Having been totally smitten with Catherine Gildiner's Too Close to the Falls, I have eagerly awaited a follow-up—and After the Falls (Viking, Nov.) certainly does not disappoint. From the unsettling move to Buffalo, N.Y., as a spirited 12-year old trying to fit in, to her wild and crazy political activist college years in the '60s, Gildiner takes us on quite a ride. Readers quickly discover that whenever Gildiner jumps into anything, she does so with both feet! Her writing is engaging and her stories are captivating; life with her parents is at once strange, funny, and painful, yet poignant. When tragedy strikes at home, she accepts and rises to the biggest challenge of her life. Gildiner has experiences that are not dissimilar to those of us who grew up in that time period. What she does that is so special is bring those experiences to life with her unique ability to tell a story. I loved this memoir and can't stop thinking about it.