Where I Fall, Where She Rises is a novel that follows two women on opposite ends of a terrorist kidnapping. While one woman suffers and falls at the hands of her captors, the other exploits the fame of such a publicized event to secure a future for her unborn child. Lea Ironstone is a Canadian freelance journalist who recalls her time spent in the very dangerous red zone of Baghdad, after the 2003 U.S. invasion. A self-destructive addict, she refuses to relegate herself to the safer green zone, where most mainstream news journalists like Paul Shell are protected. Desperately seeking a more controversial story to re-establish his fame as a television journalist for GNN, Paul Shell contacts Lea and agrees to meet her in the red zone for a recent finding. They are kidnapped by an insurgent terrorist sect and tortured repeatedly. Carol Shell, Paul Shell's wife lives in New York. Eight months pregnant, Carol is approached by Timothy Abel, her husband's agent. Timothy wishes to represent her "victimhood," which he sees as a very marketable and exploitable asset. Her appetite for fame and celebrity eclipses her familial priorities and she is coerced into a lifestyle that hinges on personal promotion. Lea and Paul find themselves incarcerated in a basement dungeon expecting their next "artistic" torture, while Carol makes her next public appearance to further her star. Lea and Paul's relationship evolves into a mutual understanding of their united fate, while Carol, on the other side of the world, rises in public stature. The novel evolves into an emotional satire, which depicts two strong women who attack the consequences of war on two different fronts.

Dean Serravalle is the acclaimed author of Reliving Charley. Twice nominated for the prestigious Journey Prize of Canada and The National Magazine Award, his short stories have appeared in such journals as The Fiddlehead, Versal, Event, and The Dalhousie Review. He currently teaches English Literature at the Secondary School level, poetry at the College Level, and he is the chief editor for Revel Magazine and Writers4Peace. He resides in Niagara Falls, Ontario with his family.

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"A gripping exploration of two remarkable women navigating two very different sides of a nightmare scenario. Brimming with psychological intrigue and deeply ambiguous moral choices, this is the work of an author with a keen sense of what it is to have our very humanity put to the test."
--Bruce Geddes, author of The Higher the Monkey Climbs

"A difficult journey exploring both the struggle of survival and what it means to be alive."--Brad Kelln, author of the Blake Waiter Mystery Series

"Dean Serravalle has painted a crystalline image of the conflicted human condition. Here every truth is spoken, though some louder than the rest."
--Susan Lloy, author of Vita