I’ve now read every single Hugo Award-Nominated Novel and have embarked on a number of quests, chasing down Nebula Winners (and eventually nominees), Locus Winners, BSFA Award Winners/nominees, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, and more. Here, I take a look at a Nebula Award Winning Novel.
The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy- 1988 Winner
“You choose your gods, but you do not invent them.”
The Falling Woman is, on its face, the story of a mother and daughter in modern (1980s) times trying to make connections with each other. Elizabeth Butler is an archaeologist working on Mayan civilization at Dzibilchaltún in Mexico. Due to a suicide attempt earlier in life, she’s created a spiritual connection to Mayan powers of death, in some way, that allows her to see and occasionally communicate with the lingering spirts of the Mayan people. Diane Butler comes to visit Elizabeth after the death of her father, Elizabeth’s ex-husband. She’s looking to know more about her mother, who has largely been a mystery to her.
The plot is a slow burn, sometimes feeling like the sweaty, mosquito-laden, humid setting in which it plays out. There’s a true sense of place found throughout the novel that Pat Murphy uses to incredible advantage at times. The Mayan people, acting occasionally as shadows, sometimes giving insight into their culture, sometimes leading the action, are intriguing foils for the main characters.
Occasionally, Murphy drops an info dump in the mouth of one of the archaeologist peers or people helping at the site, and my own background interest in Mesoamerican history suggests that while some of this is out of date, nothing is outright wrong or horrible in it. That makes the book of interest even as a jumping off point for learning some things about Mayan culture, a rarity in any speculative fiction.
The power of the novel, though, is found in Elizabeth’s connection to the Falling Woman, who herself experienced near death as well as a disconnect with her daughter. The interplay between Elizabeth, Diane, and the Falling Woman continues to a somewhat confusing climax, but one that serves the purpose to emotionally link the reader to the main characters even more deeply. I still feel I can smell the dirt, hold the artifacts in hand, and learn about the people who lived their lives in the Mayan civilization.
The Falling Woman is a quiet, powerful novel that deserves careful attention. I hugely enjoyed its setting, the feel, and the interplay of characters.
(All links to Amazon are Affiliates Links)
Links
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
SDG.
Eclectic Theist 
I plan to read her first novel — The Shadow Hunter — this year. Or perhaps her first three published SF short stories.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I should look into reading more of her works, too!