The first one of Anita’s novels I read was in Canada in 2002 and All He Ever Wanted is still a great read – if you haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you look it up. If you haven’t read anything by Anita Shreve yet, I think you’ll love #StarsAreFire and I’d like to thank Amelia from Little Brown for allowing me to take part in this blog tour and putting up with me sending her pics from sunny Crete when she was stuck in the office 🙂

Hot breath on Grace’s face. Claire is screaming, and Grace is on her feet. As she lifts her daughter, a wall of fire fills the window. Perhaps a quarter of a mile back, if even that. Where’s Gene? Didn’t he come home?

1947. Fires are racing along the coast of Maine after a summer-long drought, ravaging thousands of acres, causing unprecedented confusion and fear.

Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her difficult and unpredictable husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie’s two young children, the women watch in horror as their houses go up in flames, then walk into the ocean as a last resort. They spend the night frantically trying to save their children. When dawn comes, they have miraculously survived, but their lives are forever changed: homeless, penniless, and left to face an uncertain future.

As Grace awaits news of her husband’s fate, she is thrust into a new world in which she must make a life on her own, beginning with absolutely nothing; she must find work, a home, a way to provide for her children. In the midst of devastating loss, Grace discovers glorious new freedoms – joys and triumphs she could never have expected her narrow life with Gene could contain – and her spirit soars. And then the unthinkable happens, and Grace’s bravery is tested as never before.

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If you haven’t read any of Anita Shreve’s page turning novels yet, this is a fantastic place to start. The fact that this novel was based on a true story was another factor which really drew me in as I love investigating around the books I’m reading. The long, hot summer of 1947 in Maine was a fascinating period that I knew nothing about prior to reading #StarsAreFire and Anita Shreve does an amazing job of transporting you back in time and reliving this traumatic event with Grace and her friend Rosie as they draw on every ounce of internal strength they have to rebuild their lives after the fires destroy everything they own,

The pairing of these two characters was very clever as we keep comparing them long before it occurs to Grace herself to draw comparisons about the state of her marriage with the much more passionate and fulfilled marriage that Rosie enjoys. Grace has been married to Gene from a very young age and his belittling of her and his cold, secretive and brusque nature is what she has come to accept as normal. One of the things I enjoyed most about this novel is the way we see Grace developing and flourishing despite the difficulties she has to endure.

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The metaphor of her rising, quite literally, from the ashes of her former life is a powerful one and this is a moving and engrossing read. Shreve keeps Grace faithfully within her 1940s context, providing much food for thought about marriage, independence and friendship for a 21st century readership.

I’m not generally a romance reader and I think that Anita Shreve is a writer who contains romance within her novels rather than make Grace’s whole journey about love, marriage and romance. The dramatic description of the fire and its immediate aftermath are the most striking part of this novel at first, but what remains after reading this novel is the grit and courage shown by Grace which enables her to make difficult decisions in her family’s best interests by the end of the novel.

I think that Shreve is just as skilful in writing about female relationships as she is about love and I thought Grace’s relationship with Rosie and her evolving relationship with Marjorie was another real strength of this novel. The journey for warring women to move towards accepting one another as human beings is a difficult one to paint without resorting to cliche and I feel that #StarsAreFire has managed it superbly. There’s no denying that Grace and Marjorie have a difficult relationship at the beginning of the novel, but the skilful and credible way that Shreve manages to describe their evolving appreciation of one another was another stand-out aspect of this novel for me.

Fans of Anita Shreve will love this and I hope that it also brings her new readers who love period fiction and strongly written female narratives. At the very end of her novel, Shreve suggests that we look up Wildfire Loose by Joyce Butler – which tells the true story of these fires – and this is the very next thing that I’m off to look up.

Ravaged by fire.
Based on a true event that occurred in October 1947, Anita Shreve has returned to the Maine coast, where several of my favourite Shreve books were based. Her writing is as precise and perfect as ever, drawing the reader in, well before the excitement of the novel even begins.

Following a drought that lasted all Summer, the Autumn of 1947 brought little relief to the residents of Hunts Beach, and the looming threat of fire became a reality when dry winds sent flames whipping across the forests, destroying nine towns.

Grace and her best friend Rosie are trapped between the fire and the ocean with four children between them. Ingeniously, they use the shore to save themselves, but life will never return to normal for the two women.
At the time of the fire Grace's husband, Gene, was helping in the forest, creating wind-breaks, hoping to prevent the onslaught. When the flames subside, Grace finds herself with a missing husband, penniless, homeless and with two young children to support.

