Too Close to the Falls - by Catherine Gildiner (Paperback)

About the Book

The author shares her memories that are by turns hilarious and deeply moving about growing up in the 1950s in Lewiston, New York, a small town near Niagara Falls. As a four-year old, she could read road maps, and made deliveries for her father's pharmacy, including sleeping pills to Marilyn Monroe while she was in town filming "Niagara."

Book Synopsis

Welcome to the childhood of Catherine McClure Gildiner. It is the mid-1950s in Lewiston, New York, a sleepy town near Niagara Falls. Divorce is unheard of, mothers wear high heels to the beauty salon, and television has only just arrived.

At the tender age of four, Cathy accompanies Roy, the deliveryman at her father's pharmacy, on his routes. She shares some of their memorable deliveries-sleeping pills to Marilyn Monroe (in town filming Niagara), sedatives to Mad Bear, a violent Tuscarora chief, and fungus cream to Warty, the gentle operator of the town dump. As she reaches her teenage years, Cathy's irrepressible spirit spurs her from dangerous sled rides that take her "too close to the Falls" to tipsy dances with the town priest.

Review Quotes

"Anyone who appreciates a good story, well told, will find it in Too Close to the Falls." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Gildiner beautifully portrays her outrageous youth through the innocent, yet sometimes frighteningly worldly eyes of a child." --The Quill & Quire

About the Author

Catherine Gildiner has been in private practice in clinical psychology for nearly twenty years. She writes a monthly advice column for Chatelaine, a popular Canadian magazine, and contributes regularly to countless other Canadian newspapers and magazines. She lives in Toronto with her husband and three sons.