Mason's Book Review: Stone's Fall
Posted on August 20, 2010
Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears is an impressive historical mystery which starts in London, 1909, moves back in time to Paris in 1890 and finishes in 1867 in Venice. The book opens when young reporter Matthew Braddock is hired by the widow of John Stone, a wealthy industrialist who has fallen from his second floor window. Stone left a large inheritance to a long lost child, unknown to his wife, and Braddock is tasked with finding the heir.
By the end of part one, Braddock has seemingly succeeded, but when the story jumps back nineteen years to 1890 Paris, new facts come to light, and the mystery deepens. This happens again at the end of the book, when the story travels even earlier to 1867 Venice. Characters, objects, events and relationships from earlier in the book gain completely new significance as more information about the characters’ pasts are revealed, with the biggest and most shocking revelations being saved until the final pages. Not only does Pears create a fantastically engrossing mystery, but he populates it with historical details and characters that bring these time periods and cities to life. I’m a fan of historical fiction, and an even bigger fan of non-linear story telling (think Memento or Pulp Fiction), and Stone’s Fall is an excellent example of each, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys those styles of storytelling.
- Mason Brown, Research Librarian for the Sciences
