The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve

Well crafted, absorbing, and easy to read 

If 2020 is memorable for the coronavirus pandemic, the year 1947 is known as the Year Maine Burned. From October 13 to October 27, firefighters battled 200 fires, which destroyed a quarter of a million acres of forest,  wiped out nine entire towns leaving 2500 people homeless, and physically or psychologically scarred.  

This historical event is the backdrop for this novel.   During the fires, pregnant Grace Holland flees her home and becomes separated from her husband whilst desperately trying to save her two children.   This and her ensuing homelessness is just the start of a series of hardships Grace faces during her transition from an apparently shallow and needy young wife into a formidable  young woman willing to forge her own destiny.

The book title is part of a quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and is apt given the nature of the various loves Grace shares  - her husband, her mother, her children, suitors and friends.  

“Doubt thou the stars are fire;Doubt that the sun doth move;Doubt truth to be a liar;But never doubt I love.”

Still socially isolating amidst the UK response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we discussed this book over Zoom and agreed it was an enjoyable and easy read which had been incredibly well crafted.  Shreve’s skilled writing succinctly yet powerfully conveyed settings, emotions, and character to narrate a gripping plot.  The different attitudes towards gender and marriage of the period were also well observed.  

This is Shreve’s last novel, published in 2017.  She died from cancer in 2018 aged 71. Prior to becoming a full time author of 18 novels, she worked as a high-school teacher and journalist. Her first bestseller  - The weight of water - was published in1997.  

Food did not feature heavily in this story and our shops, restaurants, and  local book shop  are still closed..  

Those of you interested  in learning more about the Maine fires, will find more detailed accounts and photographs at  The New England Historical Society

We highly recommend The Stars are Fire, but you may choose to read our next book along with us.   Also steeped in the post war period and exploring similar themes around the nature of family and love, please join us to read The Outcast by Sadie Jones.