The Day the Falls Stood Still is a very promising debut novel by Cathy Marie Buchanan. The story is set in Canada near the Niagara where its wonderful beauty and history is emanated from Cathy's descriptions. This is the story of Bess Heath, who suddenly finds herself at a turning point in her life when everything is forced to change due to the fact that her father lost his job at the power plant. Bess's mother, father and sister are intriguing characters along with Bess herself, and we immediately get drawn into this captivating telling of this family's journey. There are quite a few supporting characters as well, each adding depth and drama to this story as Bess must make difficult choices that end up haunting her family, which cast her as a strong and brave woman.

Mr. Heath, Bess's father, loses his long-time job at the hydroelectric plant which puts the family into a downward spiral of economic hardship and despair. Although set in 1915, the modern economic times also mirrors the struggles that the Heath family faced back then, and they also had the war to deal with. Mr. Heath shuts his family out, Mrs. Heath can do little to get him out of his self-induced funk, and Bess's treasured sister Isabel is going through her own personal crisis. And through it all, Bess is watching trying to add strength to her family, as she is trying to adjust to a new way of life after her father loses his job.

A light at the end of the tunnel is when the son of a prominent family member proposes to Bess, but Bess has fallen in love with a fishmonger of whom her family strongly disapproves. And then suddenly a horrifying tragedy occurs, sending the family into an emotional spiral of grief and depression and further forces the family into the speculative limelight of gossipers. How Bess and her family deal with this tragedy is portrayed simply, but it is told with a distinct grip of grief that is significant of excellent writing that resonates throughout the novel.

All the while through this story of Bess and the trials of her family, Bess goes through her own life events of marriage, career and children which makes the book a sort of romance in the beginning; but all is told with the Niagara as an integral part to the novel and not just as a backdrop. The story of the man, Fergus Cole, who previously was a renowned riverman known for daring river rescues at the Falls, is the undercurrent in the story with interesting anecdotes about him and his rescues, which also makes the book a sort of historical. The author was inspired for this novel by the true riverman William "Red" Hill, and the rescues are depicted in the novel as well. It is cleverly portrayed through newspaper clippings along with inspiring old photos of the Falls themselves. The residents of the area were caught between the controversy of technology and development versus the preservation of the sanctity of the Falls and the river, and serves as a theme throughout this novel as Bess finds herself right in the middle of the issues.