Fall on Your Knees - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In an adaptation of the classic Canadian novel, this epic play follows three generations of a Cape Breton Island family in a tale of forbidden love, inescapable bonds, and devastating betrayals, all while harbouring secrets that threaten to shatter the family entirely.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, a young piano tuner named James Piper and thirteen-year-old Materia Mahmoud fall into a whirlwind romance. As their family grows, the couple is strained by dark revelations that lead to dangerous consequences. Their headstrong daughters Kathleen, Frances, Mercedes, and Lily grow up haunted but fiercely connected in ways they must learn to fully understand. A richly layered story by turns both heartbreaking and joyous, Fall On Your Knees is a vivid portrayal of love, desire, and the quest for truth and redemption.

About the Author

Hannah Moscovitch is one of Canada's most prominent playwrights. She has written sixteen plays, including East of Berlin, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, and This is War, and she has been honored with numerous awards, among them the Governor General's Literary Award, the Nova Scotia MasterWorks Arts Award, and the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize. Hannah's music-theatre hybrid Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (co-created with Christian Barry and Ben Caplan) became a TimeOut and New York Times Critic's Pick, winning both the Herald Angel and a Scotsman Fringe First awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and receiving six Drama Desk Award nominations in New York, crossing the 400-performance line in the process. In television, Hannah is co-creator, executive producer, and head writer of Little Bird alongside showrunner Jennifer Podemski, which has garnered a landslide of awards and critical praise, including the Séries Maria Prix Public (or Audience Award) and thirteen Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Drama Series. Most recently, Hannah was co-executive producer on seasons 1 and 2 of AMC's hit series Interview With The Vampire.

Alisa Palmer is an award-winning theatre director, playwright, and producer and has developed, premiered, and toured original and provocative theatre creations for over twenty-five years. Her work crosses genres, including the classics, contemporary plays, collaborative creations, musicals, and operas and is characterized by vivid performances, a bold use of music, and a passionate commitment to the body politic. She is the recipient of numerous awards both in Canada and internationally, including six Dora Mavor Moore Awards, three Chalmers Awards, and a Harold Award for her contribution to independent theatre. She is a three-time finalist for the Siminovitch Prize and a recipient of the Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts. She was the artistic director of Nightwood Theatre, where she oversaw the commissioning and development of landmark plays including Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears and Smudge by Alex Bulmer, the first professional play by a blind playwright. She spent eight seasons at the Shaw Festival and three seasons at the Stratford Festival, where she recently directed the world premiere of Hamlet-911 by Ann-Marie MacDonald, developed through Vita Brevis Arts. Ms. Palmer is Executive Artistic Director of the National Theatre School of Canada, English Section, and Artistic Producer of Vita Brevis Arts. She is married to author Ann-Marie MacDonald, with whom she has two children.

Ann-Marie MacDonald is an award-winning novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. Her writing for the stage includes the plays Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Belle Moral: A Natural History, and Hamlet-911, along with the libretto for the chamber opera Nigredo Hotel, and book and lyrics for the musical Anything That Moves. She is the author of the bestselling novels Fall On Your Knees, The Way the Crow Flies, and Adult Onset. Ann-Marie is a graduate of the acting program of the National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her LGBTQ2SI+ activism. She is married to theatre director Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children.