Crooked Hearts Press

Our New Book

Joy Falls - by Barbara Allen

There was a bank of eucalyptus trees, twenty of them between Frank's hospital and Jake's rehab. They were on a street I knew that was quiet and a little hidden. They were across from the park where Jake played soccer as a kid, before drugs. Sometimes I would get out and walk and stop and cry at every fifth tree. But once I found myself smiling, "I have gone from soccer mom to a rehab mom." -- from Joy Falls

In Joy Falls, a traumatized family has an elusive desire for normalcy that is found in lyrical moments and humorous problem-solving. The novel is filled with characters who have the stamina for the chaotic present even as their personal histories invade. Joy Falls helps us, not in a self-help way, but in the way fiction helps through storytelling, interesting characters, and laughter. It is about the profoundness of children, the importance of humor, and what happens when we show up for our own lives.

Barbara Allen’s gorgeous debut novel, JOY FALLS, is a true knockout. Allen has created a vibrating—more than vibrant!—world in this comic-tragedy of family madness and love. That she can be so laugh-out-loud funny and heart-breaking and wise all at once never ceases to amaze me. As soon as I finished the book, I had to read it again. I so look forward to more work from her in the future!  Elizabeth Evans, As Good As Dead