Fire Is Your Water

by Jim Minick

Sacred chants are Ada Franklin’s power and her medicine. By saying them, she can remove warts, stanch bleeding, and draw the fire from burns. At age twenty, her reputation as a faith healer defines her in her rural Pennsylvania community. But on the day in 1953 that her family’s barn is consumed by flame, her identity as a healer is upended. The heat, the roar of the blaze, and the bellows of the trapped cows change Ada. For the first time, she fears death and — for the first time — she doubts God. With her belief goes her power to heal. Then Ada meets an agnostic named Will Burk and his pet raven, Cicero.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

344 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2017

About the author

Jim Minick is the author of five books, including the novel Fire Is Your Water (Ohio UP, 2017), and The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family (St. Martin’s, 2012), winner of the SIBA Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Award. Minick has also written a collection of essays, Finding a Clear Path, two books of poetry, Her Secret Song and Burning Heaven, and he edited All There Is to Keep by Rita Riddle. His honors include the Jean Ritchie Fellowship in Appalachian Writing, and the Fred Chappell Fellowship at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. He has also won awards from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, Southern Environmental Law Center, The Virginia College Bookstore Association, Appalachian Writers Association, Appalachian Heritage, Now and Then Magazine, and Radford University. His poem “I Dream a Bean” was picked by Claudia Emerson for permanent display at the Tysons Corner/Metrorail Station. Minick’s work has appeared in many publications including Poets & Writers, Oxford American, Orion, Shenandoah, Encyclopedia of Appalachia, The Sun, Conversations with Wendell Berry, San Francisco Chronicle, Appalachian Journal, The Roanoke Times, and Still. He completed an MFA in fiction from UNC-Greensboro, where he was Fiction Editor for The Greensboro Review. Currently, he teaches at Augusta University and in Converse College’s low-residency MFA program.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally when it comes to my next read, I am a planner; I know what’s next, what it’s about, and whether it’s available at my library. Recently, I threw out those rules and plucked Fire is Your Water from the New Fiction shelf simply because I was drawn to the unique cover. My reward was a beautifully insightful tale of faith and love.

You know how sometimes you just get a good feeling about a book within the first few pages? Well, this one. Minnick’s writing style is thoughtful, open, and sincere, the kind of writing that drew me in and endeared me to his characters straightaway. My favorite thing about this book is how the characters are written with such loving detail: Ada, Will, even Cicero the raven. I enjoyed them so much that even the specific descriptions of their daily lives feel like they belong, and make you feel fortunate to be present in their most extraordinary moments.

The story itself contains elements of romantic and familial love, finding and losing faith, facing personal fears, all things that ultimately bring Ada, Will and Cicero full circle onto the path toward healing. And while there are religious aspects to the story, I feel that both Christian and agnostic views are well represented.

This was a serendipitous find and I feel improved for having read it.

[Rebecca Elswick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire is Your Water is a wonderful story filled with family, loss and healing, and faith. The plot is fast-paced and at times, heart-stopping, but it's the characters who kept me turning the page. To me they were real living and breathing people. The young Ada Franklin struggles with her faith and her lost ability to heal after a fire. Will Burke is a tortured soul who learns the meaning of love when he rescues and tames a raven he names Cicero. At the heart of this story is fire. Even with all of its destruction, fire becomes a symbol of purging and healing in this story. I was lucky to get to hear the author read the first chapter that begins with a barn fire. Truly, it was spellbinding but it was not the only scene that will keep you up late into the night reading until you turn the last page.

[Jim Minick]

Thrilled to see this come out.

