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Wildfire
Julie has an obsession with fire that began after her parents died when she was twelve years old. Her pyromania leads her to take an unlikely job as a forest firefighter on an elite, Type 1 “Hotshot” crew of forest firefighters who travel the American West battling wildfires. The only woman on the twenty person crew, Julie struggles both to prove her worth and find a place of belonging in the dangerous, insular, and very masculine world of fire (while also fighting against an eating disorder she's had since her teens). As her season “on the line” progresses so do her relationships with the strange and varied cast of characters that make up her hotshots team—and she learns what it means to put your life on the line for someone else.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 7, 2014
20 people are currently reading
1014 people want to read
About the author
Mary Pauline Lowry
6 books228 followersMary Pauline Lowry is a native of Austin, Texas. Her novel "The Roxy Letters" is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster on April 7, 2020. She's the author of the novel "Wildfire," and is a regular contributor to O, the Oprah Magazine. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Millions, and other publications.
She recently received her MFA from Boise State University in Idaho. She currently lives in Boise with her husband George, who is English and has taught her that tea really is a balm for the soul.
One of her dreams in life is to ride a sled pulled by a gaggle of joyful dachshunds.
She recently received her MFA from Boise State University in Idaho. She currently lives in Boise with her husband George, who is English and has taught her that tea really is a balm for the soul.
One of her dreams in life is to ride a sled pulled by a gaggle of joyful dachshunds.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 3, 2018
Railing against the path her grandmother has set for her, Julie joins a Hotshot crew, an elite team of remote area forest firefighters who use chainsaws and shovels to fight fire. At first the crew is uncertain about this woman intruding into their male dominated world but with determination and grit and a lot of hard work she manages to carve a niche for herself.
With the respect of her comrades she has everything she wants, but the job is dangerous and every time they fight fire, their lives are on the line.
Wildfire is a truly amazing book. The Hotshots are hard men and women and just like them this book is brash and occasionally crass. They speak their own language and the author has just put it out there without any explanations and that's really how it should be. You don't need to know everything to get this story.
I'm going to make the call. This is one of my best five books of 2014!
Many thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for providing me with this ARC
With the respect of her comrades she has everything she wants, but the job is dangerous and every time they fight fire, their lives are on the line.
Wildfire is a truly amazing book. The Hotshots are hard men and women and just like them this book is brash and occasionally crass. They speak their own language and the author has just put it out there without any explanations and that's really how it should be. You don't need to know everything to get this story.
I'm going to make the call. This is one of my best five books of 2014!
Many thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for providing me with this ARC
October 14, 2014
I devoured this book like fire consumes a dry forest in August. The writing makes every detail so vivid and real. Lowry's dialog will always surprise you. The early chapters chronicle the main character's struggle to join a group of men whose bonds are forged in the crucible of fire. Lowry is masterful in this section. She made me feel the discord of the group in every sentence. As the story progressed, I found the intense fire-fighting scenes as enthralling as her internal struggles. I finished the book on a plane and was not able to choke back the tears I did not expect.
I believe Wildfire will resonate with women who work in male-dominated professions/pursuits, as well as men who work in predominantly female environments. I wish more men, like me, who work in predominantly male environments (the Army) would read this book to more fully appreciate the struggles and significant contributions of our female colleagues. It will teach us all about how we bring our life stories to our chosen professions and how we are transformed by our "trials by fire." In this way, Wildfire serves the larger purpose of why I read novels--to learn more about the human condition. Wildfire burns in it's spiritual intensity, emotional honesty, and gripping description of a world that few of us will ever see up close.
I believe Wildfire will resonate with women who work in male-dominated professions/pursuits, as well as men who work in predominantly female environments. I wish more men, like me, who work in predominantly male environments (the Army) would read this book to more fully appreciate the struggles and significant contributions of our female colleagues. It will teach us all about how we bring our life stories to our chosen professions and how we are transformed by our "trials by fire." In this way, Wildfire serves the larger purpose of why I read novels--to learn more about the human condition. Wildfire burns in it's spiritual intensity, emotional honesty, and gripping description of a world that few of us will ever see up close.
June 9, 2020
Mary Pauline Lowry, author of the hilarious and wildly popular novel, The Roxy Letters, (published April 2020), is well versed in writing letters. The Roxy Letters, a love letter to her beloved Austin, focuses on one woman's search for meaning.
Mary Pauline was once a wildland firefighter before the fame of Roxy; a HotShot in fact, an elite crew of firefighters tossed seemingly anywhere to do battle. In Wildfire lies another love letter. Indeed, the author writes:
"This book is a love song for my boys on the Pike Interagency Hotshot Crew." The list of names takes up the page.
