The Fell: A Novel
“A slim, tense page-turner . . . I gulped The Fell down in one sitting.”
—Emma Donoghue, author of The Pull of the Stars
From the award-winning author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater, Sarah Moss's The Fell is a riveting novel of mutual responsibility, personal freedom, and the ever-nearness of disaster.
At dusk on a November evening, a woman slips through her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two-week mandatory quarantine period, a true lockdown, but she can’t take it anymore—the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know she’s stepped out.
Kate planned only a quick walk—a stretch of the legs, a breath of fresh air—on paths she knows too well. But somehow she falls. Injured, unable to move, she sees that her short, furtive stroll will become a mountain rescue operation, maybe even a missing person case.
Sarah Moss’s The Fell is a story of mutual responsibility, personal freedom, and compassion. Suspenseful, witty, and wise, it asks probing questions about how close so many live to the edge and about who we are in the world, who we are to our neighbors, and who we become when the world demands we shut ourselves away.
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Community Reviews
The Fell is the first book I’ve read based on the pandemic. Although it’s set during the pandemic, this book doesn’t take the reader on a journey through hospitals or depict the horrors of death caused by the virus. Instead, it showcases the struggles of people isolated with loneliness and the feeling of claustrophobia in their own homes.
The Fell by Sarah Moss tells the story of Kate, who is in quarantine for about two weeks and is dealing with claustrophobia because she has never been someone who enjoys being indoors. On one November evening, she decides to take a quick walk to the Moor but accidentally slips and falls. Hours later, with no sign of Kate’s return, her son Matt has no choice but to seek help from Alice, an elderly neighbor, and alert the authorities, initiating a rescue operation for missing Kate.
This book is written in a stream of consciousness style, presenting the thoughts of four different characters: Kate, who is in a semi-conscious state after her fall; Matt, Kate’s teenage son, who is left alone at home and is uncertain about what to expect; Alice, an elderly neighbor and cancer patient; and Rob, a member of the rescue team. The book emphasizes the importance of following rules and cooperating with authorities, showing that failing to do so can be fatal not only for the individual but also for society as a whole. It also made me reflect on how many people, especially the elderly, struggled with loneliness during the pandemic, as well as those who love the outdoors but were confined indoors for so many months. I’m sure many readers will relate to the thoughts expressed in this book.
Though some readers feel that Sarah Moss’s style of writing—without using quotation marks or other indications for conversations—can be off-putting, I found that while the beginning was a bit confusing, the flow of the writing became easier to understand as the story progressed. The Raven was a witty highlight in this book.
A different read if looking for a book on the pandemic. Recommended!
The Fell by Sarah Moss tells the story of Kate, who is in quarantine for about two weeks and is dealing with claustrophobia because she has never been someone who enjoys being indoors. On one November evening, she decides to take a quick walk to the Moor but accidentally slips and falls. Hours later, with no sign of Kate’s return, her son Matt has no choice but to seek help from Alice, an elderly neighbor, and alert the authorities, initiating a rescue operation for missing Kate.
This book is written in a stream of consciousness style, presenting the thoughts of four different characters: Kate, who is in a semi-conscious state after her fall; Matt, Kate’s teenage son, who is left alone at home and is uncertain about what to expect; Alice, an elderly neighbor and cancer patient; and Rob, a member of the rescue team. The book emphasizes the importance of following rules and cooperating with authorities, showing that failing to do so can be fatal not only for the individual but also for society as a whole. It also made me reflect on how many people, especially the elderly, struggled with loneliness during the pandemic, as well as those who love the outdoors but were confined indoors for so many months. I’m sure many readers will relate to the thoughts expressed in this book.
Though some readers feel that Sarah Moss’s style of writing—without using quotation marks or other indications for conversations—can be off-putting, I found that while the beginning was a bit confusing, the flow of the writing became easier to understand as the story progressed. The Raven was a witty highlight in this book.
A different read if looking for a book on the pandemic. Recommended!
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