An enthrallingly detailed reporting on the 1970’s scandal involving the discovery of Hooker Chemicals disposal of toxic waste in Niagara, NY. Several mothers in the local town noticed a pattern of unexplained illness, foul smelling drainage, and death of local wildlife. Their advocacy and persistency led to the identification of the Love Canal.

This book was well reported and engaging. Highly recommend for lovers of Erin Brockovich!

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this book - so thank you so much for the advanced copy!

I have been on an environmental nonfiction kick lately, so I did enjoy the storytelling and the topic of this book. My only qualm is that it felt a bit academic and longwinded at times. I understand this story had so many facets and so many human stories to include, but I found myself not being able to focus at times.

However, I would still highly recommend to any others that enjoy environmental nonfiction.

Great read - this is nonfiction, but it's more gripping than a lot of thrillers I've read. At times it feels like a dispatch from another era (the Middle Ages, say), and then all of a sudden you realize that some things haven't really changed at all. I will say it *is* a long read, but the prose is excellent and kept me reading even during the parts that felt a bit drawn-out (politics. Not a fan of politics, or politicians; unsurprisingly, the higher you look, the more unpleasant people get). "Paradise Falls" made me angry, sad and frustrated at times, but like I said, it reads really well and draws you in completely. I can just see this turned into one of those based-on-a-true-story blockbusters-with-a-conscience, complete with strong female leads.
Highly recommended.

O'Brien gives a masterclass in powerful storytelling with this book chronicling the horrifying story of environmental catastrophe in a small town. The events detailed in this book are eye-opening and devastating, but necessary to talk about in order to determine how to move forward as a society keeping people before profits, and safety before corporate gain.

Reading this true story about a long ignored environmental catastrophe, and the people who suffered the consequences because of it, had me enraged, bewildered, and inspired.

Starting in the 1940s, Hooker Chemical began dumping a hazardous cocktail of chemicals into an old canal. Disgustingly, after coming to the realization that the Love Canal property was quickly becoming a liability, Hooker sold the plot to the board of education for $1. Later, it became the site of an elementary school, playground and a residential neighborhood.

It wasn't until the mid-late 1970s that this toxic scourge was recognized and addressed thanks to concerned mothers like Lois Gibbs, Elene Thornton & Luella Kenny, microbiologist Joseph McDougall, congressional aide Bonnie Casper, scientist Beverly Paigen, Niagara Gazette reporter Michael Brown & others.

It was so interesting getting to hear from the different players involved in this situation. In O'Brien's book you see both the best and the worst of humanity. You behold the kinds of horrible secrets & harm that can be kept and hidden, and the sort of remarkable change that can be accomplished with gumption and relentlessness.

I was heartbroken reading about women and their babies suffering from birth defects, family pets dying premature deaths, and noxious chemicals invading resident's homes, lives & well-being. Most excruciating of all was the downward spiral of 7 year old Jon Allen Kenny who developed a host of medical issues & ultimately died.

While the overarching action of this book took place nearly 50 years ago, the warnings that require heeding and the lessons that need learning ring as true now as they did then.

I give Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I highly recommend this book to those who "enjoyed":
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women by Kate Moore

Thank you NetGalley & Pantheon/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC. Paradise Falls is out NOW!

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of Paradise Falls : The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal--exposing one of America's most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today.

Paradise Falls was a truly eye-opening story to me. I had never heard of the Love Canal and this horrible toxic waste catastrophe. Reading about it infuriated me though! I of course had to do more research and reading after I had read Paradise Falls. Much thanks to Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and the other mothers who fought heart and soul to save their community. This is a must read for all.

Niagara Falls: Idyllic family travel hotspot or shady corporate environmental dump site? Not the paradise you were expecting were you?

In a suburban 1970’s neighborhood on the east side of the Niagara Falls, a group of mothers fight for the lives of their families and their homes. Unbeknownst to many of the families in the area their local school and playground was built on the so-called Love Canal—which decades before became the dumpsite of twenty thousand tons of Hooker Chemical’s toxic waste. When pungent fumes permeated their homes and exposed toxic barrels appeared on the neighborhood baseball field, these women fought their way to the top just to be heard. Years before Erin Brockovich, this shocking true story helped pave the way to try and end needless corporate pollution and laid the groundwork for the environmental regulations we have today.

Armed with an insatiable curiosity for environmental narrative nonfiction, I was quite blown away by this true story. In fact, it still seems so implausible that there are dramatic moments that give me emotional whiplash when I think of them. My heart was so heavy learning about the families that lived near the Love Canal, and the sheer desperation to try to protect their loved ones seeps from each page. The problematic bureaucracy of the government at the time and their lack of urgency left me feeling extremely ragey. Keith O’Brien did such a fantastic job researching and relating the stories of Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and the other mothers in the neighborhood. As far as narrative nonfiction goes, this book is on the top of my list as a new favorite. I highly recommend you check out Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O’Brien.

