Falling - Anne Provoost
First published in 1995 as Vallen.
Translated from Dutch by John Nieuwenhuizen, 1997.
Another book I read as I look for a Year 12 text.
This is a very well written and slightly disturbing book, which follows Lucas Beigne, a teenager from Belgium living with his mother in the house of his late grandfather. There is some scandal in the past that involved his grandfather, but Lucas is unsure what the details were; his mother won't tell him. Lucas also has a neighbour, Caitlin, who has returned from America, who he remembers not being allowed to play with when he was younger, but who now he is captivated by.
To begin with, the book looks like it might follow the growing feelings between Lucas and Caitlin, but we are also aware, from the book's framing device, that there will be some sort of accident ahead, in which Caitlin gets terribly injured and which Lucas feels guilty for. This gives a mild sense of unease to the proceedings.
To add to the unease, as the book progresses another subplot begins to take centre stage: Lucas is befriended by Benoît, a charismatic man who starts indoctrinating Lucas into extreme nationalism, racist rhetoric, and even starts persuading him into action based on these ideas. The way Benoît does this is subtle and convincing; Lucas finds himself going along with what Benoît suggests even when he has misgivings about Benoît's point of view. This is where I find the book tricky: the story is told in First Person from Lucas's perspective, and so, as Lucas is convinced by Benoît, we as the reader are carried along with him. The only misgivings we are exposed to are the ones Lucas has that are swept aside by the charisma of his 'friend'.
Certain students, I wonder, might find themselves buying into Benoît's arguments a little more than the author intends.
By the end of the book, of course, Lucas has seen the error of his ways and is trying to make amends, but by this point Benoît has wound such a tight web around Lucas that a majority of public opinion stays firmly against Lucas. This is also unsettling, but powerful.
And then there is the accident.
I won't spoil what happens in that pivotal moment of the book, but it is disturbing, impactful, appropriate for the story being told, and fore-shadowed a lot more than I realised until I read the scene. Out of the whole book, it is the scene that hit me the hardest, and one that I still find myself processing - which is saying something when the rest of the book is so good.
This book won't be for everyone - I'm still wrestling with whether it would work for the class I have - but it is a very good book which will stick with me for some time.
Completed 13 February 2026.
Comments
Post a Comment