All her life Alice has had to fight to survive. As a child she was sexually abused by the family priest; later she struggled to cope with the death of her sister. But when she marries the wealthy and dangerous Paddy Lynch, she discovers the darkness of his own emotional pain.

In this haunting first novel, William Wall depicts the lives of a group of friends and the strategies they adopt to survive in a rapidly changing society. Wealth and power appear to bind them, but it is wealth gained at an intolerable price and power that is little more than the ability to inflict pain. The world of Alice Falling is full of glittering lies and sordid truths, dangerous loves and distant friendships. It builds inexorably to an explosive, "Thelma and Louise"-style ending that will stay with the reader long after the last page and marks the debut of a distinctive and masterly novelist.

About the Author
William Wall received the Patrick Kavanaugh Poets Award for his collection Mathematics and Other Poems and the American Ireland Fund Award for his fiction. He lives in County Cork, Ireland.

Reviews
"Like Edna O'Brien, William Wall is particularly good at evoking extremes. . . . Alice Falling is a brutal, brilliantly written, deeply unsettling novel and William Wall is definitely a writer to watch." -- Sunday Business Post
"An Irish version of Rick Moody's The Ice Storm . . . honestly sordid in its dealings with libidinous and emotional varieties of sadism and masochism." -- The Irish Times
"Wall commands a plethora of unpalatable darknesses to tell this story. . . . Yet surprisingly, while this book is certainly disturbing, it never seems bleak or oppressive. This is largely due to Wall's poetic handling of words, which suffuses the book with a lyrical rhythm." -- Time Out London



Book Information
ISBN 9780393342758
Author William Wall
Format Paperback
Page Count 210
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co