Grace has 2 young children, a neighbor who is her best friend, a recently widowed mother, and a husband she barely knows. When fires strike her town in Maine she takes shelter along the shore line and her life is irrevocably changed. A story of resilience in the face of catastrophic loss, survival, and creating a life for the one's you love.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. I would have finished it in one sitting except I had to go to sleep and then go to work the next day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

For some reason, I think of Anita Shreve’s books as “beach reads,” and her newest “The Stars Are Fire” will most likely be a summer favorite in 2017. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley, I received an advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

The story is set in Maine in 1947, and begins with a very wet rainy season. As summer comes, the initial relief felt by the townspeople of the coastal town where Grace Holland lives with her husband Gene and their two children is short-lived as they enter a period of serious drought. Both these seasons are described with words that make the reader feel first the bleak and gray dampness and then the oppressive airless dry heat.

Grace is living with a taciturn man and apparently thinks he is a good husband…even though there is no joy or warmth between them. “When Grace walks into her mother’s home, she has a sensation of great warmth and safety. This doesn’t occur in her own house despite the fact that at night and on Sundays, there’s a man to protect her.” Her life “…before she met Gene, before life became uncertain and even a little frightening,” was strictly confined and she grasps at small moments of freedom when she can do nothing more than sit and stare at the ocean.

When fires break out along the coast in October, Gene volunteers to go off to fight the fires leaving five-months-pregnant Grace with two kids both younger than two to fend for themselves. The entire town pretty much burns to the ground, and Grace is left homeless and penniless. Out of this tragedy comes the opportunity for Grace to discover herself as an individual, rather than just in relation to a (crappy) husband. She blossoms, her spirit soars, and then…well, things change. To reveal more would spoil what is quite an interesting story.

I enjoyed reading this…it’s an easy read, and the people are written so that we come to care about what happens to them. I give it four stars.

After reading it, I did some research on the terrible fires which devastated Maine in 1947. That made the story even more real for me, and I appreciate the author’s skill in bringing this bit of history alive.

To say this is the story of a woman, says nothing yet it says everything. Grace is married to Gene and they have settled into their mutually defined roles. A fire erupts and destroys everything in its path including the town where they live, their family home and ultimately the life they knew. Grace finds strength and resolve she didn't know she had and rebuilds her life with her two children. Just when she is solidly on her feet, Grace receives the shock of her life. How will the new Grace fit into the mold of the Grace she lost in the fire? Will she once again find the courage to begin again?

Anita Shreve hit this one out of the park. An utterly captivating read.

Such a quiet novel. I adore Anita Shreve and this does not disappoint. As someone who lives in Massachusetts, I can't say I've ever heard about this fire in Maine but it reminds me a bit about the picture book where people and animals went to a lake together to keep away from a fire. I really felt for Grace and I was able to put myself in her shoes and wonder what I would do. It's almost like a dystopian novel in a way. The whole town was demolished and people dispersed and everyone had nothing from their previous lives.

Wonderful story. I loved the historical aspect and the main character was vividly written. Well done!

I always look forward to novels by this author, and this time it has felt like a very long wait. She writes such good stories about women, hemmed in by the expectations of this time periods, but women that find and harbor an inner strength that allows them to supersede and rise above their circumstances. Grace, the young wife and mother in this story is no exception.

The largest fire in Maine's history, October 1946, a fire that raged from Bar Harbor to, Kittery. Grace, five months pregnant and her two children under three, are on their own. Her husband is fire fighting with a crew, and as the fire approaches she must save herself and her children. Parts of this novel were predictable but the history and the time period made this much more than just a predictable read. As always her characterizations are amazing, one pulls for Grace, suffers along with her and wishes her better things and an easier way than that which she faces. Her mother and her friend are also great characters.

This was an enjoyable read from an accomplished writer. A sentimental read on my part but I find that it is refreshing to read a novel that is set in only one time period and that doesn't go back and forth, just presented as we live life, in a forward manner. I look forward to the next strong woman this author will present to her readers.

ARC from publisher.
Publishes April 18th from Knopf.

This was a spare and restrained novel, and given the subject of a strained marriage and the setting of Northern New England in the late 1940s, I found it really effective. Grace is a young mother in a struggling marriage when disaster strikes. A huge fire burns much of the Maine coast, including Grace's home and neighborhood. Grace's husband is missing and she is left to fend for herself and her children. The story of her gradual awakening is powerful and emotional.

This story has a little bit of everything; a strong woman protagonist, some suspense, a bit of naughty romance and some horrifying historical events not known to many people, even some who live in maine. It's a quick read with a satisfying ending.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I felt like I have read it before. Thank you for the ARC.

It has been awhile since I read Anita Shreve. and this book was worth coming back. You meet Grace Holland and live with her the ups and downs of life. From catastrophe to triumph, through literal fire, to water, to the unimaginable. Grace fights for herself and her children and proves she is stronger than she could ever imagine.

I know she's a good author, but after 75 pages I still couldn't get into the book. I didn't care for the character of Gene and wasn't grabbed by the story.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors, so I was excited to have the opportunity to read this book before it was published. I was unaware of the fires in Maine during the 40's and did research on the topic when I finished this book. The book had an ebb and flowed to it. It started out fast and kept my interest, and then it slowed down and then picked up towards the end. It kept my attention for the most part, and it wasn't as predictable as I previously thought that it would be. That being said I found parts of the book disturbingly sad and painful to get through both before and after the fire. I felt that the reasoning for him and his mother treating her poorly wasn't explained all that well. It felt like there should have been more to the story. Overall, a good read. (less)

As always, Shreve does not disappoint! A captivating novel based on the 1947 fire along the Maine coast the wiped out lives and homes - this novel is like walking into a smorgasbord and finding everything you like in one place - the joy & sorrow of family & love, loss & hardship, suspense and the chance to start over to triumph against all odds.

This is a very moving story of love and survival. When fire engulfs Grace' s home she fights to survive the night with her children, shivering on the shoreline of the cold Atlantic. Their survival starts a whole new life for Grace, her children and friends and family. Grace had no idea how strong she was and how much joy life could hold for her. I enjoyed this book immensely and couldn't put it down!

The Stars are Fire, by Anita Shreve, April 2017
The Maine summer of 1947 was one of extreme drought that produced such dry conditions that by October, wildfire raced through the eastern coast of Maine laying waste to over 200,000 acres. The fires began inland in the forests and blew towards the ocean destroying a dozen towns in their wake and killing 16 people. Grace Harrow is the mother of two young toddlers who runs to the frigid beach to escape the flames which consume their home and all possessions. Grace’s husband Gene is fighting the fire with volunteers and is nowhere to be found after the fires have been extinguished. Shreve’s story is a fast moving chronicle of survival and of one woman’s determination and resilience to make a life for her family after all appears lost. Shreve is the author of several best sellers, perhaps most notably, The Pilot’s Wife, an Oprah Book Club selection. Highly recommended.