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A Point in Time #2
Ash Wednesday
In this wrenching short story based on a real-life tragedy near Cleveland, Ohio, New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain reflects on one family’s perseverance in the face of the unthinkable.
On Ash Wednesday in 1908, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter arrives at his children’s school, where he is the lone custodian. But soon after lessons start, a fast-moving fire breaks out—its cause is unknown, but its effects are horrifying. Although Fritz is soon cleared of any responsibility for the catastrophe, the community continues to suspect him, supremely testing Fritz and his family.
Paula McLain’s Ash Wednesday is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting.
On Ash Wednesday in 1908, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter arrives at his children’s school, where he is the lone custodian. But soon after lessons start, a fast-moving fire breaks out—its cause is unknown, but its effects are horrifying. Although Fritz is soon cleared of any responsibility for the catastrophe, the community continues to suspect him, supremely testing Fritz and his family.
Paula McLain’s Ash Wednesday is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting.
37 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 2022
495 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
About the author
Paula McLain
28 books5,936 followersPaula McLain is the author of the New York Times and internationally bestselling novels, The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun and Love and Ruin. Her latest instant bestseller is, When the Stars Go Dark. Her forthcoming novel is Skylark, on shelves 1/6/26. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan in 1996, and is also the author of two collections of poetry, the memoir Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses, and the debut novel, A Ticket to Ride. Her work has has appeared in The New York Times, Real Simple, Town & Country, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Good Housekeeping, and elsewhere. She lives with her family in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
November 28, 2025
Ash Wednesday (A Point in Time #2)
by Paula McLain, Malcolm Hillgartner (Narrator)
You must choose the right time to read/hear this short story, not that there can ever be a right time for such heartbreak. This is fiction but based on a real life tragic event, the Collinwood school fire, one of the deadliest school disasters in US history. The author has imagined what real life school janitor, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter, must have thought about his move to the US years ago, how his dreams when coming to the US did not bear fruit, and how he felt about working in the fire trap of a school that he was tasked to keep clean and running to the best of his ability. As the only adult male who worked at the school, so much fell on the shoulders of this almost invisible janitor, who saw so much but had so little say about the changes made to the school, in order to fit more immigrant children inside it's unfit walls.
Fritz does the best he can to keep the school's boilers running. It's a job for more than one man but it's always been just him. When a fire starts in the basement, Fritz's five children are in this school, along with hundreds of other children and just a few women teachers. All the fire drills in the world couldn't prepare any of them for the reality of a school added on to in such a way to make it impossible for fleeing humans to survive.
There is no happy ending here. Almost two hundred people died, almost all of them children. So many families lost more than one child. It was a plaque in the author's community that brought this disaster to her attention. With her story, Fritz and the others are not forgotten.
A short story from the A Point in Time collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. This is a Kindle Unlimited audiobook selection.
Published July 28, 2022
by Paula McLain, Malcolm Hillgartner (Narrator)
You must choose the right time to read/hear this short story, not that there can ever be a right time for such heartbreak. This is fiction but based on a real life tragic event, the Collinwood school fire, one of the deadliest school disasters in US history. The author has imagined what real life school janitor, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter, must have thought about his move to the US years ago, how his dreams when coming to the US did not bear fruit, and how he felt about working in the fire trap of a school that he was tasked to keep clean and running to the best of his ability. As the only adult male who worked at the school, so much fell on the shoulders of this almost invisible janitor, who saw so much but had so little say about the changes made to the school, in order to fit more immigrant children inside it's unfit walls.
Fritz does the best he can to keep the school's boilers running. It's a job for more than one man but it's always been just him. When a fire starts in the basement, Fritz's five children are in this school, along with hundreds of other children and just a few women teachers. All the fire drills in the world couldn't prepare any of them for the reality of a school added on to in such a way to make it impossible for fleeing humans to survive.
There is no happy ending here. Almost two hundred people died, almost all of them children. So many families lost more than one child. It was a plaque in the author's community that brought this disaster to her attention. With her story, Fritz and the others are not forgotten.
A short story from the A Point in Time collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. This is a Kindle Unlimited audiobook selection.
Published July 28, 2022
March 14, 2023
This may be short, but it is absolutely heart-wrenching! 💔
Keep those tissues handy for this one because this is a tough read. The gist of it is a school that catches fire and it’s subsequent aftermath focusing on our main character, Fritz.