A great read, highly recommended.


Previously read:
The Pilot's Wife (5 stars)
Fortune's Rocks (5 stars)
Resistance (5 stars)
Sea Glass (5 stars)
All He Ever Wanted (3 1/2 stars)
Body Surfing (3 stars)
A Change in Altitude (4 stars)

Another great book from Anita Shreve. I was really hoping it ended the way it did! Grace, the main character, had to deal with some really difficult life challenging stuff, but along the way, she managed to not only cope with things, but also find some very special relationships that helped during the toughest times. What she did at the end took a lot of courage, but without a doubt, was the right decision for her! Great book.

Really engaging story which kept my interest. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the description of post war Maine. Wpould recommend.

Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.

I first read Anita Shreve almost 20 years ago with A Pilot's Wife, too long ago to remember the details, but not that long too forget that I enjoyed it. The Stars are Fire has similar themes: a family wrecked by an event, the wife emboldened while struggling through the aftermath. The writing is sparse, minimal sentences written in the present tense (seems to be the publishing trend this year), and emotionally detached prose.

Reading this kept making me think of Anne Tyler, another writer I hugely respect. Tyler is more subtle, no monumental inciting incident and more left unsaid, but both tackle disjointed families with compassion.

My only minor complaint is that the epilogue was too sugar-coated and was unnecessary, but an otherwise very enjoyable read.

Anita Shreve has done it again! An enthralling read which was a joy to read. Some of the passages depicting the fires were so realistic you could almost imagine being there. Satisfying ending too!

In our day and age the problems Grace encounters might seem conventional and the way she deals with them completely normal. In 1947 her attempts to be independent and raise her children as a single mother would have been frowned upon. In that era the wife was still very much considered to be property of said man. Women were still coming into their own and starting to throw off the chains of their servitude.

Grace has no idea that her marriage isn’t like every other marriage. Gene is her first sexual experience and her first encounter with what she believes to be love.

When Gene disappears in the midst of a terrible fire she gets the opportunity to discover new emotions and real love. She also experiences friendship with both genders and the kindness of strangers.

Faced with a life of abuse, neglect and anger she has to make a choice to either stay and be silent or refuse to endure a life lived on the terms of a bully.

Kudos to Shreve for adding historical facts and for the authentic feel of the story. Grace was and is every woman, regardless of the era.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The Stars are Fire.*

I have always enjoyed the subtle characters and surprising depth withing the situations dreamed up by Anita Shreve, and this novel is no exception. It starts with the stultifying, though outwardly successful marriage of a mismatched couple, Grace and Gene, set in the summer drought of 1947 in Maine. The lack of rain around their coastal home and dearth of joy in their relationship coincide in a devastating forest fire that threatens more than their family home. The plot delves into the history of the couple and develops into a fascinating and often painful renewal of the characters themselves after the effects of the fire. It is an engrossing read, which draws the reader into a world that is alien to many, but is engaging from the outset. I loved the period detail, the exploration of the main characters and the satisfying plot - ideal for a summer read.

The background to this story is true. There was a great fire in Maime in 1947, 1,100 homes were burned down.

This book held my attention the whole way through. Grace with two young children finds herself pregnant again just when her husband Gene is becoming harder to understand and live with. When the fires come Grace Is left alone with her children as Gene helps to fire fight. Rosie too is alone with her children and the two friends try to help each other.

This part of the story was so frightening reading about people fleeing their homes, unsure at times if it was best to stay and fight the fire or leave. My heart was in my mouth at what lengths Grace and Rosie have to go to to save themselves and their children.

Rosie's life has changed forever and just as she's picking up the threads she receives a shock which is set to change her life once more.

Oh my heart went out to Grace. I loved how she just got on with things and dealt with the hand she was given. The book had good ending but I thought that Gene's story was tied up too easily and perhaps a bit unbelievable considering what kind of man he was.

I loved this story based on the extensive fires in Maine, America in 1947. Damage was done to land and many homes were reduced to ashes. Grace is married to Gene, she is a housewife with two small children. Her life is unfulfilled and she is unhappy. When the fires come she saves her own and life of her two children but loses the baby she was carrying. Her home is destroyed and her husband missing, so with the help of her mother, they move into the large house previously owned by Gene's dead mother. Life has to carry on and begins to settle, until the day Gene returns!

