In the post-nuclear suburbs of the nineteen-fifties and sixties the Field sisters are growing up under the tyrannical rule of their military-minded father and the stupefied neglect of their sweet, alcoholic mother. A black secret and a ferocious loyalty bind the sisters and bring their story “to a place where laughter seems as unavoidable as it is appropriate.” (The Village Voice)

released as a major motion picture

critical acclaim

“Scrupulously and evocatively wrought, with fully formed characters, Falling Angels brilliantly celebrates the bonding that occurs even in dysfunctional families.”
Publishers Weekly

“Barbara Gowdy is a gifted writer.”
The New York Times

“The three Field girls slouch toward womanhood in this excellent novel.”
Entertainment Weekly

“A dark gem of a novel.”
Library Journal

“Gowdy has written a corker: gripping, agonizing and funny.”
Literary Review/UK

“Falling Angels reads like Little Women on acid. Maniacally inventive and desperately funny.”
Time Out

“This funny, touching novel is reminiscent of early Margaret Atwood but with top-spin.”
The Independent on Sunday

“A hard-hitting book that presents all three daughters as fully realized characters. Richly imagined.”
The Los Angeles Times

“The discovery of the year.”
The Montreal Gazette

“Very few writers have ever tackled the subject on such a sweeping scale; fewer still have ever pulled it off so effectively. Barbara Gowdy is a talent that will have a major impact on what is left of the millennium.”
The Toronto Star

“A master conjurer of imagined lives.”
The Vancouver Sun

“A dazzling novel: shrewd, tragic and funny all at the same time.”
Books in Canada

“Her insights are dead-on and enlightening. This is a compelling and entertaining book. I couldn’t put it down.”
The Calgary Herald

“Hilariously, painfully familiar. Ultimately clarifying.”
Quill and Quire

“I loved the story.”
Margaret Atwood

“A wonderful book, a tragi-comedy that is virtually unsurpassed.”
Sachsische Zeitung

“Raises goose bumps right up until the end.”
Die Wienerin

“A breathtaking book.”
Bavarian Radio

“Masterly and virtuoso.”
North German Radio

“Exquisitely written.”
Freudin