Julia Dahl’s latest standalone, I Dreamed of Falling, is as dark as the cover. What do we really know about the people we love? And, what secrets are there in a small town?

Roman Grady is the only reporter for a newspaper in a small Hudson Valley town. He covers every event from meetings to the dedication of park benches. But, he’s shocked when his partner, Ashley, dies at the home of a friend who uses drugs, leaving Roman and their four-year-old son, Mason, devastated. Roman knew he and Ashley both dealt with depression, and Ashley suffered from it post-COVID, and after Mason’s birth. He and Ashley had drifted apart recently. Now, he wants to know how and why Ashley died.

Roman’s mother, Tara, had been a lousy mother, too young when Roman was born. But, she’s made up for it by her devotion to Mason. She’s the one who takes care of him daily, reads to him, bathes him. Lately, Ashley showed some resentment towards Tara’s role in Mason’s life. But, when the local police chief shows little interest in Ashley’s death, seeing it as the accidental death of a possible drug user, Tara teams up with Roman to find answers.

It seems Roman and Tara didn’t know Ashley as well as they thought. She was more than a depressed yoga instructor struggling with a relationship. Ashley’s story is intricately linked with a powerful family, a drug addict and a dealer, and her own dreams. As Tara’s partner says, “Ashley had a whole life. Maybe we didn’t know as much about it as we thought.”

I Dreamed of Falling is a tragic story of family, how family can destroy people, and strengthen others. It’s a story of family struggle, and the struggle of a community. Well-worth the time to read a difficult novel.

Julia Dahl’s website is https://juliadahl.com/

I Dreamed of Falling by Julia Dahl. Minotaur Books, 2024. ISBN 9781250865977 (hardcover), 352p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley supplied by NetGalley so I could review the book for a journal.