Fun Fact: the woman on the cover of Wildfire is actually the author.
What I thought would be a day in the life turned out to be much more. (Lowry dazzles with the terminology, grit and bluster). Wildfire is often a lesson in fear and adrenaline. Although the money is good, it still takes a certain element to want to subject oneself to such adverse conditions.
Julie, the lone woman on the crew of twenty, faces staggering odds; not just that but the reasons she's even attempting this feat. After having lost her parents at an early age and raised by a grandmother (whose name is Frosty and lives up to the hype), will this rookie even have the balls to make it up the hill, let alone succeed in a wilderness composed of fire, forest, and machismo?
Nevertheless Lowry makes Julie malleable: tough and strong but also feminine; prone to the mistakes suffered by someone who at once needs to prove her toughness while also following stringent guidelines to maintain decorum.
Lowry throws several gut punches that made me wince but that's more a testament to her storytelling than my lack of awareness. Slowly, she takes her time developing characters; leaving little pieces of humanity like breadcrumbs to mark where you've been or where you may have been lost.
I often felt I was on the mountain, ready to take flight; as comfortable running downhill from the past as I was uphill to an uncertain future.
... yet always surrounded by love.
Mary Pauline was once a wildland firefighter before the fame of Roxy; a HotShot in fact, an elite crew of firefighters tossed seemingly anywhere to do battle. In Wildfire lies another love letter. Indeed, the author writes:
"This book is a love song for my boys on the Pike Interagency Hotshot Crew." The list of names takes up the page.
Fun Fact: the woman on the cover of Wildfire is actually the author.
What I thought would be a day in the life turned out to be much more. (Lowry dazzles with the terminology, grit and bluster). Wildfire is often a lesson in fear and adrenaline. Although the money is good, it still takes a certain element to want to subject oneself to such adverse conditions.
Julie, the lone woman on the crew of twenty, faces staggering odds; not just that but the reasons she's even attempting this feat. After having lost her parents at an early age and raised by a grandmother (whose name is Frosty and lives up to the hype), will this rookie even have the balls to make it up the hill, let alone succeed in a wilderness composed of fire, forest, and machismo?
Nevertheless Lowry makes Julie malleable: tough and strong but also feminine; prone to the mistakes suffered by someone who at once needs to prove her toughness while also following stringent guidelines to maintain decorum.
Lowry throws several gut punches that made me wince but that's more a testament to her storytelling than my lack of awareness. Slowly, she takes her time developing characters; leaving little pieces of humanity like breadcrumbs to mark where you've been or where you may have been lost.
I often felt I was on the mountain, ready to take flight; as comfortable running downhill from the past as I was uphill to an uncertain future.
... yet always surrounded by love.
July 23, 2016
Julie lost her parents to a horrible accident at age 12. In order to deal with her grief and to rebel against the grandmother who took her in, she engaged in fairly destructive behavior. Now in her early 20s, Julie has become the only woman on a 20 person Type 1 "Hotshot" crew of elite forest firefighters. Mary Pauline Lowry doesn't pull any punches in this gritty novel of a woman trying to find a place where she belongs and learn to live with her inner demons. The story is fascinating, the writing is timeless, and Julie's struggle to belong is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
January 18, 2015
As the daughter of a hotshot, I had hoped this would be an interesting and entertaining behind-the-scenes story of forest firefighting, as well as a fish-out-of-water story for the heroine. In the end, though, it read more like a how-to book, filled with detail but no real story. The author clearly knows the world of firefighting, but the storytelling never pulled me into it. Just wasn't the book for me.
May 28, 2014
This is a story of a hotshot fire fighting team. The main character is Julie who drops out of college to join the crew. It is her story of growth and maturity. She makes friends and learns life isn't always fair. A wonderful book and an inside look at firefighting and how dangerous their lives have become.
September 30, 2017
I found this book on Audible. It was great to listen to!
When forests burn and mountains rage in hellish conflagrations, the unpredictable and malevolent force that is fire ignites a burning desire in the hearts of those who are bold and daring enough to confront it. This is the realm of an elite and rare breed of firefighters: The Hotshots. Wildland firefighting’s equivalent of the Marines, they are the quintessential hardcore grunts who are the tip of the spear when Mother Nature turns up the heat; tasked with clearing away unburned fuel on the fire line to halt an advancing wildfire’s onslaught. Before smoke jumpers and air attack assets get deployed, Hotshots are often the first ones downrange. It’s this tantalizing allure that compels “Julie” a young, tomboyish, and deeply flawed individual to join the select ranks of a Colorado Hotshot crew and blaze a trail of her own in the mostly male-dominated fraternity. However, just earning a place on the crew proves just as daunting as opposing an out of control wildfire. Haunted by the death of her parents and disownment by her Grandmother, Julie must contend with rigorous training regimens, sexist remarks from her teammates, harassment, and the high anxiety of being plagued by an eating disorder since her adolescence. All tempered by an overriding obsession to go one-on-one with fire.