[Bonnie]

The novel takes place in the Pennsylvania mountains in 1953 where Ada Franklin can heal by faith. Sacred chants are her power and her medicine. By saying them, she can remove warts, stanch bleeding, and draw fire from burns. At age twenty, her reputation defines her. The family has a barn built of oak that was built by her great grandfather that is their pride and joy. A fire breaks out in the barn caused by green hay stored in it. Her mother is burned badly and one of the cows is killed. They made their money from the dairy cows. Afterwards, Ada can no longer cure and that breaks her spirit. For the first time she fears death and doubts God. Now, her power to heal is gone. Another character, Will, finds a raven that had been struck by lightning. He takes the bird and tames it and names it Cicero. He takes to work with him and the raven sits on his shoulder. He meets Ada and they fall in love. Every other chapter is voiced by the raven. Fire is Yo89uuuuuuuuuuuuuWater is a love story rooted in the landscape and culture of a part of Appalachia seldom portrayed in fiction.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started this book, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I only picked it up so I could support our local library and attend a reading by Jim Minick. I wasn't sure about the character, Cicero or the folk healing aspect of the story. I have to say Cicero quickly became my favorite character. I found the story interesting and the characters well developed. I also enjoyed Jim Minick's reading and am happy we have such a wonderful library staff to plan free events.

[Julie Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My local bookshop hosted author Jim Minick last week, as he read from this book. The premise intrigued me. The author shared that, during the process of writing Fire is Your Water, he discovered that the overarching question was, "How does a healer heal (herself)?". I was hooked. I wanted to see what the story revealed.
Minick shared some signposts, too, regarding the significance of the book's cover design (hint: Take off the jacket!! There's more inside...)

There came a point about halfway to two-thirds of the way through, where I started to have rather a metaphysical encounter with the narrative. It was a point where I noticed, for the first time, the impact of literary devices. The events and characters I had prior-to accepted for what they were on the page began to swirl about me, suggesting that they weren't as static or 2-D as I'd assumed. Had some things I had read been foreshadowing things to come? Were certain relationship dynamics reflections of others that I'd yet missed? The various potentialities were in my face, yet totally unseen. Evoked subtly by Minick's pacing, construction, and the still places...full as the breath of a poet. I began to speculate the ending, but knew, too, that the only thing that would lead to my discoveries was to READ ON. And read on, I did, with full enjoyment. The book has a surprise ending, which I never would have guessed. And the answer to Minick's question about how a healer heals, becomes clear...but not obvious.

I also loved the idiosyncrasies of the characters, especially Will. I liked that he waved a lot, a friendly wave, but also using it to his benefit when needed. I laughed out loud at several lines. Minick's humor is understated effectively.

This has been my favorite read of the year. Thank you for this book! It is in my heart now!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada Franklin has a rare gift for actual faith healing, or powwowing, until something happens during a barn fire that seems to take her gift away and cause her to doubt herself. Will Burk has been finished with church and God since he was 12 years old, perpetually angry about any God who would have chosen to take his mother away. Cicero is a raven that Will found injured and nursed back to health, who understands far more about the world than a bird has a right to. Told through these three perspectives, this is a story of a small community in Pennsylvania in the '50s, about faith and love and pain and healing, and quite literally about fire.

An interesting look at a form of folk medicine or faith healing that I didn't really know anything about - this is not the holy roller, stand up in front of the church with much singing and clapping and loud praise that I know about from my Southern upbringing. This is quiet and private. The book never answers the question of if it "really" works, but the point is that Ada believes in it, and Will comes to accept it in some way. The meat of the story is really their relationship, and how people have to accept one another as they are for a relationship to flourish. And how love heals all wounds. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but it is a nice story.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*s
Going by Goodreads definition 2 stars is 'Just Ok' and I think that's pretty spot on with this one for me.
I initially really liked this, but I expected a bit more than the simple love story we got so as it progressed I got more bored. I also got quite a bit frustrated with our main female protagonist who didn't seem to have any agency outside what the story needed her to do. She was upset when it moved the story and fine when it wasn't needed, with no clear reason for either. She knew the 'why' of what was upsetting her for quite a while, yet she remained melodramatic about it, and her 'resolution' in which she stopped being upset was about half way through and then she was done, the story switched mainly to Will and focused on him, no more Ada seemingly needed.
The best part was Cicero, though the little surprise twist in that narration wasn't really much of a surprise by the time it came around.
Overall just 'Ok' for me. It was a fast read and the setting was strong, but those characters left something to be desired.