I’ve been picking up lots of short stories to read in the middle of the night as I do nightly feedings with the baby and I got excited when I saw this short story by McLain because I really enjoyed When the Stars Go Dark. As with that novel, this one was just as heartbreaking.
I thought it was a powerful read and one that touches on prejudice towards immigrants.
I would recommend this as long as you bear in mind the rather depressing turn of events from a school fire and maybe don’t read it in the middle of the night (as I did) because this is not a topic that will help you go back to sleep!!
Keep those tissues handy for this one because this is a tough read. The gist of it is a school that catches fire and it’s subsequent aftermath focusing on our main character, Fritz.
I’ve been picking up lots of short stories to read in the middle of the night as I do nightly feedings with the baby and I got excited when I saw this short story by McLain because I really enjoyed When the Stars Go Dark. As with that novel, this one was just as heartbreaking.
I thought it was a powerful read and one that touches on prejudice towards immigrants.
I would recommend this as long as you bear in mind the rather depressing turn of events from a school fire and maybe don’t read it in the middle of the night (as I did) because this is not a topic that will help you go back to sleep!!
August 24, 2022
Gut wrenching depiction of a true event, a school fire in Ohio in 1908. A mass grave at a cemetery near her home inspired the story. “As a writer, I'm driven to investigate the past to illuminate it as intimately as possible. I'm even more drawn to the people inside historical moments, and in this case, it was the school's janitor, Fritz Hirter, who I couldn't stop thinking about.”
Wonderfully written historical fiction as we’ve come to expect from Paula McClain.
( One of Amazon Original Stories , A Point in Time Collection. All seven stories on kindle + the Audible are included with a Prime membership.)
Wonderfully written historical fiction as we’ve come to expect from Paula McClain.
( One of Amazon Original Stories , A Point in Time Collection. All seven stories on kindle + the Audible are included with a Prime membership.)
April 7, 2023
In a Nutshell: A slow-burn but impactful short story about a real-life fire tragedy in 1908.
Story Synopsis:
When I picked up this story, it was only for the title. (I had wanted to read this on Ash Wednesday, but Good Friday is close enough! 😉) The title plays a nuanced double role here, indicating not just the day of the tragedy but also the type of tragedy – a fire.
The story is a bit on the slower side, but if you keep your patience with it, the experience is definitely worth a read. As I read through the pages, I was stunned by how impactful the writing was, especially during the scenes of the blaze. I couldn’t help wonder what I would do were I in Fritz’s place.
The author’s writing style reminded me a little of Claire Keegan’s approach towards storytelling. Both have a similar habit of delving into character thoughts and playing with the flow of the current narrative.
The character detailing is such that you feel their every emotion. Even within such a short story, you feel like you know every main character’s personality. Other than the fire itself, the story also highlights the systemic discrimination against immigrants, and on a micro level, the guilt with which parents always struggle, and how childhood memories with parents affect our own approach towards being a parent.
What I had not expected was to discover that the story was based on the Collinwood school fire in 1908. Such a tragedy! I can’t imagine how those parents would have felt that Ash Wednesday. Imagine sending your kids to school and not seeing them return alive. 😢
Though this little tale will leave you with bittersweet feelings at the end, it is still a heartfelt work, and I definitely recommend it.
Don’t miss out on the author’s note at the end where she mentions how she came to write this story about the true-life fire and Fritz Hirter.
4.25 stars.
This story is a part of the ‘A Point in Time’ collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Have a blessed Good Friday, everyone! 🌹
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Fritz Hirter, a forty-six year old Swiss-German immigrant, has been in the US since twenty years, but is still almost as poor as he was on the day of his arrival. With his wife Eva and their five young children to support, Fritz works hard at his job of being the lone custodian of the school where his children also study. He has his reservation about the fire safety of the school but with its being primarily attended by immigrant children, the school is not high on the priorities of the management.
On Ash Wednesday in 1908, a massive fire breaks out, leaving several children dead, and changing many lives forever, including that of Fritz.
The story is written in the limited third person perspective of Fritz.
When I picked up this story, it was only for the title. (I had wanted to read this on Ash Wednesday, but Good Friday is close enough! 😉) The title plays a nuanced double role here, indicating not just the day of the tragedy but also the type of tragedy – a fire.
The story is a bit on the slower side, but if you keep your patience with it, the experience is definitely worth a read. As I read through the pages, I was stunned by how impactful the writing was, especially during the scenes of the blaze. I couldn’t help wonder what I would do were I in Fritz’s place.
