I am often haunted by books that initially I would not have thought had that power.  These are books that usually are quietly subversive, working their way into your heart slowly without a lot of drama or fireworks. Anita Shreve has mastered the art of this kind of book, from The Pilot’s Wife or Fortune’s Rocks, she knows how to tell a story that slowly seeps in, awakening emotions and your heart in ways that are both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

After a devastating drought during the summer of 1947, fires begin to break out in the fall up and down the coast of Maine.  Men from all over the state volunteer to fight the fires and so Grace, pregnant, and with two small children is now home alone while Gene, her husband, is fighting the fire. Grace, worried and overwhelmed with responsibility, feels lucky to have Rosie, her good friend, right next door to help shoulder the weight of taking care of their homes and families while their husbands are gone. But after the severe drought, the fire finds fuel everywhere and soon overwhelms all attempts to contain it, moving ever closer to their town. When Claire, Grace’s daughter wakes her up coughing from all the smoke in the air, Grace knows that time has run out and rousing Rosie and her children bundles them all into in the car and makes her way to the beach while watching in the back view mirror as their homes are completely consumed with fire. Once on the beach they cover themselves with sodden blankets as close to the water as they dare, and then covering their children with their own bodies wait out the fire as it consumes everything in its path.

When they are finally rescued, their homes are gone, their town is gone, and although Rosie’s husband returns, Gene does not and Grace is alone, homeless and penniless. As the days, weeks and months pass, Grace begins to find a strength she did not know she possessed, and she begins to make a life for herself and for her children, and to experience a sense of freedom and joy she had never known while married to Gene. Life is not easy, but it is good, until something unexpected happens which Grace must meet head on with with her new found courage and take control of her life in ways that she never thought possible.

Shreve is a writer who, although ostensibly writing about one unique woman’s experience, makes that character so relatable that her story becomes every woman’s story. Grace is a woman of 1947, but her story is timeless, and although our choices are different the concerns that Grace must face into are our own as well. This is a subtly powerful and life affirming story which is something we all need to hear no matter who we are or what out circumstances!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out Of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian Lauren and Keith.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

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