[Cheryl Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quiet story, sweet and romantic, even though it involves a couple of harrowing fires. I liked the exploration of faith and doubt and its relationship to healing, and the sense of place was wonderful--another rural tale that I really enjoyed. The interchapters, which were the monologues of a raven, were fun even if they sometimes felt forced or contrived and the voice was not entirely consistent. While there were a few anachronisms that I noticed, they were not too distracting. I guess my biggest beef is that there just wasn't enough tension in the story, not enough clash between the protagonists. The groundwork for conflict was laid, but the conflicts were quickly resolved and not very deep. In the end, it all seemed predictable--every conflict and resolution thoroughly foreshadowed, the climax and ending never in doubt. Still, I cared about the characters, enjoyed their story even when it moved slowly, and loved the evocation of an area of Pennsylvania I drove through many times as a 20-something and 30-something. Though those trips weren't as far back as the 1950s, this book still struck a nostalgic chord with me.

[Susie Zullinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Jim Minick's novel, Fire is Your Water. It is one of those rare books that you don't want to end... Local flavor, wonderful characters, and a cranky raven more insightful than some humans... I live in the area that is the setting of the novel; rural Pennsylvania is quaint and beautiful, and Minick's description of the landscape adds another fascinating dimension to the story. I loved this book, and can't wait for more. Highly recommended!

[Neith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually enjoy "A Novels" novels, but I liked this one a lot. It has rich details of daily life; a convincing sense of place that stirred my own memories; and convincing, complicated, likeable characters with internal struggles I actually cared about and that didn't feel forced.

I was really impressed by the author's ability to write Ada's deeply mystical, religious way of seeing the world and Will's equally deep scepticism and atheism in a way that felt real and without narrative judgement.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books this year! The story is told from three viewpoints of Ada, Will, and Cicero; inhabitants of rural Pennsylvania in the 1950's. We experience their versions of the summer days. The writing is wonderfully rich. All of my senses experienced the story from the scratching of brambles as Will climbs the hillside, the smell of flowers in the evening as Ada walks, the calling of the raven, the taste of shoe fly pie, and the view of the valley at night. Thank you Jim Minick for telling me this story.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The value I give a good book is based on the tautness of the story line, the depth and complexity of the characters, and that I cannot figure the outcome and am astonished with each word as it is revealed. Jim Minick, In Fire Is Your Water, hits the marks and does not disappoint.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire is Your Water is a remarkable novel of love and loyalty, tragedy and triumph, structured with a unique first-person voice that chimes in like a Greek chorus to impart sly insights into the characters and plot. You'll be rooting for Ada, Will, and the raven Cicero too!

[A.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ada Franklin is a young lady growing up in rural Pennsylvania in the early 1950s. She is one of a few people in her community with the ability to powwow, a form of healing through chanting and laying hands on the afflicted. When her family's barn is engulfed in flames and her mother is badly burned, however, Ada finds herself unable to call upon her talent. Will Burke is a young man beginning to set foot in the adult world, newly hired at a filling station near the restaurant where Ada works as a waitress.

Will enjoys hiking up the nearby mountain before his shift starts. One day, after a bad storm, he discovers an injured raven, hanging from the jumbled remains of a tree destroyed by lightning. Will and the bird, later named Cicero because of his engaging and talkative nature, strike up an uncanny friendship.

