The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and @BookClubFavorites & Simon & Schuster #partner,  for the finished copy of The House is on Fire in exchange for my honest review. 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster / Simon & Schuster ALC

Published: April 4, 2023

 

Summary:

The author of Florence Adler Swims Forever returns with a masterful work of historical fiction about an incendiary tragedy that shocked a young nation and tore apart a community in a single night—told from the perspectives of four people whose actions during the inferno changed the course of history.

Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season. The General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment in a church.

On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first.

When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined.

Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious—and fleeting—chances at redemption.

 

My thoughts:

I loved Rachel Beanland’s debut novel, Florence Adler Swims Forever, so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I jumped at the opportunity to read and review it…and I’m so glad I did. This historical fiction novel is like nothing I have read before and I know I will not be forgetting this one any time soon.

I cannot get over how much I loved this story and again, this is another example of why I love reading historical fiction. This book, set in 1811, completely transported me to a time and place I had never heard about, never learned about, and yet I felt I learned so much from reading this book. This is historical fiction at its finest.

This story is based on true events, and I just love when authors do that, and Rachel Beanland clearly excels at this. She takes the real events of the Richmond theater fire of 1811 and creates a richly developed story that you cannot help but find yourself completely engrossed in. Once I started this one – and let me just throw in here that the audiobook is absolutely fantastic! – I just could not put it down. The four points of view that the story is told from manage to grab your attention, allowing you to see things that constantly have you shifting opinions, bringing to light how class, gender, and race might alter our perception.

The story begins with the lead-up to the fire and continues with the aftermath, following our four characters as they deal with this horrific tragedy. It moves fast, with short chapters that just beg you to continue reading. The book reads like a thriller, and I’ve even seen it called a moral thriller, which I would definitely agree with. It raises so many questions and takes a hard look at motivations, morality, and privilege. You can’t help but find yourself thinking of what is right vs. what is wrong as you make your way through this one, constantly questioning all the actions and decisions that the characters make. This really would make for a great book club pick – there is just so much to unpack here. And the author’s note at the back is not to be missed – she dives into the history and characters and led me down quite the rabbit hole!

I loved this one so much – I already know it will be a top read of the year and I will be recommending it to everyone!

 

Audio thoughts:

As I already mentioned, this was an amazing book to listen to. There were four narrators for the four main characters and they all did a stellar job bringing this book to life. I was glued to the audiobook, listening to this one in just one day because I was so engrossed in the story. The narrators – Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Andi Arndt, Michael Crouch, and Ruffin Prentiss III – really made for an engaging listening experience.