Author Mary Pauline Lowry draws upon her own real life experiences as a former Hotshot and crafts a wonderful work of literary fiction about the human spirit that’s just as intriguing and ferocious as a raging wildfire. Written with a complex assortment of unique characters, as well as tense and tender subplots, “Wildfire” burns with the same authenticity as John Maclean’s “Fire on the Mountain” and “North Country;” destined to be a movie.
When forests burn and mountains rage in hellish conflagrations, the unpredictable and malevolent force that is fire ignites a burning desire in the hearts of those who are bold and daring enough to confront it. This is the realm of an elite and rare breed of firefighters: The Hotshots. Wildland firefighting’s equivalent of the Marines, they are the quintessential hardcore grunts who are the tip of the spear when Mother Nature turns up the heat; tasked with clearing away unburned fuel on the fire line to halt an advancing wildfire’s onslaught. Before smoke jumpers and air attack assets get deployed, Hotshots are often the first ones downrange. It’s this tantalizing allure that compels “Julie” a young, tomboyish, and deeply flawed individual to join the select ranks of a Colorado Hotshot crew and blaze a trail of her own in the mostly male-dominated fraternity. However, just earning a place on the crew proves just as daunting as opposing an out of control wildfire. Haunted by the death of her parents and disownment by her Grandmother, Julie must contend with rigorous training regimens, sexist remarks from her teammates, harassment, and the high anxiety of being plagued by an eating disorder since her adolescence. All tempered by an overriding obsession to go one-on-one with fire.
Author Mary Pauline Lowry draws upon her own real life experiences as a former Hotshot and crafts a wonderful work of literary fiction about the human spirit that’s just as intriguing and ferocious as a raging wildfire. Written with a complex assortment of unique characters, as well as tense and tender subplots, “Wildfire” burns with the same authenticity as John Maclean’s “Fire on the Mountain” and “North Country;” destined to be a movie.
February 15, 2017
I really wanted to like this book. The author was a hotshot, I had high hopes; as a former wildland ff and a hotshot wife it's hard not to be annoyed when authors get things wrong. I'm not sure what year the book was set in, maybe knowing that would have made some of the crew/culture specifics make more sense. If I wasn't familiar with the wildfire world I would have glazed over the paragraphs full of terminology.
My biggest issue with this book is there's no real story. It's a fictional account of a female's rookie year on a hotshot crew. She has a lot of issues - being bulimic and an orphan - and those issues aren't addressed, one days she's just not puking anymore. There's a lot of focus with sexual gender roles and expectations, but even that isn't addressed. We are told everything, not shown. Then every bad thing that can happen on a fire, happens to them. It could have a good of a story without so much drama. I hope people don't walk away thinking this is what it's like to be on a hotshot/fire crew.
My biggest issue with this book is there's no real story. It's a fictional account of a female's rookie year on a hotshot crew. She has a lot of issues - being bulimic and an orphan - and those issues aren't addressed, one days she's just not puking anymore. There's a lot of focus with sexual gender roles and expectations, but even that isn't addressed. We are told everything, not shown. Then every bad thing that can happen on a fire, happens to them. It could have a good of a story without so much drama. I hope people don't walk away thinking this is what it's like to be on a hotshot/fire crew.
August 30, 2014
The prologue hooked me. This novel has a strong voice. I found the description of the firefighters very compelling. This novel brought me into a world I would never experience otherwise, truly broadening my perspective. The ending though was unexpectedly sad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2016
I do not remember what prompted me to get this book so I was unsure if I would enjoy it when I finally read it. I did. It was a good tale with believable and likable characters with a good story arch and it did not feel stretched out like some books lately have.
November 19, 2017
An amazing, interesting book. This gives the account of a young female who joins a hotshot crew - forest firefighters. I found it fascinating how forest fires are fought, compounded by the fact that Julie is the only female on the crew. I highly recommend this!
January 24, 2024
Gripping book: the ending is a real tear-jerker. Trigger warning for eating disorders, and vulgarity is ever-present throughout the book. However, the stories of fighting fires are very suspenseful, and I was inspired by the main character’s ability to prove herself in a very male-dominated field, so I enjoyed this read overall.