And many thanks goes to @pantheonbooks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Paradise Falls is the true story of the environmental disaster at Love Canal. What took place in Niagara Falls set the stage for future environmental legislation and showed that a group of moms can make a difference. I knew some vague information about Love Canal and Superfund sites before reading Paradise Falls, but this book was eye-opening. The late 1970s and early 1980s weren't that long ago. Some things have come a long way since then, but many more still need improvement. So many topics are considered political in the United States that really shouldn't be, mainly because improving them helps everyone. Corporate greed has gone too far, and Paradise Falls shows that first-hand with Hooker Chemical. Although this is a nonfiction book, Keith O'Brien's writing is so smooth and cohesive that it reads like a dystopian novel. I would consider this book a must-read for just about everyone, no matter their current thoughts on the environment. 4.5 stars

Let me introduce to what I'm calling the best thriller of the year so far.

Is it actually a thriller? No, not in the way we would normally define it, but this is a thriller none the less.

This book tells the terrifyingly true story of Love Canal. "What's Love Canal?" you ask. Oh, only one of the worst environmental disasters in history.

It boils down to this - in the 1940s-1950s a chemical company in western New York began dumping hazardous waste into a local canal. Then the company covered the dump and sold the land to the school board who then built a school on it and then later a neighborhood sprang up. Fast forward to the 1970s and people started smelling weird odors in their basements, children got chemical burns at the playground & people were getting sick.

This book covers what happens next - when neighbors rise up and demand local, state & federal representatives for help. And when the help doesn't come they take matters into their own hands and work harder.

When I call this book a thriller, I mean it. You will be on the edge of your seat and turning pages so fast you won't want to put the book down.

O'Brien focuses mainly on the women at Love Canal, telling their stories - a housewife turned grassroots organizer, a mother grappling with the inexplicable loss of a child, a female scientist harassed by her male colleagues, a junior Congressional aide and more. These women worked together to save a community. And many continue to work to ensure it never happens again.

This has all the markings of a great thriller - a mystery, a company cover-up, lack of help from powerful resources, and a rag tag group of heroines getting to the bottom of the mess. The only difference is it's real - this happened.

And while we can say we hope it never happens again we know that's just wishful thinking. As the book points out there's probably thousands of Love Canals.

Thank you to Pantheon Books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'd heard of Love Canal before in a college toxicology course, but not in great depth so I was really excited to read this book.
I like non-fiction, but sometimes find it to be a little dry and tedious to get through. However, this book is not dry nor tedious. Paradise Falls is written with just the right amount of drama and intrigue while maintaining the truth of the history of the Love Canal scandal.  In reading the book, it is evident that the author has really researched and presented all of the historical facts available- and to do it in such an entertaining way is so impressive!

If you aren't familiar with Love Canal, it is an area in the Niagara Falls region of upstate New York where an abandoned canal was used as a place to dump toxic waste. In the late seventies, it became suspected that some health problems and injuries occurring in residents of the surrounding neighborhoods and schools were linked. The book details the grassroots movement that ultimately resulted in one of the most important environmental policy victories in U.S. history.

At nearly 500 pages this isn't a "quick" read, but it is so compelling and well-done that I couldn't put it down.

This story is so important at this time as we all fear that we have no control over what happens in our lives under "big" government or corporate greed. In Paradise Falls, Keith O"Brien gives us a detailed account of how the middle class citizens of Niagara Falls were quietly living their lives until the ugly threat of chemical contamination was suddenly thrust into their midst. These people had to find a way to save their children, themselves and the future of environmental contamination through whatever means they could find. They did finally succeed at getting the attention of the whole country and got results which took years of sacrifice and hard won battles and set a precedent for all environmental controls in the future. It proves that even the lowly citizen can win against "big" government and corporate heads. We should all thank Mr. O'Brien for this careful researched account of the discovery and resolution of "Love Canal"!

I was nine years old when the old Love Canal in Niagara Falls first popped into the news. By the time it was a full-blown story, I was 11, watching the news every night with my grandparent's and wondering just how something like that could happen and how people could be treated like that community was treated. 40+ years later, after reading this book, my questions are still the same as they were when I was 11.

I will admit that this book both angered me and frustrated me. It took me a long time to read because I could only get through a few chapters at a time because I was just SO angry at what was being done to the people of the Love Canal area [IF I had had a print book, this book would have gotten thrown I am sure of it - not since Columbine by David Cullen have I been so angry while reading a book]. About mid-way through the book, I was looking up who David Axelrod was [I won't even say what I think of this person and his treatment of everyone involved] and found a link talking about the current state of Love Canal and got really angry all over again; 44 years later, it is still uninhabitable and the air is still unstable and they are STILL unsure just how much is is affecting the areas where people still live. This knowledge didn't make finishing this book any easier - knowing that they never get the answers they need [or want] and that people are STILL dealing with this issue...well, you would understand the anger anyone would be feeling.

My admiration for the women that fought the politicians and the chemical companies and fought hard FOR their families is beyond words and in reading all they did for the author at the end of the book just made that admiration grow. This is a story that needed to be told and now that it has been, needs to be read by everyone. Because truly, this could have been any one of us, or our families. We must never forget that.

Thank you to NetGalley, Keith O'Brien, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Pantheon for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Extremely well researched and written, most likely the best book written on the subject of The Love Canal. I live in Rochester, New York which is about 90 miles east of Niagara Falls and have been there countless times. I had just started working for Kodak in 1978 at the age of 18 and didn't really know much about this tragedy. I recall my parents watching it on our local news and discussing it. I remember asking my Dad, who also worked for Kodak, if they could be doing the same thing. He responded by saying absolutely not. No further comment. Anyways, this book shows the power of mothers and what they will go through for their children. It's amazingly interesting, extremely frustrating as you see what they were up against and then satisfying to hear how their lives turned out. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a book that will hold your attention as your mouth drops open.

O’Brien provides a well-researched book regarding the citizen-activists who addressed the environmental disaster near Niagara Falls, N.Y.

It seems in the 1940s and early 1950s Hooker Chemical secretly dumped toxic chemical byproducts into a trench from an abandoned canal project.

Then in the 1970s people living in that area started noticing chemical smells, rocks that seemed to catch on fire, horrible health concerns, and much more. But how much longer would it take for voices to be heard?

I found this to be thorough, informational, and mind-boggling. Though I don’t know why bind-boggling? In far too many cases, it seems greed overtakes human life.

The book cover is perfect, and the story is well written.

Concerns: There are so many people involved in this well-researched book that at times I felt a bit overwhelmed by names and facts. (Which also can be indications of a wonderful book.)

Final Thoughts:
Excellent writing and facts worth learning about.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Miya on Goodreads since it describes my feelings so well about this book, “Super interesting, infuriating, and inspiring.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ability to read an early copy (though I’m posting a bit late) and the ability to post my thoughts.

A truly humanized account of the modern day environmental movement. This author does an excellent job leveraging the countless interviews of those close to the Paradise Falls disaster to construct a deeply emotional retelling of this traumatic event and immersing the reader into the 1970s, making it feel like you are on the journey with the families impacted. At times, the book seemed heavy on the details, but at other times, these details seemed essential to creating the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this account of the Love Canal disaster, and the author has a gift for making a true event seem like a novel.

Back in school, I studied environmental science and had a fascination with the big events that ramped up the push for environmental accountability. There are so many horrifying examples, but Love Canal during the late 1970s in Niagara Falls was a major, pivotal moment.

I knew the broad strokes of this disaster - a major corporation dumped hazardous chemicals in the area for decades, sold the land to the school board for $1 to avoid any future liabilities that may occur, and the low and middle class families that lived nearby were none the wiser. Soon, patterns of illnesses of all kinds were plaguing these residents. The cry for action was loud.

This book gives detailed insight into the event, and I loved that the focus was on two mothers in the neighborhood that took charge of the movement. It was heartbreaking to read about what these women went through but so admirable that they didn't quit.

This story is such a well written historical account of the devastation that took place at Love Canal. I love the Niagara Falls area and I do not remember this event in particular, but I do remember other events like this (Flint Water Crisis) and the mediocre response of those in charge when it comes to helping the families who are most impacted with the fewest options.

I feel like this book stands as a cautionary tale for this (and new) generations - so much in our environment can have negative impacts that are not immediately seen. Bureaucracy and competing interests can get in the way of progress and helping people. And this is the way our society is built - we need to learn how to navigate in it and find ways to make it better for all of us. Especially as this took place not that long ago!

I really appreciate the focus of this story on the women who really impacted this movement. There is an inspiring undercurrent of women who stand up for their families in the face of opposition and continue to persevere until they get change. I enjoyed the narrative story-telling style, instead of just reporting the facts. The author weaves a story that shows the interconnected narratives from different parties and what was happening on different sides of the issue.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pantheon and the author for a copy of this book for me to read and review!

