Belle Falls

Sherri Vanderveen’s compelling debut novel is the first-person account of Belle Dearing, accused of molesting a little boy who lives across the street in her quiet suburban neighbourhood. Belle is a character familiar to many of us: the local crazy lady, the dishevelled woman whose house has fallen into disrepair, who strikes fear in local children and disgust among her neighbours. But within the crazy lady is a life derailed, unmoored. Who is Belle Dearing? And what has made her the way she is?

Belle Falls poses these questions and, as the story unfolds, answers them deeply and indelibly. From a Newfoundland childhood tragically cut short to her present-day troubles, Belle’s life has been anything but ordinary. But through it all—the heartbreak, the bad choices—stands an indomitable and irrepressible spirit you’ll not soon forget.