March 4, 2015
I want to start by saying a big thank you to Goodreads First Reads and author Mary Pauline Lowry for the good fortune of winning a copy of this tremendous book. Wildfire centers around Julie, a young adult with a troubled background who is trying to find herself and wanting to belong. She goes to work for the Forestry Service as a "hotshot" forest firefighter. It was difficult for her initially, being the only girl on a crew of men, always having to prove herself. The cast of characters were wonderful, very well developed. The world of wildfire fighting is frightening, exciting and so other worldly. It was thrilling to see this world from the inside, giving these courageous men and women the recognition that they deserve. The firefighting scenes were so believable, made so by the fact that the author had actually been a forest firefighting hotshot. The book made me laugh and cry and gave me many heart pounding-edge of my seat moments. The saddest part was saying "goodbye" to my "friends" and the life of a hotshot when I turned the last page. Thank you, Mary, for being such an excellent author!
August 18, 2015
Not unlike a forest fire, this book started slowly for me. At first, I wasn't sure it was really going to be a thing of significance. The plot seemed a little thin, and I didn't think I was going to care all that much about the troubled, firefighting narrator and the band of rednecks she has to work with. But then, suddenly, WHOOSH, I was engulfed. Though the plot of the book never develops into anything complex, the characters become very real people and I soon found myself thinking about them when I wasn't reading the book, looking forward to getting back to their world, not so much to find out what happens plot-wise, but just to see how they're all getting along. The author did a great job of showing a world--wilderness fire-fighting--that I knew nothing about and making it interesting.
November 9, 2015
After her parents death and moving in with her aristocratic grandmother, Julie, is having a hard time findind a way to cope with her grief from the loss of her parents. Determined to have a life lead by her own choices, Julie eventually rebels, quits college and joins a hotshot forest firefighter team. Julie never imagined her life taking this direction, but is determined to prove herself to her new crew.
I gave this book a chance because I wanted to try out something different from the types of books that I usually read. I liked the authors' style of writing, plot and character, but it took me about half way through the book until I finally really got hooked. It was interesting learning what forest firefighters have to go through during their peak seasons and what it might be like to be the only female in a job field dominated by men.
I gave this book a chance because I wanted to try out something different from the types of books that I usually read. I liked the authors' style of writing, plot and character, but it took me about half way through the book until I finally really got hooked. It was interesting learning what forest firefighters have to go through during their peak seasons and what it might be like to be the only female in a job field dominated by men.
December 26, 2020
I found this novel to be a very authentic and engaging tale of a fire season. The author was herself a hotshot in earlier days, so that explains that.
One very early chapters (maybe even chapter one) spoiler/question is the bulimia subplot...which is maybe also autobiographical, and I honestly only know what I know of the subject from a handful of docs and films. but I have a bit of trouble believing that Julie would be able to maintain the strength and stamina she needs through the rigorous early training chapters...especially as she clearly communicates the extra investment she is regularly having to make just to keep up at the beginning...I honestly would have been interested to see an afterword about that, if based on life experience.
One very early chapters (maybe even chapter one) spoiler/question is the bulimia subplot...which is maybe also autobiographical, and I honestly only know what I know of the subject from a handful of docs and films. but I have a bit of trouble believing that Julie would be able to maintain the strength and stamina she needs through the rigorous early training chapters...especially as she clearly communicates the extra investment she is regularly having to make just to keep up at the beginning...I honestly would have been interested to see an afterword about that, if based on life experience.
June 4, 2015
This is an absorbing novel about the life of a woman hotshot firefighter during her rookie season. It show the passion and team work necessary for these people to fight the huge fires we so often have in our western states. It also shows us the toughness and the loyalty of people from different backgrounds and how they can bond though the work and lives they live together. It was a wonderful summer read and I was engrossed in their adventures through a day of travel. The heart, soul and camaraderie of the people in this novel were amazing. Thanks goodness we have such firefighters protecting our forests.
September 25, 2018
A fascinating story of a young woman, who, orphaned at a young age and raised by her maternal grandmother as a debutante, is forced to conform to high society rules. She courageously chooses to quit college and abandon the dreams of her grandmother, to follow her deepest desires of becoming a hotshot. She is challenged beyond measure being the only female member of a tight group of male firefighters, as they face harrowing tests of daring, strength and hardship. It takes a special type of person to be part of a team that faces the dangers of such a job, and through these experiences she discovers deep within, the reasons why she has chosen this difficult and exhilirating way of life.