Paradise Falls was an amazing read. What happened to the families living on a toxic dump site made me ill, and the courage and determination of the mothers of Love Canal inspired me.

I grew up on the Niagara River. We swam at a beach on Grand Island and boated and fished on the river. I remember catching sunfish and bluegill with dad. On a clear day, you could see the mist of Niagara Falls.

We moved in 1963 and on car trips back to Tonawanda we knew we were home by the smell of the methane burning in the gasoline storage tanks along the river.

Western New York has a long history of industry. The power source of Niagara Falls and the salt deposits were perfect for chemical industries.

Just down the road from my childhood home, the home where Dad grew up, was a plant that processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project. They dumped radioactive waste into the local creeks and sanitary system and the town dump where dad went to shot rats as a teen.

In those days, there was no oversight for industry and its byproducts. No Superfund. No Clean Air or Clean Water laws. People who grew up in my neighborhood recount the many family members who had cancer. My parents both died of cancer as well. But in the 1950s and 1960s no one knew that harmful toxins were in the environment. Mom had three miscarriages between me and my brother. Now I wonder if their cause was environmental. She f grew up in a wartime housing project near one of the contaminated creeks.

Not far to the north of my hometown is Love Canal.

Imagine learning that your home was riddled with toxins. Imagine that your children were perpetually ill with rare diseases. Imagine that your home had no resale value and you couldn’t afford to just leave and move away. Imagine that no one would take responsibility or help you. What would you do?

In 1972, Lois Gibbs and the women of Love Canal were in this situation. They saw the orange creek water and black sludge in the park. Irritating fumes rose from their basements. They watched their children with chemical burns, rashes, breathing problems, and seizures. They watched a child die.

Lois got mad and she educated herself and championed their cause. She stood up to power. She went to the governor. She went to Washington D.C. She learned how to use the media and public opinion. She ‘kidnapped’ EPA agents. She lost her marriage but found a calling and a new partner.

She was just a housewife, like most of the women of Love Canal. But because of their activism, President Carter signed the Superfund Act before leaving the White House. An imperfect law that has been hobbled, but has also remediated about 2000 toxic sites.

Keith O’Brien has written a powerful narrative nonfiction book about this story. O’Brien draws deeply from the inside stories of the women, stories that had me shaken and in tears. His research incorporates shocking insights into Hooker Chemicals and details the action and inaction of state and local officials.

I was not as familiar with Luella Kenny’s story. Her standing up to Armand Hammer, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, their annual meeting is amazing and riveting. The death of Kenny’s son is one of the great tragedies of the story.

Later in life we lived in Montague, Michigan, situated along Lake Michigan, and where another Hooker Chemical toxic site is located. It was a reminder that toxins can lurk anywhere I go.

Reading this story I was often reminded of the Flint Michigan Water Crisis, how citizens had to fight for justice, how local and state officials ignored their concerns. Women and children and working class citizens have too often been sidelined because of the fiscal power of business and industry. But when the people rise up, they can achieve amazing things.

Corporate greed and government corruption oh my!

The intro to this book did an incredible job of setting the scene on the big issue. I used google to find maps and pictures of the setting which really helped me understand the layout of the neighborhood and what the book is talking about. I found it very interesting and informative. This author clearly spent lots of time and energy looking through records and interviewing people.

I had a two peeves that didn’t impact my reading experience too much. First, we got a very extensive childhood background for one singular person and I’m not sure why. It was sort of paid off in a later chapter but it could have just been explained there in a few sentences rather than several pages.

Second, and this cannot necessarily be laid fully on the author: there are so many people involved. Residents, local, state and federal scientists, business owners, journalists, local and federal politicians, state and federal employees. It was just too many people for me to fully grasp them all so I got the main few and just went with the flow for the rest of them.

Lastly, I will say that this book felt like it took me a long time to read. It is very dense with lots of information but I think it’s great to have this sort of comprehensive collection of information on this topic and I really enjoyed reading it.

A wild, true story about a neighborhood contaminated near Niagara Falls and all the resulting health problems, especially among children. In the late 70s, people started to notice that more and more children were getting sick in a town near Niagara Falls. It turns out that decades before, there had been a canal where chemical waste was dumped. Now this waste was contaminating the air, the soil, the water, etc. And the population most affected were the children. After some near-deaths and some actual fatalities, the people of this city, especially some mothers whose children had been affected, start fighting the government and the big corporation responsible to fix the problem.

This was a fascinating story! I had never heard of this environmental catastrophe before, and it is so tragic. The author's writing style though is great, and this story was very captivating.