The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland – 384 pages
ARC from Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland: 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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland was a highly anticipated novel that comes right after her great success from her debut novel, Florence Adler Swims Forever. I’m happy to report that I actually enjoyed this book more that her first!
This historical fiction novel is filled with rich history and provided characters that jumped off the page. The four main protagonists were completely different from one another, and each had compelling storylines. They were all at the forefront of a devastating fire, that took many lives in its wake. Their actions before, after and during the fire spoke louder than any words they uttered could do.
This book has many themes running through it, most notably classism, racism and misogyny. The theater stood as a symbolic character and I liked that if felt alive. The actors and stagehands from the play being performed were their own brand of family. I loved young Jack and his wide-eyed way of looking at life. My favorite character was Sally as she nursed and worked tirelessly to save people.
This will be another book club favorite as there is plenty to discuss and chew on!
Quotes I liked:
But the thing is, relief and sorrow don’t look so different, at least at the beginning.”
“Sally has spent enough years on the on a plantation to know that a person’s skin color doesn’t always tell the full story.”
“Virtue means doing the right think, in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner for the right purpose.”
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