December 1, 2014
Mary Lowry's majestic novel opens a window into a world I never dreamed existed. As a former wildland firefighter herself, the author writes with such power that readers feel the crackle of burning hair along with Julie, the protagonist, as she indulges her pyromaniac tendencies at the book's opening. And it gets better. Lowry balances the tension of Julie's personal pain with the physical realities of being female on a team with nineteen unforgettable men. Rockstar, Archie, and Big Sweet Sam are forever burned on my soul.
November 22, 2015
[Wildfire] is a story of a young woman trying to escape her past and what is expected of her and finding where she belongs. It is a true coming of age novel of love, loss and discovery. [Mary Pauline Lowry] catches the true feeling of rebellion of the main character Julie as she tries to overcome the pain of her past with the Pikers, a hot shot crew, forest fire fighters who often hike or fly into the heart of fires all through fire season. This book kept me reading and was finished off in a day. It was a very well told story.
November 1, 2016
This is a kind of coming of age novel. A vivid description of what goes on at a wildfire and what the hotshot teams do. Julie feels alone without friends or parents, having been raised by a strict grandmother steeped in propriety. She flunks out of college just before graduation and decides to apply to a hotshot team since she has always been enamored with fire. She finds the family she longs for in the hotshot team of which she is the only woman. Great plot, salty language, but a great description for fighting fire.
July 25, 2015
This review is based on a free copy of the book supplied through the Goodreads Advance Read program
This is a thrilling look into the elite firefighters who work tremendously long hours under the most extreme conditions to fight wild fires.
The author is one of those firefighters and allows us to enter this world that we would never see, or understand, in our normal course of events.
A thrilling story that will rock you.
Recommended
This is a thrilling look into the elite firefighters who work tremendously long hours under the most extreme conditions to fight wild fires.
The author is one of those firefighters and allows us to enter this world that we would never see, or understand, in our normal course of events.
A thrilling story that will rock you.
Recommended
December 30, 2014
In her debut novel, Wildfire, Mary Pauline Lowry provides a behind-the-scenes look at the “hotshot” world of fighting forest fires. The main character, Julie, struggles to prove her worth in this male-dominated field, and her early failures make her journey that much more intriguing. Lowry succeeds in creating an incredibly realistic cast of characters and the story reads like a personal memoir – a testament to the author's unique experiences and her writing skills.
June 14, 2019
A snapshot of another world...
Unfortunately, many of us may need to learn more about wildfires than we had ever imagined, so it was nice to be introduced to the hotshot culture through this novel. It was interesting to read how the narrator navigated her entrance into the macho world of seasoned firefighters because it is a place where few people, let alone women, are prepared or equipped to go.
Unfortunately, many of us may need to learn more about wildfires than we had ever imagined, so it was nice to be introduced to the hotshot culture through this novel. It was interesting to read how the narrator navigated her entrance into the macho world of seasoned firefighters because it is a place where few people, let alone women, are prepared or equipped to go.
August 11, 2015
Enjoyed the pace and exciting scenarios. I had a difficult time getting into the characters, even though the author tried hard to make them believable. The wildland firefighting was believable and exciting and had the pages turning quickly. The hotshot world is pretty exclusive and this book did manage to portray the hard work and long hours these firefighters do every year. Enjoyable!
July 4, 2016
I received this book free from Goodreads giveaways. I found this story interesting because the main character was the only woman on a hotshot crew. Her struggles both physically and mentally to fit in with the crew made this a great story. It gives you a message on what it means to lay your life on the line for another crew member.
September 8, 2016
This author clearly knows what she's talking about. Lowry can compete with the best on the written page as well as out on a firefighting crew. This is an intriguing peek into the world of often crude but always gutsy hotshot wildland firefighters. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down!
February 13, 2019
Mary's writing style is lovely. Her detailed anecdotes are thorough yet concise. This story brings alive the realities of working in wildland fire service yet leaves a few things to your imagination. Other stories in this genre are either hotheaded biographies that stroke their ego or are love stories with a side of firefighting. A good read for firefighters and lay people as well.
May 3, 2015
Bravo!
Kudos to Ms. Lowry. This is an amazing book. Julie is such an authentic character - as are they all - I had to keep reminding myself that this is a novel, not a "real" memoir. It's about love and life and living on the edge. A must-read for everyone.
Kudos to Ms. Lowry. This is an amazing book. Julie is such an authentic character - as are they all - I had to keep reminding myself that this is a novel, not a "real" memoir. It's about love and life and living on the edge. A must-read for everyone.
October 6, 2014
Love it! Another great read from MPL.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews