And Then She Fell

A Novel

By: Alicia Elliott

Narrated by: Cheri Maracle, Jenna Clause

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A Globe and Mail "Best Book of 2023"; a Most Anticipated Book Pick by Good Morning America, Bustle, CrimeReads, Electric Literature, Debutiful, Ms. Magazine, The Nerd Daily, and Paste

A mind-bending, razor-sharp look at motherhood and mental health that follows a young Indigenous woman who discovers the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequences

On the surface, Alice is exactly where she thinks she should be: She’s just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve—a white academic whose area of study is conveniently her own Mohawk culture—is nothing but supportive; and they’ve moved into a new home in a posh Toronto neighborhood. But Alice could not feel like more of an impostor. She isn’t connecting with her daughter, a struggle made even more difficult by the recent loss of her own mother, and every waking moment is spent hiding her despair from Steve and their ever-watchful neighbors, among whom she’s the sole Indigenous resident. Even when she does have a minute to herself, her perpetual self-doubt hinders the one vestige of her old life she has left: her goal of writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, strange things start to happen. She finds herself losing bits of time and hearing voices she can’t explain, all while her neighbors’ passive-aggressive behavior begins to morph into something far more threatening. Though Steve assures her this is all in her head, Alice cannot fight the feeling that something is very, very wrong, and that in her creation story lies the key to her and Dawn’s survival.... She just has to finish it before it’s too late.

Told in Alice’s raw and darkly funny voice, And Then She Fell is an urgent and unflinching exploration of inherited trauma, womanhood, denial, and false allyship, which speeds to an unpredictable—and surreal—climax.

©2023 Alicia Elliott (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Jenna Clause and Cheri Maracle perform this heartrending horror novel by Mohawk author Alicia Elliot.... Clause portrays Alice with an ear for dialogue and a strong sense of rhythm. Clause captures all of the anguish and panic Alice experiences. Maracle portrays the perspective of one of Alice's family members who is desperate to help her with her deteriorating mental health." (AudioFile)

“A tale of compromise, madness, and recuperation.... Alice’s observations, however unreliable they become, suggest above all the significance of cultural erasure and appropriation for Indigenous peoples, the ongoing impact of policies of cultural genocide, and the rest of the country’s routine incomprehension of or indifference to Indigenous suffering.... “[T]he novel’s plot moves along briskly and suspensefully.” —Kirkus

"And Then She Fell is a daring, dark exploration of motherhood, mental health and identity.... An investigation into inherited trauma and womanhood, this voice-centered novel packs quite a punch.\" —Zibby Owens, Good Morning America

"[A] bitingly hilarious, spine-tingling, genre-blurring fiction debut.... Elliott's ambitious, enthralling portrait of a brilliant young woman beset with racism, postpartum depression, and grief reminds readers that the truth is often multilayered. This provocative blend of drama and speculative fiction is charged with justified anger and overlaid with Indigenous stories and characters. Book clubs should consider this feminist parable a first choice." —ShelfAwareness (starred), "The Best Books This Week"

Nothing like I expected

The storytelling here was so incredibly powerful, moving, at times brutal, and so incredibly loving. I cannot wait to read more works from Alicia Elliott, and to find more Native voices to listen to. What a magnificent journey this book is.

hau day own day!

As a Native woman I absolutely loved this book. I related to so many of the personal experiences of the characters specifically about racial situations in school and predominantly white environments. Loved seeing the aspects of culture that some see as crazy come to life. Aho day baht haw

To live, I think you have to fall

This was enjoyably frustrating. I never knew, like Alice, who to trust in her world.
This book hits home in a lot of ways with my own family and that thin line between being connected to the world around you and mental illness. I think the world, from Alice's viewpoint, written so well by Alicia Elliott, is terrifying, beautiful, sad and so filled with love.
It's a great listen, well written, and one of those stories you'll come back to.

Great listen

Overall, this book was fantastic. I could not stop listening. It covers so many important topics.

Captivating and modern

I wish there was more into what happened to Ali. I wish we can know what she felt like after she divorced Steve and gave her heart to her grandchildren. I loved this book either way it makes me feel like people judging women making us feel crazy when really we're not.