Arden Valley... a liminal zone that sits between two parallel mountain ranges, north and south, reaching to the sea. A river meanders down the center and a road runs next to it. The train travels perpendicular, and at the crossroads sits Ardenville, a town isolated at the edge of reality.
"Everything comes in on the train. Everything leaves by the train or by the grave. Except for the few who take the road north and never return."
Falling Northward is the story of Ardenville: the people, animals, the rivers and valleys that inhabit it. Each chapter offers a new way of seeing the real and imagined, both the inner and outer worlds of the Arden Valley.
There is a public library, a coffee shop, and a bookstore. The Pegasus Line brings in returning locals and travellers alike, back to join the story of Ardenville, as if it had all already been written years ago. For some it is a constant, a place of comfort. For others, it is a place to venture beyond the forgotten things, to find a place where they can live peacefully together.
Hazel Cline's novella is a beautifully crafted story told through a prism of light caught in the leaf at the end of an autumnal branch. Each chapter unfolds in a new voice, like a chorus of birds congregating in a bower.
It is the story of the inhabitants of a small town, the flora and fauna, and the line between reality and magic. It is where the road north has always been, and the train will forever return.
