Since We Fell

2017 book by Dennis Lehane
978-1408708330

Since We Fell is a psychological thriller novel by American author Dennis Lehane, published in May 2017.[2]

Plot summary

Rachel Childs is a former print and television journalist whose career ended following an on-air meltdown precipitated by conditions she encountered while covering the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In the wake of her blooper, she develops agoraphobia and ends her marriage to Sebastian, a producer at her television station. Eighteen months later, she marries Brian Delacroix, who she had hired as a private detective to find the father who left her and her mother Elizabeth when Rachel was a child.

The story opens with Rachel shooting Brian dead, a flashforward from scenes that follow the fallout from a chance encounter that caused her to question her second marriage and husband.

Development

The novel's title derives from "Since I Fell for You", a song which first charted in 1947.[3][4]

Lehane noted the main difficulty in writing the book "was making sure I didn't see [Rachel] through guy goggles", and received feedback from female advance readers to ensure a realistic female perspective throughout the novel, Lehane's first entirely written with a woman's point of view.[5] The novel and screenplay were not developed simultaneously. Lehane was influenced by John Irving's novel A Widow for One Year when preparing the third draft of the novel, which is when the first 100 pages of the book were developed to tell the story of Rachel's past.[6]

Reception

Reviewing for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote the novel "[is] packed with signs that Lehane sold this story to the movies, which he did, in 2015, and that he loves the Hitchcock classics that prey on mistrust."[3] In The Washington Post, Neely Tucker described it as "a pleasantly twisted character study and a love story told in no particular rush."[4]

Film adaptation

The filming rights were acquired by DreamWorks following a summer 2015 bidding war while the novel was still being written. Lehane announced he would write the screenplay after completing the novel.[7]

References

  1. ^ Emily J (16 October 2015). "Dreamworks Wins War For "Mystic River" Author Dennis Lehane's "Since We Fell"". tracking-board. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  2. ^ Shanahan, Mark (19 October 2016). "Dennis Lehane gives Boston audience peek at his new novel". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b Maslin, Janet (8 May 2017). "In Dennis Lehane's 'Since We Fell,' a Troubled Woman Seeks Answers". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b Tucker, Neely (5 May 2017). "Dennis Lehane's 'Since We Fell' takes us into the heart of a tormented woman". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Jim (9 June 2017). "In The Psychological Thriller 'Since We Fell,' Dennis Lehane Returns To Boston". WBUR 90.9. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  6. ^ Dennis Lehane (19 May 2017). "Dennis Lehane on writing, family and his new novel, 'Since We Fell'". Los Angeles Times (Interview). Interviewed by Carolyn Kellogg. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  7. ^ Kroll, Justin (12 October 2015). "Dennis Lehane's Next Novel 'Since We Fell' Lands at DreamWorks (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 19 March 2018.

External links

  • Lehane, Dennis (9 May 2017). Since We Fell. New York, New York: Ecco (HarperCollins). ISBN 9780062129383. Retrieved 19 March 2018.

Reviews

  • Damsker, Matt (8 May 2017). "Girl has lots of troubles in Lehane's 'Since We Fell'". USA Today. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • Duffy, Bob (1 June 2017). "Since We Fell: A Novel". Washington Independent Review of Books. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • Burke, Declan (20 May 2017). "Before We Fell review: brilliantly unconventional domestic noir". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • Perry, Douglas (8 May 2017). "Dennis Lehane's 'Since We Fell' provides thrilling reading, then suddenly disappoints (review)". The Oregonian. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • "Since We Fell (starred review)". Kirkus Reviews. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • Baker, Jeff (18 May 2017). "Dennis Lehane's psychological noir thriller offers much, except sense of place". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • Turnbull, Sue (12 June 2017). "Since We Fell review: Dennis Lehane puts his foot down for a thrilling finish". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  • v
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Dennis Lehane
Bibliography
Kenzie-Gennaro novels
Coughlin novels
Other works
  • Mystic River (2001)
  • Shutter Island (2003)
  • Coronado: Stories (2006)
  • The Drop (2014)
  • Since We Fell (2017)
  • Small Mercies (2023)
Lehane at a book signing in February 2009
Filmography
Adaptations
  • Mystic River (2003)
  • Gone Baby Gone (2007)
  • Shutter Island (2010)
  • The Drop (2014)
  • Live by Night (2016)
Other
  • The Wire
    • "Dead Soldiers"
    • "Refugees"
    • "Clarifications"
  • Boardwalk Empire
    • "Resignation"
  • Mr. Mercedes
    • "Gods Who Fall"
    • "People in the Rain"
    • "Willow Lake"
    • "Jibber-Jibber Chicken Dinner"
    • "Missed You"
    • "Fell On Black Days"
    • "Nobody Puts Brady in a Crestmore"
    • "Walk Like a Man"
  • The Outsider
    • "In the Pines, In the Pines"
    • "Tigers and Bears"
  • Black Bird
  • Firebug


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