In a preternatural turn, Cicero is given short chapters to add his thoughts, and his intermittent soliloquies add a perspective to the larger picture that serve to not only flesh out characters and situations but manage to introduce a mysterious and intriguing bit of foreshadowing that compels the reader to keep going.
Faith is a constant but mostly subtle undercurrent of this novel – it is involved in nearly all of the motivations and actions of the characters, but manages to float low and understated, rising only when called upon to be confronted directly and remind us that it is always near.
Part of the magic of this novel is found in its balance. It presents faith in a way that is not pretentious, and religion in a way that is not preachy or condescending to either side. I found myself sympathizing with Ada, but not discounting Will's reactions and proclivities regarding the church. Environment is used to set the scene and is described realistically and just enough (too many novels spend line after line detailing an exhausting picture of surroundings, to the point of forcing a "skim").

Overall, what really drew me in is Minick's style. In pacing and environment, the way he builds and establishes the main character's world, internal motivations, and sets the stage for plot development began to conjure up a comparison to one of my favorite writers, Carson McCullers.

On the surface, one could begin to describe this book as simple. There is a relatively small cast of characters, the story takes place in one small town, and the progression is clean and linear. The time period of the 1950s even tends to elicit the oft-cliched "simpler time" phrase. Let's face it, however - simple is often a word we use out of laziness, borne from a comfort we ascribe something because we can see where the pieces fit in retrospect. The truth is that the present is rarely simple outside the perspective of time. Characters are dealing with complex emotions, loss (tangible losses like that of family members, or psychological losses of faith, confidence, hope, etc.). The threat of the Korean War looms throughout. Families struggle to make ends meet and deal with everyday uncertainties. With these situations in mind, I would be loath to use the word simple. This novel is crafted with skill, certainly, but it also has a great deal of heart, which is its greatest strength, in my opinion. I highly recommend this book!

[Timothy Grills · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A man of courage is also full of faith." - Marcus Cicero

When a young woman named Ada loses her ability to powwow, a form of spiritual healing that is channeled through the belief in her God, she is thrown into a series of trials and tribulations that test the very faith that she has always believed in. Then, she meets Will Burk, a loud and slightly obnoxious boy who admires her crooked teeth and phoebe voice. As the chapters alternate between the two characters, some interesting characteristics of the two comes to light. Ada is a healer and Burk is able to tame a raven. that he names Cicero; some chapters are light and come from the perspective of the raven.

Minick, the author of the book, obviously put a lot of time and effort into the book. There is a lot of heart in the words that are splayed upon the page and each word was crafted in a way that it shows relatablility to the characters and the events that take place. As a reader, it's hard to distinguish, sometimes, where the characters are or what the locations that they are at look like. Sometimes, readers might even have difficulty distinguishing one character's speech from another. I think the biggest weakness of the book, however, comes from the assumption that anyone who reads the book is going to be a far-off Appalachian reader. This is an Appalachian book, yes, but it's also important to describe what something looks like to readers who might be reading this who are from more urban locations.

Still, the way Minick puts so much detail into the conversations between characters is extremely realistic; some of the conversations I found myself rereading because of how real they seemed. The heartbreak Ada goes through because of her lost healing, in particular, I found to be extremely upsetting on a personal level. Minick KNOWS how to tug at the heart strings and he does so in a particular way. On a character level, the only thing that bothered me was the character of Ada's brother, in which I expected something in particular to happen with, but nothing ever came of the shapeless character. We get mentions of him, but nothing more. Still, because of the amount of effort (fifteen years!) and the realism of the conversations in the book as well as the sometimes HILARIOUS monologues from Cicero's perspective, I HAVE to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It is too well-crafted to ignore.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this book puzzled me greatly. For about the first 70% of the book, I didn't like it very much - while Minick's pacing is fast, there's a lot of unnecessary dialogue in the book, and overall it seemed like the characters were waiting around - the ones that weren't extraneous entirely. However, after the graphic scene where Will gets burned, and then reading the ending of the book, it really made me think. . Many people will dismiss this novel as a straight Christian narrative, but Minick's own notes at the end, the ending itself, and the viewpoint of Cicero complicates the idea that faith can only be found in one place. I am not sure what Cicero's "genderswap" necessarily means in the context of the book - unfortunately it was spoiled for me by another reader on Goodreads here, so it didn't have the surprise that it should have - but it does seem to have a greater meaning in the context of the book, as well as Cicero's views on words . Right after I finished the book, it made me think that I had missed something, and I think this novel may be worth a second visit for me. It seems to function a lot on an allegorical level than a physical one.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The story line kept me interested and was unpredictable right up to the very end, and the characters were realistic and fully developed. It's a story of love and loss, faith and pushing faith, and searching for fulfillment while remaining true to oneself. There is an element of what I will call fantasy, which is not always my cup of tea, but I enjoyed it here because of its insightfulness and humor. When I finished, the first thing I wanted was to talk to others who had read the book to compare notes and get their opinions. I can think of no better compliment to bestow.