The author’s writing style reminded me a little of Claire Keegan’s approach towards storytelling. Both have a similar habit of delving into character thoughts and playing with the flow of the current narrative.
The character detailing is such that you feel their every emotion. Even within such a short story, you feel like you know every main character’s personality. Other than the fire itself, the story also highlights the systemic discrimination against immigrants, and on a micro level, the guilt with which parents always struggle, and how childhood memories with parents affect our own approach towards being a parent.
What I had not expected was to discover that the story was based on the Collinwood school fire in 1908. Such a tragedy! I can’t imagine how those parents would have felt that Ash Wednesday. Imagine sending your kids to school and not seeing them return alive. 😢
Though this little tale will leave you with bittersweet feelings at the end, it is still a heartfelt work, and I definitely recommend it.
Don’t miss out on the author’s note at the end where she mentions how she came to write this story about the true-life fire and Fritz Hirter.
4.25 stars.
This story is a part of the ‘A Point in Time’ collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Have a blessed Good Friday, everyone! 🌹
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
December 28, 2022
A tragic true story of the Lakeview School fire in 1908 in which many perished. Told from the perspective of the caretaker Fritz Hirter. Under an hours read and well worth it.
Amazon originals - A point in time story available via KU. Thanks to my good friend Marilyn for directing me to this one!
Amazon originals - A point in time story available via KU. Thanks to my good friend Marilyn for directing me to this one!
November 18, 2022
This story grabbed me by the throat and did not let go until long after the last sentence had been laid upon the page. It is based on a true event, although the author states unequivocally that nothing is known of the emotions and thoughts of our main character, the maintenance man at the school in question. I cannot imagine she was far from the truth in her conjectures, however.
Two things struck me as very sad: (1) This tragedy is all but forgotten and would have been so preventable at the time; and (2) we are still so often guilty of not caring about or listening to the needs of the poorer people and neighborhoods in our society.
Two things struck me as very sad: (1) This tragedy is all but forgotten and would have been so preventable at the time; and (2) we are still so often guilty of not caring about or listening to the needs of the poorer people and neighborhoods in our society.
November 25, 2022
The preview of this says far more than I ever could.
July 5, 2023
While the real-life event around which this short narrative was shaped should definitely get more attention, I found the writing style to be plodding, pedestrian, and surprisingly off-kilter. McLain drops some odd references and has her main character, the actual janitor Fritz Hirter from the actual tragedy, laid out in a startlingly emotionally distant play-by-play of what may have happened that day.
First I was a little put off by a sudden sexual reference when his thoughts turning to his wife that morning — which in and of itself was fine, but the nipple being called out from his memory as (and I'm paraphrasing) hard like a currant was too much knowing the content of what was to come.
Then as the story progresses, and McLain is taking the reader and Fritz through various moments that ultimately leads to 175 deaths, Fritz's reactions felt completely out of balance with the horrors he was witnessing.
Lastly, present tense killed this for me.
I think the style and other choices in the writing bordered on being such a disservice to the Lake View School fire that it makes me question whether or not I should pick up a McLain book in the future, something I've yet to do.
Audiobook, as narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner: Hillgartner did not help the issues I had — his voice sounded old school audiobook narration and matched the old school feel of this historical fiction offering.
First I was a little put off by a sudden sexual reference when his thoughts turning to his wife that morning — which in and of itself was fine, but the nipple being called out from his memory as (and I'm paraphrasing) hard like a currant was too much knowing the content of what was to come.
Then as the story progresses, and McLain is taking the reader and Fritz through various moments that ultimately leads to 175 deaths, Fritz's reactions felt completely out of balance with the horrors he was witnessing.
Lastly, present tense killed this for me.
I think the style and other choices in the writing bordered on being such a disservice to the Lake View School fire that it makes me question whether or not I should pick up a McLain book in the future, something I've yet to do.
Audiobook, as narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner: Hillgartner did not help the issues I had — his voice sounded old school audiobook narration and matched the old school feel of this historical fiction offering.
August 20, 2022
Paula McLain relates the tragic story of the Collinwood School fire in 1908 which resulted in almost 180 deaths, mostly children through the eyes of its janitor, an immigrant who himself lost three children. While this has not received the notoriety of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire three years later, there were similarities between the two events in that most of the victims were immigrants, blame being passed on to insufficient safe construction and emergency conditions. Well written and heartwrenching.
