Books set in places where fire breaks out
Books set in places where there is a fire
This list could be described as niche but the fact is that fire, whether big or small, one or many, has been intergral to the plot in the following novels.
Some of these are deadly fires and all of them devastating…
Aberdeen
From the Ashes Deborah Masson
A fire in a children’s home in Aberdeem. A building burned to the ground. A body found inside although the dead boy is found to have died by other means.
USA
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
“Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.” This is the opening chapter of the novel by Celeste Ng, which looks at the main fire and the reactions of the Richardson family and their neighbors. We are witness to the firefighting effort, and the discovery that the fire was the result of multiple fires deliberately started by someone….
Los Angeles
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Oh this is a true story so very sad! Important as a fire was responsible for destroying a library. After moving to Los Angeles, Susan Orlean became fascinated by a mysterious local crime that has gone unsolved. Early in the morning of 29 April 1986: someone set fire to the Los Angeles Public Library, ultimately destroying more than 400,000 books,. Susan looks into the case to find out more.
Kent, England
The Distant Hours Kate Morton
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
There’s a fire in this novel but no spoilers as to what catches fire or how, or how the fire is important to the story. The story takes place in an old castle, now a home to three spinster sisters. There are secrets and whispers in its walls and it’s up to one girl, Lauren, to find out what happened here all those years ago.
Careful when you turn the pages of the books above. You don’t want to cause a spark!
