When Trees Fall

Book One of the Wood and Water Saga

A sweeping Caribbean family saga about the secrets we keep and the lines we'll cross for love.

Jamaica, 1944. World War II is winding down, and a seaside village is preparing for the island's first general election.

Cailin Campbell is a naïve, adventure-seeking girl growing up in a Jamaican Great House. Archie Price is a teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder. Sharpe is a young man with divided loyalties, living as an outsider in a poor hillside village. Yet all three long for the same thing: a father's approval.

But the man who has the power to give it to them won't… or can't. His estate workers call him a tyrant and whisper that he once murdered one of their own. His family walks on eggshells whenever he comes home drunk from visits with his mistress. As Cailin, Archie, and Sharpe chase the love they've been denied, their unfulfilled desires spiral into rejection, mistaken affections, and murder.

Told from three points of view, in both Standard English and Jamaican Patois, When Trees Fall is an immersive historical novel set in colonial Jamaica. It's a story about fathers and children, class and loyalty, and the cost of family secrets.

Taught in college literature courses, it's a rich choice for book clubs and classrooms. For readers who loved East of Eden, Small Island, or The Pirate's Daughter.

What People are Saying about When Trees Fall:

"An intriguing coming-of-age novel exploring the bittersweet tales of three Jamaican families."  —Lynda R. Edwards, author of Friendship Estate

"Colonial Jamaica was a pale copy of the society that existed in Britain a century or more earlier, a quaintly polite facade that often shielded dark secrets. When Trees Fall by Dale Mahfood portrays this society with compelling authenticity and irresistible allure. It is about the society I grew up in and people I might have known, yet the novel is so meticulously researched that I kept coming across surprising nuggets of new information. And there's more than mere historical virtuosity. This is a complex and many layered family saga." —George Graham, Author of Hill-An'-Gully Rider

"When Trees Fall successfully transports the reader into a dramatic pantomime, using Jamaican rural life, social class struggle, and racial identity as back drop themes. The author explores a Jamaica of yesteryear beginning in 1973, and seamlessly weaves together 46 chapters as he recounts the colourful and interconnected lives of three Jamaican families. Mahfood captures the importance of Jamaicans telling their own stories in this carefully crafted novel. The explanatory notes offered about Jamaican English, proverbs, and patois, as well as the historical and cultural sources cited, bolster the authenticity of the storytelling. A great read for all audiences, essential reading for Jamaicans." —Dr. Natalie Corthésy, author of Fried Green Plantains (Nasara Publishing 2017) and Sky Juice (Ian Randle Publishing 2021)

"Rich with complicated family dramas, and set in early to mid-20th century Jamaica, this beautifully written story peels back the unspoken pain hidden within the idyllic Caribbean life of sun and beach. One of the things I loved about this book was the way the author played with the distinct voices of various personalities, both Black and White. I especially enjoyed the Patwa. A central theme of alienation runs through this narrative and is done so skillfully. Echoes of Nicole Dennis-Benn's Patsy come to mind when reading this novel. Absent and/or unavailable parents are key in both works, leaving children psychologically scarred and craving love and attention that is inaccessible. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it." —Eleanor P. Sam, author of The Wisdom of Rain