Book Review: The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve

I decided to read this book based solely on the title. I guess that goes to show that book titles are important. I’d never heard of the author before and knew nothing about the book. I didn’t even read the book summary before deciding to check it out of the library. Sometimes I do that because I like to be surprised.

The Stars are Fire is about a young mother who survives a catastrophic fire in Maine. I had never heard about this fire before, but it was a real event. In 1947 two hundred fires raged in Maine burning down a quarter of a million acres of forest and decimating nine towns.

Grace is in an unhappy marriage. When her husband leaves town to work as a volunteer firefighter, she is left alone to protect their two young children as fire tears through their town. She spends the night trying to protect her children from the blaze. In the morning, she finds that her life has changed completely. She is homeless, penniless, and has no idea what has happened to her husband. Grace is a survivor and in the midst of tragedy she finds new freedom and hope that would have never been possible if her life had continued as it was before.

What I liked about this story the most was the character arch. At the beginning of the book Grace seems defeated. Her marriage is not good and she lacks any motivation to try to do anything to better her life. In the book she spends a lot of time with her neighbor and best friend, Rosie, who is the opposite of Grace. Rosie is vibrant and happy.

Not knowing about the book, after the fire happened I thought Grace might end up laying down and dying because she didn’t seem very motivated before it. Boy, was I wrong. I enjoyed seeing her navigate this new circumstance where many people were struggling like her. She becomes a problem solver and a doer. This new way of existing doesn’t come without growing pains though.

Shreve does an excellent job of helping the reader feel what Grace is feeling. We become well acquainted with the blandness of her life before the fire. That section is a bit slow and I have to admit that I considered not continuing with the book. Once the fire came, the book became a page-turner. Even though in the beginning I wasn’t even sure if I liked her, I found myself rooting for Grace at the end.

The Stars are Fire is definitely worth a read. Check it out here.