The Fire-Starter

by Addie E. Citchens (Editor)

Illuminated by childhood trauma, Desi Kemp figures early on that life makes no sense, and all the institutions that govern it are also meaningless. Thus she leans only on her own understanding as she navigates her independence, sexuality, and belief, or lack thereof. The Fire-Starter introduces us to Desi at different stages in her life, until finally, at the precipice of what looks like success, she finds herself with a foot in two worlds, unable to reconcile the ghosts of her past with the demands of her future. It is there where we find, as she finds, that much of who you are is who you always were.

Genres: Fiction

396 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2015

About the author

Addie E. Citchens was born in the Mississippi Delta and lives in New Orleans. A graduate of Jackson State University, she studied at the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, the Oxford American, Midnight & Indigo, Mississippi Folklife Magazine, and other publications. She was the inaugural recipient of the Farrar, Straus and Giroux Writer’s Fellowship, and her short story “That Girl” was an O. Henry Prize winner. Dominion is her first novel.

Reviews

[Venessia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was simply amazing. The Fire Starter is a coming of age story set in the Mississippi Delta. Desi is the younger sister of Pepper, who is as spicy as her name. Black, beautiful, brazen, and destined to be much more than their junkie Mother would have ever been. Poor and desolate....Pepper was their shining star...until her disappearance...and her violent untimely murder. The author takes us readers on Desi's journey in the midst of her pain. Desi's pain was authentic and real....so real that I know this Author had to feel a pain this deep to be able to articulate it in the way that she did. This book was simply AMAZING.....a unique voice in fiction reminiscent of Toni Morrison.

[Danilo DiPietro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proxy for ‘The City is a Graveyard’ - New Yorker short story discussed w Ann’s book club. Jogger relives moments of her life in the French Quarter.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "The Fire-Starter", a triumphant and gritty work by a citchens, we are taken on a journey through the eyes of Des, a young woman who has gone through much more than most at her age. a citchens weaves a tale that is wrought with pain, sorrow, and ultimately - redemption. A stunningly written first novel and compelling read, I look forward to reading more by this author.