but it is worth it! The story slowly unravels leaving the reader deeply involved in the characters. I was so disappointed to read several of your reader's reviews who thought that this story could be told in half the pages! Obviously they should stick to TV.
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