num_pages: 483
description: Empire Falls, Maine: once a thriving hub of industry, this small town nestles in a bend of the vast and winding Knox River, and has always been the empire of the wealthy Whiting family. Now the last Mrs Whiting presides like a black widow spider over its declining fortunes. She harbours a grudge against her employee Miles Roby, who runs the Whiting-owned Empire Grill, but hopes one day to own it himself. Miles, gentle and hopeless, has other problems: his wife has run off with his worst customer, he frets about his adored teenage daughter, and his drunken father sponges off everyone. As the novel builds to a shocking climax, Russo constantly surprises with characters who will disarm you, a plot with as many twists and falls as the Knox River itself, and an ending that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
language: English
title: Empire Falls
titlecomplete: Empire Falls
characters: Miles Roby, Charlie Mayne, Max Roby, John Voss, Zack Minty, Janine Roby
genres: Fiction, American, Book Club, Literature, Adult, Novels, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook
ratings_count: 120348
places: Maine
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Ambassador Book Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Vintage Books