[Rita Quillen · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIRE IS YOUR WATER comes under the category of Magic Realism, I guess? Whatever you call it, it's brilliant. You see, it's historical fiction, romance, literary, spiritual, Christian....forget the categories. IT HAS A GENIUS TALKING, WRITING CROW NAMED CICERO who is my favorite character, the wisest and wise-ass-est voice in the book who serves as our spirit guide through this complicated love story between a woman of deep faith and spiritual power and the man she loves, who is a committed doubter. A book to enjoy and admire, especially as a fellow writer.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still wish GR allowed half stars as this was a 3.5 for me. Took me a while to finish bc I never really felt “compelled “ to get back to it, though i did think about it at times. Sparked an interest in me in the topic of powwowing (faith healing) in the pa Dutch community and faith healing in general. My favorite character Cicero, the raven. A very cool literary technique from this author. The final third of book was good, so stick with it. It’s just when I was finished I didn’t feel anything, I guess, profound.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful story of love, doubt, tragedy and courage. I enjoyed reading it and would highly recommend it to others with this caveat. The story is bookended by two horrific accounts of fire so those who have family member or personal experience with fire should be forewarned. I couldn't sleep the night I finished it.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars.

This was a weird book. A mix of corny and irreverent. With alternating chapters, one narrated by a raven. huh? Almost read like "Christian fiction" and I had to check the book for that little sticker the library puts on the spine. It's not though. If Christian fiction is your thing then perhaps you'll like this. As for me? Not so much.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book...but for me, it ended up being pretty boring with a boring main female character who is also kind of a brat. It was way too long and repetitive with a lackluster ending. And overall, I'm not sure I really understood the purpose of the bird. Maybe I didn't read it well enough...and that's because I was bored. Haha.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful novel to read in the middle of winter in Montana. Minick is a master of imagery and atmosphere, and green summertime Appalachian wilderness makes the gray, white, and brown outside a little more bearable. I don't particularly like the anthropomorphized raven chapters. They feel false.

[RTCatInLap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved many things about this book. A little mysticism, a little love story, healing (conventional and faith), forests, farming. I loved the history of the railroad, tunnels, interstates, HoJos, the filling station, so sweet. And who doesn't love a tart, smart, strong, sneering....Raven. I loved the relationship between the man, his aunt, and the raven.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have any issues with the raven as one of the narrators, but I was hoping for more complex internal dialog from any one of them. Each character had their singular demon, and the faith message was quite weak. Mostly, it just didn't ring true to have these characters from 'two different sides of the mountain' in Appalachia and no one speaks with any kind of an accent.

[Kate Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing about this book stood out to me in any way, good or bad. I was a bit surprised based on other reviews, and kept waiting for something to turn but for me it was just a bit bland the whole way through.

[Terri Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. Takes place in the 1950’s rural Pennsylvania. A love story between a young girl who has healing abilities based on her faith with a young man whose faith has been tested who does not believe the same way as she does. Also he rescues an amazingly smart Raven.

[Annika Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only picked up this book because of its wonderful cover art, but fell in love with the community and the story in a comfortable, nostalgic way-Definitely one of my favorite books I’ve ever read and a underrated find

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this and I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters and description of the setting was just beautiful. I hated for it to end. Keep writing Jim!