November 8, 2022
Interesting story
December 6, 2022
Ash Wednesday by Paula McClain (5 stars)-Phenomenal. Also WTF! I thought the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a moral hazard and terrible and finding out this real world event of a school catching on fire in Ohio (look up Collinwood, Ohio) in the 1900s and how way too many people in the know realized this was something that should have been addressed. I honestly cried at the end of this story. McClain has us following the janitor at the time who was blamed for this by the residents (though the man also lost 3 of his own children). I got nothing.
August 4, 2023
Wie viel Pathos passt in diesen Mann rein? Die Antwort ist ja.
Ein historisches setting zu nutzen, um etwas gesellschaftskritisches zu schreiben, ist eine bewährte Strategie, aber die Umsetzung ist so, so grauenhaft schlecht. Aber immerhin hat die Autorin nicht das nwort für ✨historische Authentizität✨ gedroppt, props for the bare minimum
Ein historisches setting zu nutzen, um etwas gesellschaftskritisches zu schreiben, ist eine bewährte Strategie, aber die Umsetzung ist so, so grauenhaft schlecht. Aber immerhin hat die Autorin nicht das nwort für ✨historische Authentizität✨ gedroppt, props for the bare minimum
July 29, 2022
Paula McClain is a favorite author. I was thrilled to see she wrote the second book in A Point in Time Collection. This short story is based on a true event that occurred in 1908. It was a tragic event. The janitor, Fritz tells the story. Like many other immigrant men he’d brought his family to the USA in hopes of a better life. They are treated less than, and live in poverty. McClain does a wonderful job of bringing these tragic events to life for the reader. The authors note has additional, interesting information.
July 21, 2023
The point in time described here really happened in a town near where Paula McClain now lives: Collinwood Ohio.
It was a tragedy which impacted the life of Fritz Hirter, an immigrant from Switzerland.
The story itself was very upsetting. The reader can tell right from the beginning that something terrible will happen.
I did get something positive out of it: Roasted Flour Soup was mentioned and I hope to make it some day!!
5 stars
It was a tragedy which impacted the life of Fritz Hirter, an immigrant from Switzerland.
The story itself was very upsetting. The reader can tell right from the beginning that something terrible will happen.
I did get something positive out of it: Roasted Flour Soup was mentioned and I hope to make it some day!!
5 stars
October 25, 2023
In between books sometimes I like to pick up a short story on my Kindle by an author I haven’t read yet to get a feel for their writing style and immerse myself in one sitting. This one caught my attention as it takes place in Cleveland, Ohio close to my hometown where I grew up in Akron. I ran in the Cleveland half marathon several years ago and I’m wondering if I ran near where the author mentioned in her authors note and didn’t know it as this is based on a harrowing tragedy.
This was a gut wrenching short story and with everything going on the world right now, this made me want to hold my babies even closer. The author was able to evoke such strong emotions in only 37 pages. I read The House is on Fire earlier this year by another author which also involves a catastrophic fire and both were well written. I will definitely be reading more of her work in the future.
This was a gut wrenching short story and with everything going on the world right now, this made me want to hold my babies even closer. The author was able to evoke such strong emotions in only 37 pages. I read The House is on Fire earlier this year by another author which also involves a catastrophic fire and both were well written. I will definitely be reading more of her work in the future.
May 2, 2024
Well done. Recommend reading the Author's Note first. It fills in some of the blanks from the synopsis which makes up a book. However, reading it first allows the reader to follow the author's thought process.
Short, powerful story.
Read as part of KU/Kindle Clean up -- Dusty book sniffer i.e. Nicole on BookTube.
Short, powerful story.
Read as part of KU/Kindle Clean up -- Dusty book sniffer i.e. Nicole on BookTube.
December 11, 2024
Wow, okay, this was also really good but so freaking sad.
June 9, 2023
It's a simple short story yet heartwrenching. The author manages to pack so much in a few pages. The sheer unfairness and discrimination through the story left me teary-eyed.
November 23, 2022
A very sad fictional history of a massive fire in a school full of immigrant and poor children. The author based it on the true story of which not much is known, after she came across the children's mass grave in her local cemetery. It chills me to imagine.
December 15, 2022
a story about a real elementary school fire where over a 150 children lost their lives.
it was well written but at the same time didn’t really tell a huge amount in itself - at least not to me
it was well written but at the same time didn’t really tell a huge amount in itself - at least not to me
August 9, 2022
Make sure you read the author’s note at the end
February 23, 2023
Well, this was a disappointment.
