Breaking Her Fall

"Breaking Her Fall" - the title says what we all feel about our daughters; about the peculiar loss of them as they enter the teenage years, the years in which their ability to be a person in their own right is eclipsed by the pressures of a society gone mad in depicting the sexuality of a "woman" as young as 14. Tucker's daughter Kat, at 14, is in the throes of this hormonal madness, and he doesn't even know it. Tucker's an oddity, a father who has won primary custody of daughter and son when his former wife moved up the social ladder and mostly out of their lives. It's hard not to like Tucker, who's a self-made man, with a love for music and a need to be there for his children. It is with some trepidation that we watch him turn to rage when Kat is involved in a sex scandal at the home of a boy he knows nothing about. In slow motion, his rage leads to injury and disfigurement of the boy, and incarceration and trial. But his trials are many, both in trying to understand and protect his daughter, keep his younger son from fear, his love for his best friend's wife at bay, and himself from going mad. The strain of parenting adolescents in this mixed up world is brought to the fore in Kat's tale, and although it is written in first person from Tucker's point of view, there is no doubt that author Stephen Goodwin was able to get inside the heads of all his main characters...from children Kat and Will to the amazing Lilly, from Trish, his ex-wife who attempts to preserve her motherhood from the tragedy, to the teenaged Jed Vandenberg, with a permanent scar from a heated misunderstanding. Goodwin makes them all come alive on the page. And he does more, something more, that, for me, brings the book to life - he brings in the ordinary; talks about the what the notes on his refrigerator say, talks about the demise of his marriage, has a remarkable reaction (like many of us) to the first time he hears the beautiful songs of the posthumous Eva Cassidy CD, "Songbird". ..."as I danced with my daughter, her eyes searching mine, the two of us just floating, I felt something give way inside of me....as though all our old love, every particle of it, had been restored to us by the music we were hearing." As my own daughter grew up, I remember times of anger and despair that seemed like an out of body experience, and so it is with Tucker... in describing his violent reaction to young Jed Vandenburg, at a time where he had no idea where his 14-year old daughter was and if she was all right..."I can remember how the air seemed to stiffen and tighten, how every word and tiny gesture took on a huge significance, and how the hair on the back of my neck suddenly bristled". Goodwin is a writer of style and grace, his book a revelation and a scare for parents and adolescents, a book that will stay with you longer than the details of the story itself. A definite must read!

What a terrific book this is. Absolutely absorbing from the first page on. It's about the dilemmas both parents and teens face in this confusing world of multiple values. Beautifully written and very resonant for any parent raising a child today. I'm teaching a university course called "Fathers, Sons and Daughters in Literature and Film" and this is an instant addition to the book list.

I read one or two novels a week, but only occasionally find one I carry around constantly, and steal time away from daily responsibilities to dip into. 'Breaking her Fall' absorbed me just this way: I fell into its world of a family and its joys and sorrows, its daily annoyances and pleasures with each other....and I didn't want the book to end. Goodwin can write: he catches the nuances of parental love, that tug as you watch your children grow up, wanting them to be independent while missing their dependence, and also those of passionate love and the exhilirations it brings. It's also a heartbreaking book, in many ways, for parents of young girls nearing age 14. Tucker, the single father in the book, is clearly a loving father who always does his best, even when his best is flawed. But I wondered about Goodwin's choices in portraying these characters. A 14-year-old girl goes beyond sarcasm and sulking (inevitable in adolescence, I imagine) to routine use of very foul language and total voiced disrespect of her parents; she becomes involved with drinking and sex; she frequently locks her room and refuses to attend school. While Tucker is shattered in some ways by his daughter's behavior, he never even attempts to discipline the girl or causes her to have consequences at home for her behavior: all the consequences are emotional. And that's a fascinating choice, by Goodin, to me, because it's not remotely the ones I would have made as a parent. I haven't stopped thinking about this book.

Both as a writer and a reader, I loved this book. At first, I was dubious that the subject could support such a lengthy work. Indeed, the writer in me kept looking for scenes that could be cut. However, the author's skillful prose more than justifies the length, as he throughly explores the repercussions of the event that drives the books action.As the father of a daughter, I felt brought into the protaganist's world, feeling his anguish and fear. Some readers complain that the main character is unlikable, but I found his honest portrayal, flaws and all, quite refereshing. One of the books strengths is its dutiful avoidance of saintish heroes and dasterdly villians, instead showing how every character experiences the story through the lens of his or her own shortcomings. Many other reviewers have written the basic outline of the story, so I won't repeat them. Sufice to say that Goodwin's well polished prose and excellent use of the first person offers readers a moving and evocative view of loss, grief, and recovery.

This book is awesome! From the first moment I cracked open Breaking Her Fall, I found myself a huge fan of Tucker Jones, rooting for his safe return from his perilous journey-entirely modern, entirely timeless-into all matters of the heart. Graceful, deft, humorous, more than a heartfelt account of fatherly love, Breaking is the story of a single father trying to reach his teenage daughter, his son; it's the story, also, of a man who must learn to put the past behind him and venture out into unchartered territory, towards relationships where love-meaningful love-is honored above safer, more complacent, constructs. By book's end I felt appropriately challenged-to love honestly; to love better. To find a love that matters. Thank you, Mr. Goodwin. You have delivered us a true gift: a story that is both a marvelous adventure and a call to action. Wake up! Read the book. Your heart will thank you.