Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2001, Richard Russo’s Empire Falls narrates life in the small town, Empire Falls, which could be any small town. The town itself is witness to the decline of the textile industry in America, however, despite the bleak prospects the town has to offer, it is also the telling of a town which many so easily get trapped in. No one wants to stay, but no one can quite manage to walk away.
There is little subtly in describing the town as dead-end, a shell of it’s former glory, just by calling Empire Falls, connotes something great, crumbling. In it’s name, it is foreboding it’s own decline from prosperity. Miles however, came to embody the town itself, he was the personification of Empire Falls. In one sense, he is a figure of pity, with other characters routinely telling him what he wants and casting him a man to feel sorry for. He doesn’t overtly claim to be unhappy, but it is an emotion routinely placed upon him by those around him. For a while, while I was reading this, I thought this was a projection. Other characters seeing his life, thinking it pitiful, as it was what they had or didn’t want. However, I think it is more than this, by casting him as the embodiment of the town, they are seeing the town’s own decay through him. They can also project all the things they feel about the town, their life in a depressing town, with no ambition is cast onto Miles. The promise of his youth has curtailed and all they see before them, is someone ageing. Miles makes an interesting statement in the novel, he refers to college as a witness protection programme. As though you go there to create a whole new identity, one far removed from that which you had in Empire Falls.
Women are the driving force in Empire Falls, we see so many instances of strong women who are underestimated. From Francine herself to Grace. Francine acts as an omniscient presence in the novel, owning most of the town. she largely pulls the strings. She is manipulative, she has a game-plan, but also she knows when to give the town hope, she knows they thrive on that. People are always talking about the old mills opening back up, and it is a carrot she dangles before them. Her daughter Cindy is also an surprisingly strong character. She is a disabled character, in love with Miles and the figure of pity herself. Miles can’t seem to bring himself to tell Cindy he isn’t interested and strings her along. If he’d had been stronger, they’d have been friends but instead he is tip-toeing around her, doing the right thing so she won’t try and kill herself again. It is in her final scene, she realigns his perception of her, she is aware that he pities her and she is clear in showing him that she doesn’t need him. Yes, she has been in love with him, but she has no means moped over him for years on end. He seems to imagine her in some tower, waiting for him to be recur her, however she has been busy entertaining herself, he imagines he is everything. Finally, Grace is a remarkably (and unexpectedly) strong character she has an uncompromising set of values which she does not swerve from. Her rejection of Charlie Mayne, the man she loves, because he considers that leaving his wife, would also mean leaving his disabled daughter, a sacrifice he is willing to make. Grace cannot condone his willingness to leave his daughter. In that moment, she walks away, back to her miserable, loveless marriage. She won’t go from one sacrifice to another.
The town’s fate is largely in the hands of the women in the narrative, these are the characters who garner the real power. Interestingly it is all the women who do the sermonising, they are the one’s dishing out the life advice, from Francine to Bea. For anyone who has any experience of small towns, I would say this is a must read, and it was perhaps the kick I needed right about now.
Sunsets and Fireworks 
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