The House Is on Fire

En savoir plus sur le livre

The author of Florence Adler Swims Forever presents a gripping historical fiction centered on a devastating tragedy that shook a young nation and fractured a community in one night, narrated through the eyes of four individuals whose choices during the disaster altered history. In Richmond, Virginia, in 1811, the winter social season is in full swing, with the General Assembly in session and many gentleman planters and their families flocking to the capital for entertainment. The city’s theater, hosting the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company, is filled with over six hundred revelers on the night after Christmas. Among them is newly widowed Sally Henry Campbell, seeking solace in memories of her late husband, while Cecily Patterson, in the colored gallery, finds a brief escape from her worsening life. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes to secure a permanent position, and blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of bringing his wife to the theater once he can afford her freedom. When the theater erupts in flames during the performance, the split-second decisions made by Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert will impact their lives and those around them. In the aftermath, their fates become intertwined, revealing that even amid tragedy, there are fleeting opportunities for redemption.