Written by the wonderful Paula McLain, this short story—a Kindle single in the Point in Time collection—is based on a historical event about which very little is known. On Ash Wednesday in 1908 in Cleveland, Ohio, an overcrowded, firetrap of a school building caught on fire, killing 172 children, as well as two teachers and one rescuer. This short story focuses on Fritz Hirter, a Swiss-German immigrant and the only man in the school. Hirter worked as the janitor, and it was his job to tend the finicky boilers that heated the classrooms. While the cause of the fire was never discovered, Hirter was cleared of responsibility, although the community continued to blame him.
The story is disappointing because it is more a recounting of events than a story, even though McLain says in the author's note at the end that very few facts are known so she has fictionalized it. But it doesn't read like a short story, and it ends far too soon to feel finished.
It's a disappointment because I know Paula McLain is a better writer than this.
Written by the wonderful Paula McLain, this short story—a Kindle single in the Point in Time collection—is based on a historical event about which very little is known. On Ash Wednesday in 1908 in Cleveland, Ohio, an overcrowded, firetrap of a school building caught on fire, killing 172 children, as well as two teachers and one rescuer. This short story focuses on Fritz Hirter, a Swiss-German immigrant and the only man in the school. Hirter worked as the janitor, and it was his job to tend the finicky boilers that heated the classrooms. While the cause of the fire was never discovered, Hirter was cleared of responsibility, although the community continued to blame him.
The story is disappointing because it is more a recounting of events than a story, even though McLain says in the author's note at the end that very few facts are known so she has fictionalized it. But it doesn't read like a short story, and it ends far too soon to feel finished.
It's a disappointment because I know Paula McLain is a better writer than this.
July 6, 2023
This is a tragic story based on an event in Cleveland in 1908. It is part of the Kindle Point in Time short stories. It was sad, but worthwhile.
August 6, 2022
Fritz Herter, a Swiss German immigrant, is the only custodian at his children's school. One day as he attempts to figure out why the school will not heat properly, a massive fire erupts in the school. Although Fritz does what he has been trained to do and alert of every one of the fire so they can evacuate. Despite their fire drills, chaos reigns and the children and teachers are separated or too panic stricken to do what they have been trained on. While it is originally thought that Fritz did something to accidentally cause the fire, he is eventually cleared of the horrible accident - although the neighborhood doesn't agree and continues to make his and his family's lives miserable despite the fact that they too lost children in the fire.
This was a very good story with a wonderful narrator. Hillgartner emoted properly as the story called for it and added to the interest in the story. McLain wove a wonderful story based on true events in Ohio. She discovered the premise for this short story when walking through a cemetery and she noticed a mass grave to those who had died in the fire.
This was a very good story with a wonderful narrator. Hillgartner emoted properly as the story called for it and added to the interest in the story. McLain wove a wonderful story based on true events in Ohio. She discovered the premise for this short story when walking through a cemetery and she noticed a mass grave to those who had died in the fire.
August 28, 2022
A Point In Time is a collection of some amazing short stories. If I talk about my favorite story, then it would be Landing by Olivia Hawker. The plot has emotions, responsibility and love for family. Other stories are also good, it was just that some of them had a very complex ending. Although, the characters are lovely. But, still the book is not meant to skip. And, the best part is you can finish the book within a day.
I would like to give the book 4 stars. Thanks to the authors for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.
Read more on bibliophileverse.blogspot.com
I would like to give the book 4 stars. Thanks to the authors for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.
Read more on bibliophileverse.blogspot.com
July 30, 2022
I’m so glad I saw Paula McLain’s Instagram post about this short story available free to Prime members. I would have paid for her books, though! As the synopsis suggests, this is a tragic recap of a fatal event described through the eyes of one man. Since reading this book, I have looked into the actual disaster that this fictional tale is based on.
August 12, 2022
*Read for free with Kindle Unlimited and audible audio *
Narration: 4 stars 🌟
Story: 3.75 stars 🌟
Narration: 4 stars 🌟
Story: 3.75 stars 🌟
May 20, 2025
4.5/5
September 26, 2022
Ash Wednesday gives us a snippet into the day of the Collingswood School Fire in Collingswood, OH that claimed the lives of 175 people, 172 of them elementary-aged children. The story is from the perspective of Fritz Hirter, the sole janitor and maintenance man, who was responsible for maintaining and running the school's boilers.
What a terrible and tragic piece of history.
What a terrible and tragic piece of history.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews