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The Finest Fire
Breaking free is never easy...
It’s the 1980s, and work in Colebrook, is hard to come by. When Michelle loses her job at Tillotson Rubber, she decides to take her chances and move to Berlin, New Hampshire to start fresh, away from her domineering mother.
But escaping family trauma takes more than just a change of address, and as Michelle settles in to a new life and a new romantic relationship, she faces the fact that real change, and real healing, can actually be a life’s work.
Filled with period detail and lively characters, The Finest Fire is a loving portrait of the hardscrabble world of northern New England and the ways in which we can build our own family and find our own place, and the tragedies that can happen if we don’t.
It’s the 1980s, and work in Colebrook, is hard to come by. When Michelle loses her job at Tillotson Rubber, she decides to take her chances and move to Berlin, New Hampshire to start fresh, away from her domineering mother.
But escaping family trauma takes more than just a change of address, and as Michelle settles in to a new life and a new romantic relationship, she faces the fact that real change, and real healing, can actually be a life’s work.
Filled with period detail and lively characters, The Finest Fire is a loving portrait of the hardscrabble world of northern New England and the ways in which we can build our own family and find our own place, and the tragedies that can happen if we don’t.
268 pages, Paperback
Published June 16, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 4, 2023
This is a beautiful story that I won't ever forget. I fell in love with the characters, and I really appreciated the way that even the character who one supposes is the "antagonist" is treated with empathy. We come to understand what made him the way he is.
This novel creates a very strong sense of place, to the point that it made me want to take a road trip to the area of New England in which it is set.
There is much that is tragic in this book, but there is equal warmth and humor and so much love.
It shows us how family can be found in unexpected places and how simple human kindness can rewrite disastrous narratives. I will miss the characters of this book and the setting which is as humble and as real and true as they come. I hope this debut author writes another one.
This novel creates a very strong sense of place, to the point that it made me want to take a road trip to the area of New England in which it is set.
There is much that is tragic in this book, but there is equal warmth and humor and so much love.
It shows us how family can be found in unexpected places and how simple human kindness can rewrite disastrous narratives. I will miss the characters of this book and the setting which is as humble and as real and true as they come. I hope this debut author writes another one.
July 28, 2023
Times are hard in northern New Hampshire in the 1980s. In this book, Wagner tells the story of people whos are trying to make the best of their lives despite their experiences with trauma, poverty, and violence. Her characters seem authentic as does her descriptions of the time and the place. In fact, I was most struck by her ability to convey that time and that place. Despite the hard times and the difficult histories of her characters, Wagner's story is incredibly heartwarming. I found myself tearing up reading a chapter about a mother seeing her son's name on the Vietnam Memorial in DC. And, yes, not all of the characters have happy endings but there is closure and hope.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews