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Setting Fires: A Novel
Setting Fires is the gripping story of Annie Fishman Waldmas, a documentary filmmaker, wife, and mother of two young children, who uses her professional skills to unravel the shocking secrets behind the two fires that come to dominate and haunt her life.
The novel begins with a pair of phone calls that shatter Annie's contentment forever. The first brings news that Annie's country house in Connecticut has burned, in an area where two other Jewish-owned buildings have also recently burned down. The second and far more distressing call informs Annie that her beloved father -- the family patriarch, burdened by a lifelong shame that Annie will soon uncover -- has been diagnosed with cancer.
Gradually, as Annie and her father forge a new and closer bond, he is able to acknowledge his history of poverty, his struggle for survival, and the near-tragedy it led to. Annie's determination to help her father find peace and forgiveness before dying meshes inextricably with her determination to find and expose the anti-Semitic arsonist who threatens her own family.
Annie's passionate search reaches back four generations from the early roots of the Fishman clan in Russia and New York to the modern-day lives of Annie, her siblings, and their divorced parents. At the same time, it throws Annie's relationships with her own husband and children into chaos, and rocks the family life on which she has always depended for stability and support. Not until Annie discovers and resolves the final truths -- by her own wit, perseverance, and self-knowledge -- can she reestablish the harmony she treasures.
Kate Wenner, an award-winning former producer of 20/20, makes a startling fiction debut in this powerful novel about a courageous woman's struggle to come to terms with a complex family history.
The novel begins with a pair of phone calls that shatter Annie's contentment forever. The first brings news that Annie's country house in Connecticut has burned, in an area where two other Jewish-owned buildings have also recently burned down. The second and far more distressing call informs Annie that her beloved father -- the family patriarch, burdened by a lifelong shame that Annie will soon uncover -- has been diagnosed with cancer.
Gradually, as Annie and her father forge a new and closer bond, he is able to acknowledge his history of poverty, his struggle for survival, and the near-tragedy it led to. Annie's determination to help her father find peace and forgiveness before dying meshes inextricably with her determination to find and expose the anti-Semitic arsonist who threatens her own family.
Annie's passionate search reaches back four generations from the early roots of the Fishman clan in Russia and New York to the modern-day lives of Annie, her siblings, and their divorced parents. At the same time, it throws Annie's relationships with her own husband and children into chaos, and rocks the family life on which she has always depended for stability and support. Not until Annie discovers and resolves the final truths -- by her own wit, perseverance, and self-knowledge -- can she reestablish the harmony she treasures.
Kate Wenner, an award-winning former producer of 20/20, makes a startling fiction debut in this powerful novel about a courageous woman's struggle to come to terms with a complex family history.
- GenresFiction
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 30, 2017
Quite simply, I loved this book. The writing was elegant. She maintained her voice throughout the book. In this book, there are two plot lines, both of which resonated with me. The first, Annie's father is dying of cancer in Los Angeles while she is living in New York. How can she manage with her father's impending death? What does his death mean? Annie wrestles with life's big questions, often with a rabbi on the Upper West Side. Forgiveness, shame, death. The second, the family's summer home has been torched in northeast Connecticut. It was ruled an electrical fire. But is it really? The only other property in town, a bakery, that is owned by Jews also had a recent fire. Is it possible there is a connection? Was it arson? Was it anti-semetic? While written before 9/11, and despite some anachronisms like putting a cassette in a video recorder, the two foci read very currently.
October 10, 2017
There were moments and passages of sheer brilliance and profound insight scattered throughout this novel. It tried to do a LOT, combining the story of a 70 year old man saying goodbye to his family as he is dying from stomach cancer. The Angle of narration is the oldest daughter, who has 3 siblings and 2 children of her own. That part of the story was most brilliant, as Annie is portrayed in such humor, pathos and empathy that I couldn't help but like her. The entire family is like that, honest, kind, endearing people who live and love and stick together as a wonderful family, despite their differences.
A secondary plot also weaves through the book, as Annie's second vacation house in Connecticut
is burned down. They are not sure or not if it's arson, but Annie (an investigative reporter) puts together a folder of evidence showing that there is a pattern of fires numberiong more than a dozen, all Jewish victims. When she is finally able to bring in the FBI, it is clear that a hate crime is being repeated over and over. That is solved by the novel's end, but was a bit of cliche. Not to diminish the abhorrence of such a crime, but the villain and his actions and final justice was all just a tad out of the "exactly what you'd expect book".
I'm not even sure why Wenner wove the two stories together. Just the family story made a book of wonderful pathos and insight. The arson/ antisemitic angle was weaker and more predictable. She did her best to weave it all together at the end, but i still felt that was the flaw. I WOULD recommend this book, especially to someone going through the death of their father. That part was a 5 star, but the arson was only a 3 star, so it's a 4 by default.
A secondary plot also weaves through the book, as Annie's second vacation house in Connecticut
is burned down. They are not sure or not if it's arson, but Annie (an investigative reporter) puts together a folder of evidence showing that there is a pattern of fires numberiong more than a dozen, all Jewish victims. When she is finally able to bring in the FBI, it is clear that a hate crime is being repeated over and over. That is solved by the novel's end, but was a bit of cliche. Not to diminish the abhorrence of such a crime, but the villain and his actions and final justice was all just a tad out of the "exactly what you'd expect book".
I'm not even sure why Wenner wove the two stories together. Just the family story made a book of wonderful pathos and insight. The arson/ antisemitic angle was weaker and more predictable. She did her best to weave it all together at the end, but i still felt that was the flaw. I WOULD recommend this book, especially to someone going through the death of their father. That part was a 5 star, but the arson was only a 3 star, so it's a 4 by default.
March 31, 2021
Wanted to give a 3.5 star.
September 27, 2010
Thankfully, the main story has enough life to keep bobbing to the surface and making waves. Hate and love, sin and redemption, after all, are eternal and powerful forces, and Wenner depicts their pull and push amid the mundanedetails of daily life. Waldmas investigates alleged anti-Semitism in the hills of New England, but first she has to find the baby-sitter. She and hubby want to collect on their fire insurance and rebuild their dream house, but first they have to carp at one another over the chores.
- Beliefnet, Aug. 2000
As you all know from my recent post, Setting Fires by Kate Wenner, I started reading it a few days ago. The book was an easy read and hard to put down. From the first sentence of the chapter to the last page, it was a journey that somewhat similar to mine or so to speak.
The book is about the life of Annie Waldmas and how she coped with the death of her family, experiences an anti semitic, and the reconnection with broken family ties. The tale talks about live and the mistakes people made through it, the gain and lost of love, how a person sees life inspite of death and how one should move on inspite the loss.
It's basically a daughter-father story that touched me entirely. As some of you might now, I don't have a good relationship with my father and reading the novel made me think some things. Does the though of eath really change everything. When one person is faced with the reality ofpassin on to the next life, do you really see life differently?
Reading the book made me cry. I'm a cry baby but this is the first time I cried reading a book, a first I must say! I've read a lot of nice lines throughout the book and even highlighted them which is not my thing.
Abe Waldermas talking to his family about his will to fight
"There are two possibilities," he announced. "Either this thing is going to beat me or it won't. But I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here counting the tiles in the ceiling. I'm back in. I'm going to fight. And it's because of you guys. You're the what makes me want to fight."
Abe Waldermas dicussing his options for treatment with his son Tony
"Do you want to put yourself through radiation for fifteen totwenty percet odds?"
"Twenty percent is better than no percent"
Annie's discussion with Rabbi Lowenstein about her father's cancer
"Our scholars tells us that death is te ultimate gift we have to give God in return for His gift to us of life."
"I thought I might need to turn to my religion now - with all that's going to happen."
"Turn to your religion? You don't turn to religion as if it were a drive-through McDonald's."
Rabbi Lowenstein parting words in his service at the synogogue
"There are no absolute answers to anything - just absolute questions."
Annie talking to Josh about the arson investigation
"You can waste a lot of your time in life by needing to win."
Annie, Abe and Charles Waldermas talking
"See, in spite of the tireness, the worry, the endless medical procedures, when I look as the four of you and feel my lovefor you and your love for me, it's damned hard for me to imagine I'm anything but blessed."
"but believe me, if you feel loved, death isn't something tobe afraid of."
Rabbi Lowenstein and Annie's discussion about the arson
"We may believe we understand evil, but encountering it head-on is a very different matter."
The book is totally worth it being it the first fiction novel or a seasoned journalist. Don't think twice especially if you like these types of book. I also recomend this book to people who are undergoing grief and don't know how to move on after alove one passed away, or for a person who is lost with their faith, and for a person who is experiencing family troubles. After reading it, I was envy of the families relationship with each other. I envy the lvoe that surrounds them.
I too am a Manufactured Woman. :)
- Beliefnet, Aug. 2000
As you all know from my recent post, Setting Fires by Kate Wenner, I started reading it a few days ago. The book was an easy read and hard to put down. From the first sentence of the chapter to the last page, it was a journey that somewhat similar to mine or so to speak.
The book is about the life of Annie Waldmas and how she coped with the death of her family, experiences an anti semitic, and the reconnection with broken family ties. The tale talks about live and the mistakes people made through it, the gain and lost of love, how a person sees life inspite of death and how one should move on inspite the loss.
It's basically a daughter-father story that touched me entirely. As some of you might now, I don't have a good relationship with my father and reading the novel made me think some things. Does the though of eath really change everything. When one person is faced with the reality ofpassin on to the next life, do you really see life differently?
Reading the book made me cry. I'm a cry baby but this is the first time I cried reading a book, a first I must say! I've read a lot of nice lines throughout the book and even highlighted them which is not my thing.
Abe Waldermas talking to his family about his will to fight
"There are two possibilities," he announced. "Either this thing is going to beat me or it won't. But I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here counting the tiles in the ceiling. I'm back in. I'm going to fight. And it's because of you guys. You're the what makes me want to fight."
Abe Waldermas dicussing his options for treatment with his son Tony
"Do you want to put yourself through radiation for fifteen totwenty percet odds?"
"Twenty percent is better than no percent"
Annie's discussion with Rabbi Lowenstein about her father's cancer
"Our scholars tells us that death is te ultimate gift we have to give God in return for His gift to us of life."
"I thought I might need to turn to my religion now - with all that's going to happen."
"Turn to your religion? You don't turn to religion as if it were a drive-through McDonald's."
Rabbi Lowenstein parting words in his service at the synogogue
"There are no absolute answers to anything - just absolute questions."
Annie talking to Josh about the arson investigation
"You can waste a lot of your time in life by needing to win."
Annie, Abe and Charles Waldermas talking
"See, in spite of the tireness, the worry, the endless medical procedures, when I look as the four of you and feel my lovefor you and your love for me, it's damned hard for me to imagine I'm anything but blessed."
"but believe me, if you feel loved, death isn't something tobe afraid of."
Rabbi Lowenstein and Annie's discussion about the arson
"We may believe we understand evil, but encountering it head-on is a very different matter."
The book is totally worth it being it the first fiction novel or a seasoned journalist. Don't think twice especially if you like these types of book. I also recomend this book to people who are undergoing grief and don't know how to move on after alove one passed away, or for a person who is lost with their faith, and for a person who is experiencing family troubles. After reading it, I was envy of the families relationship with each other. I envy the lvoe that surrounds them.
I too am a Manufactured Woman. :)
May 15, 2012
Documentary maker Annie Waldmas is dealing with loss: her family's weekend home has burned down and her father is dying of cancer. This story is about her learning to cope with that loss and with the resulting changes in her identity, as she tries to find out if an anti-Semitic arsonist is at work in New England.
The only false notes I noted came near the end, when Annie injects herself a little too much into the arson investigation. I understand the author's desire to "show" the resolution of that plot point, rather than just "telling" it, and she was doing just that... right up until the actual take-down of the arsonist. Perhaps Wenner thought it would be too unrealistic – too "shades of mystery/chick-lit genre" – to have her main character (who has been so very plausible for the first 80 percent of the novel) be physically involved at that point. Perhaps she didn't want to write an action sequence like that. Whatever the reason, her solution rang hollow, if far more likely than the one I'd expected.
My final verdict: Moving, deep, heart-warming, Setting Fires is sure to touch your heart.
The only false notes I noted came near the end, when Annie injects herself a little too much into the arson investigation. I understand the author's desire to "show" the resolution of that plot point, rather than just "telling" it, and she was doing just that... right up until the actual take-down of the arsonist. Perhaps Wenner thought it would be too unrealistic – too "shades of mystery/chick-lit genre" – to have her main character (who has been so very plausible for the first 80 percent of the novel) be physically involved at that point. Perhaps she didn't want to write an action sequence like that. Whatever the reason, her solution rang hollow, if far more likely than the one I'd expected.
My final verdict: Moving, deep, heart-warming, Setting Fires is sure to touch your heart.
July 24, 2011
The main storylines of possible anti-Semitic arson and a father dying of cancer kept my interest, but I just did not like the main character. I almost stopped reading twice because she annoyed me, but I had to find out what happened with the fire. Annie was just too sensitive and selfish for my liking. She was constantly offended or irritated with comments by her well-meaning family.
July 13, 2007
Another great story by Kate Wenner
September 2, 2010
Though the protagonist is strong, the plot is somewhat boring and anticlimactic. I didn't find the book to be particularly well written or deep. It is, however, a very easy, quick read.
June 1, 2008
Wonderful, melancholy writing about confronting death and evil. What could be more fun?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews