“Belliveau has created an immersive sensory experience, using vivid snapshots of the many lives affected by a devastating fire. But against this backdrop of death and destruction, there is an enduring gentleness. Somehow, she has managed to capture the fear and the darkness while also illuminating the beauty of human connection. A heart-wrenching and gripping story, incredibly told.”
–Nicole Lundrigan, bestselling author of The Widow Tree and Hideaway

“Both riveting and tender, The Sound of Fire is an unexpected page-turner rich with historical detail and an interconnected cast of vibrant characters. Belliveau’s clean yet emotive prose paints a captivating portrait of a tragic fire in a small community told from multiple perspectives, including, most strikingly, from the fire itself.”
–Deborah Hemming, ReLit shortlisted author of Throw Down Your Shadows

“Using a kind of personalized-archive technique to piece vivid shards of historical and imagined detail into an intricate mosaic, Renée Belliveau reconstructs a devastating residence fire at Mount Allison University in 1941. Told from the dozens of individual perspectives of those whose lives were changed by the events, The Sound of Fire sets a very local tragedy against the larger contexts of the still-lively memories of one world war and the ongoing carnage of another.”
–Mark Blagrave, author of Commonwealth First Novel Award–shortlisted Silver Salts and Lay Figures