Angel Falls [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

Angel Falls is a dramatic, richly nuanced story of an ordinary man who makes an extraordinary decision and gambles with a thorny, painful question. Michaela, beloved wife and mother of two, lies in a coma. It is now up to her husband, Liam, to hold the family together, to care for their grieving, frightened children. Doctors have told Liam not to expect a recovery, but he maintains hope that love can accomplish what medicine cannot. Day after day, he sits by her bedside, holding her hand, sharing the stories of their life together. Then he discovers the evidence of his wife’s secret past—a long-hidden first marriage to international movie star Julian True. When he sees photos of her glowing happiness with Julian, he knows the actor was more than simply Michaela’s first husband. He was the love of her life. Liam senses that Julian is the one person who can bring her back to life, but at what cost? And does Liam love his wife enough to risk losing her to a man no woman could resist? His decision strikes deep into the heart of his family, transforming each of them in unexpected ways.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nestled into the hills of the Northern Cascade Mountains in Washington state, Liam and Mike (Michaela) Campbell have a picture-perfect marriage and family. While Liam enjoys the comforts of being a small-town doctor with an old family name, Mike cares for their two children and her beloved horses. But when a horrible accident leaves Mike in a coma, Liam frantically searches for a way to ignite her memories and awaken her. What he discovers makes him question the foundations of their love, as Mike has a secret past as "Kayla" and a previous marriage to her first love, Julian True. Though still in a coma, Mike responds to these stories. Liam knows he must contact Julian, and gamble his future on the past memories of a woman whose true identity and feelings are unknown to him.

Kristin Hannah's talent for writing poignant tales of duty, passion, identity and family bonds made last year's On Mystic Lake a bestseller, and will certainly rake in the fans this time. (Imagine Danielle Steel without the Gucci bags or aging corporate CEOs.) While the majority of the novel has our heroine knocked out on a hospital gurney, Hannah makes valiant efforts to bring Mike's character to life, and Liam's enduring love should keep you rooting for him and reaching for the hanky. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Set amid the splendor of Washington State's North Cascade mountain range, Hannah's latest (after On Mystic Lake) borrows elements from soap opera, the silver screen and fairy tales to make a simple statement about the complications of love. Dr. Liam Campbell is devastated when his beloved wife, Mikaela, mother of two, suffers a horse-jumping injury that leaves her in a coma. His confusion escalates when he learns the identity of Mikaela's first husband: world-famous movie star Julian True. The biggest shock: True's is the only name she responds to. Liam senses that his Sleeping Beauty needs love to wake her up, but whose? Given the depth of his feelings for her, will he be brave enough to summon True for help, and so risk losing Mikaela forever in order to save her life? Scenes reminiscent of Kramer vs. Kramer occur where Liam tries to be mom to their nine-year-old son; the suds world takes over when Mikaela finally wakes, but with retrograde amnesia, thinking she's still married to True and with no memory of Liam; and It's a Wonderful Life brings the curtain down. In keeping with the popular convention of giving voice to spirituality, the novel employs religious overtones, which will please some readers while leaving others feeling molested by an angel. Mikaela and Liam are sweet characters, even relentlessly good ones, so many will find them likable even as they float smoothly toward an easy conclusion. 125,000 first printing. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 430 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786224983
• ISBN-13: 978-0786224982
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,975,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb read, April 9, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angel Falls (Hardcover)

In the Cascade Mountain range of northwest Washington state near Angel Lake, Mikaela and Liam Campbell raise their two children. While her nine-year-old son watches her, Mikaela falls while jumping with her horse, landing in a coma. Her loving spouse Liam and their two children (Bret and his older sister Jacey) worry that she will die. Desperate for something to do to help his wife, Liam continues to talk with Mikaela. To his chagrin and elation, Mikaela blinks at the name of her first spouse, movie legend Julian True.

Though he may lose her if she recovers, Liam asks Julian to come to their small town of Last Bend to try to heal Mikaela. When she awakens, she has no idea who her current spouse is or the identity of her youngest child. She cannot understand why she looks olds since sixteen years have disappeared from her life because she suffers from amnesia. When she regains her lost memory, will she love her current husband or her former spouse?

ANGEL FALLS is a fascinating relationship drama that centers on personal sacrifice. Readers will love Liam as he willingly risks losing the love of his life to someone else if it could restore her back to health. The children and Julian add to the drama through their relationships with the lead characters. Fans already consider Kristin Hannah to be on a par with the superstars like Delinsky and Roberts, but those few readers who had doubts will no longer have any after reading this novel.

Harriet Klausner

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best Kristin Hannah has to offer..., June 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Angel Falls (Hardcover)

Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite romance novelists. She writes stories that can absolutlely tear at your soul. It seems that with her last two novels, though (Angel Falls and On Mystic Lake) she is trying to appeal to a more high brow audience. There is nothing wrong with aspirations, but it isn't where her talent lies. Suddenly she isn't writing great romance novels, and she isn't writing great contemporary fiction. These books are an "alright" example of both, but excel as neither. I guess the thing that this book missed the most was any real view of the relationship between Mike and Liam. She simply came to a realization about him (that she had seemed to accept years ago) thaty he was the better husband for her. It wasn't an unbelievable story (even with amnesia and movie stars) but it wasn't really striking and believable either. My suggestion would be to either read her earlier novels if looking for romance, or choose another author if looking for contemporary women's fiction. If you are a fan of the author, like I am, get this book from your local library.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Pool-Side, June 4, 2000

By 

Jane E. Harkins "Jane" (Flat Top, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angel Falls (Hardcover)

Some books are such light fare to be perfect for pool-side readers. "Angel Falls" by Kristin Hannah qualifies are an ideal summer read; not to deep or dark, it is optimistic, romantic and unabashedly sentimental. Its view of life, marriage and family is as idealistic (and naive) as a teenager's first summer love.

Liam and Mike (Michaela) Campbell, and their children Jacey and Brett, are blissfully enjoying their idyllic life in a Norman Rockwell town when Mike is injured in a riding accident and lapses into a coma. Left to fend for themselves, her husband and children learn to get through days without her, while at the same time discovering that they hardly knew her, when secrets of her past (a first marriage and Hollywood lifestyle) begin to surface. As the darkness of her sleep begins to lift, she remains shrouded in the shadows of her past, but her deceptions have wounded and confused her family, particularly when the subject of her betrayal suddenly appears to assist in her convalescence. Can Mike awaken her own heart and help her family move beyond the specter of her past?

If this description sounds similar to a storyline in a soap opera, then it is being interpreted correctly. "Angel Falls" is that predictable and syrupy. But reading it is not an unpleasant way to wile away some summer hours, as it is a mellow story with warmth and fuzzy feelings. While not quite a "romance novel", its idealization of love (a.k.a. "true love") and marriage have all the requisite dramatic elements for the genre.

I expect that fans of Nicholas Sparks ("The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember") will migrate to this book, particularly those who liked Sparks' drab "Message in a Bottle". However, "Angel Falls" will probably disappoint them; it is not nearly as moving or well-written as "The Notebook" or "A Walk in the Woods", which both reduced me to tears. Simply, I never wanted to cry for the Campbell family, which is the emotion Hannah was trying to wrench from her readers. "Angel Falls" is mushy - sentimentalism for its own sake and none other. There are no profound lessons or disturbing commentaries on modern love, marriage or family to burden a reader or cloud the sun on the beach. Enjoy this book there!