Catherine Gildiner recounts her remarkable coming-of-age in the 1960s with the same wit, candour and exhilarating storytelling that has made Too Close to the Falls a modern classic.

When Cathy McClure is thirteen years old, her parents make the bold decision to move to suburban Buffalo in hopes that it will help Cathy focus on her studies and stay out of trouble. But “normal” has never been Cathy’s forte, and leaving Niagara Falls and Catholic school behind does nothing to quell her spirited nature. As the 1960s dramatically unfold, Cathy takes on many personas — cheerleader, vandal, HoJo hostess, civil rights demonstrator — with the same gusto she exhibited as a child working split shifts in her father’s pharmacy. But when tragedy strikes, it is her role as daughter that proves to be most challenging.

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"Gildiner's a terrific character who's led a fascinating life. Oh, yeah, and she can write."
— NOW

"Hard to put down. . . . One quickly feels an empathy and fascination with this frank girl whose radically changing life plunges her back and forth between child and adult several times. It's no surprise she became a clinical psychologist."
— Winnipeg Free Press

"Gildiner...is a born raconteur. Her writing style is lively and conversational; dialogue, which figures strongly, comes easily to her."
— The Gazette

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Read Catherine Gildiner's blog.
Visit Catherine Gildiner's website.

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Author’s Note

Part One | Exodus
Chapter 1: Expulsion
Chapter 2: A Donnybrook
Chapter 3: Good Friday
Chapter 4: Hit the Dirt
Chapter 5: Black Lawn Jockeys
Chapter 6: Fried
Chapter 7: Scars
Chapter 8: Short Order
Chapter 9: The Loafers
Chapter 10: A Vial in the Sunshine

Part Two | Eye to Buckeye
Chapter 11: Leaving Home
Chapter 12: The Straw Homburg
Chapter 13: A Fire in the Cellar
Chapter 14: The Mirror Room
Chapter 15: The Avalanche
Chapter 16: Love It or Leave It
Chapter 17: The White Rabbit Meets the Blue Elephants
Chapter 18: The Hour of the Wolf
Chapter 19: Hooke’s Law
Chapter 20: A Real Pip

Acknowledgments
Permissions

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Catherine Gildiner has been a clinical psychologist in private practice for many years. Her bestselling memoir Too Close to the Falls was published in Canada, the US and the UK to wide acclaim in 1999. Her second book, Seduction, a novel, was a national bestseller. She lives in Toronto.

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