Notice that the title of the novel (which is the town's name) is a double entendre. On one hand, it references a waterfall which serves as the namesake for the town. On the other hand, it sounds like a reference to the apocalyptic downfall of an empire. This second aspect seems out of place, right? Where is the empire? Empire Falls is just a small town, after all. The truth is that there never needed to be an empire, because of nostalgia. In Empire Falls, Miles shows that nostalgia can create a false past where Empire Falls was better than it really does; or, if he is brave enough, he can choose to face the past with objectivity.
The temptation toward nostalgia comes as a response to hopelessness. Miles is hopeless because his wife hates him and left him for her physical trainer. He is hopeless because his life is unfulfilled. He is hopeless when he looks at the town, and the effect is that he indulges many flashbacks. Most of those flashbacks show Empire Falls as a sweet, charming, powerful city. The "glory days," as it were. But the truth is when Miles is honest, he can also summon dark memories, like when his mother had an affair, but Miles never told anyone, and he tried to forget what he saw.
This fundamental dilemma may not seem very epic in scope, but the decision to be honest about his emotional past would give Miles a chance at a new life, because the emotional disappointment of his mother's indiscretion probably had an effect on Miles' own relationship to his wife. In other words, perhaps he brought this fate on himself. By searching honestly for aspects of his life for which he can take responsibility, Miles could afford himself a new fate by making changes to himself, and by moving on from Empire Falls.
