The Day The Falls Stood Still, by Cathy Marie Buchanan

This was wonderful historical fiction, with a strong voice and a fasciniating, unique setting. Niagara Falls, immediately before and after WWI, was looked at as a potential source of life-changing energy for both Canada and the US, but to locals who knew and loved the Falls, the massive infrastructure that was being planned threatened to change more than just the flow of the river. Told by Bess Cole, the convent educated daughter of one of the former Hydroelectric project managers, the book covered social changes as well as deeply personal ones. Intricate historical details were woven seamlessly into the plot, and the plot itself actually had me crying, which is so rare I'm going to make it a tag of its own.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, and thought provoking.