A typical Anita shrove novel has a catastrophe at its core.I have posted three reviews on Amazon, Goodreads(excellent comments) and also to the publishers. Having a vested interest, because she invited me to lunch to hear her interview with the publishers, I have been an ardent fan. But with an unbiased view, I sent a long review, and detailed her previous winning novels. Perhaps that is why I have not heard from NetGalley regarding my winning short review of her previous books, and was a finalist in The times newspaper competition. Wish I had been given an opportunity to write my honest review. However I think the review I originally wrote was my very best effort to date.
The characterisations in this latest novel, shows Shreve's technical expertise. Her descriptions of the classical concerto are notable for her lack of musicology, which is rare.
Wishing her devoted fans a coruscating read.
Thanks to NetGalley, and the publishers for an ARC---I prefer to write PRAC---Professional Readers Advance copy.

Anita Shreve is one of my favourite authors and I was thrilled to have the chance to read this ahead of publication. It didn't disappoint. Shreve is almost a genre on her own - lyrical descriptive passages carry along a plot that doesn't try to play tricks or catch you out. She simply tells the story, rooted in the ordinary lives of people experiencing extraordinary events. I can't think of many other authors who can inject familiar life experiences such as buying a car or sorting out clothes with such subtle emotion and beautiful evocation of time and place. I cannot recommend this, and her other books, highly enough.

A well written dark drama that can certainly be read in one go.

beautiful children. She has everything she needs. Doesn't she?

Her best friend and next door neighbour Rosie speaks of sex and passion as if they were everyday occurrences. Grace realises her marriage may not be as perfect as she first thought.

And then the fires start...

Grace's husband Gene goes to help as they draw nearer to their home town along with Rosie's husband Tim. But Gene doesn't return.

When Grace wakes up in the hospital in the fires aftermath she doesn't know if she should be relieved or concerned. Until she discovers the fate of her Mother and her neighbour her only emotion is worry.

As she learns he fate of her Mother (safe and well) and Rosie and Tim (fled to Nova Scotia), Grace realised time has come to move on with her life. She has nothing except her children. Her husband is still missing and her home destroyed in the fires.

A rare moment of clarity leads her to her husbands deceased Mother's house. The two females never got on but Grace must overlook this fact as she moves all three of them into the house, along with her Mother, and awaits her husbands return.

What she doesn't realise is that the concert pianist taking refuge in the house before the family's arrival will make her view her life in a way that she never dared to dream of previously.

And then Gene returns...

A sky made of stars is a beautifully written novel against the harrowing backdrop of Maine's 1947 fires.

I haven’t read anything by Anita Shreve for a very long time and I wonder why, because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. ‘The Stars are Fire’ is a fine example on how to write about someone experiencing difficult times, who is trapped and feels powerless, without being depressing.
It is 1947 and the summer heat is blazing. Then the heat turns to drought and the drought turns to wildfire. On the coast of Maine, Grace Holland, five months pregnant, without a car and at home with her two toddlers, must run as the fire threatens to engulf her village. Her husband Gene is with other men, making a fire break. Grace, with her best friend Rosie and her children, run from the fire, taking refuge overnight at the beach. The next morning, their houses are ash, their village is burned. They are homeless, penniless and, though Rosie’s husband returns, Gene doesn’t.
Grace must cope and in doing so she finds a new world opening up. A world which she had no idea existed. She becomes decisive and brave, she finds a home, a job and learns to drive. All of this validates her worth. With her mother, they fashion themselves a new life. But it is a life with a temporary feeling about it because Grace dare not think Gene is dead. Theirs was a difficult relationship, suffocating, Gene is an emotional bully. She revels in her new freedoms until one day everything she has built, the gains she have made, are lost. Her gamble backfires.
This is a woman’s story of its time, when men were the providers and expected their wives to fulfil their wifely duties. Grace and Gene married young because she was pregnant and this sets the tone for their marriage. His mother wanted better for Gene and has never welcomed Grace. Grace’s dissatisfaction with her claustrophobic life grows. Gene is a good provider but they have little emotional connection, and so Grace envies Rosie’s close and sensual relationship with her husband Tim.
Shreve’s writing style is simple and descriptive. Gene sometimes calls Grace ‘Dove’. “She has never been Gracie. Only Grace. And then Dove, with Gene. Grace doesn’t feel like a dove, and she’s sure she doesn’t look anything like a dove, but she knows there’s a sweetness in the nickname. She wonders if it means something that she doesn’t have a fond or funny name for her husband.” The story is told, however, from Grace’s viewpoint. Gene’s thoughts are left unsaid.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

This was an enjoyable read, and my first from Anita Shreve. The story is based on the actual fires in the 40s that destroyed towns up and down the Maine coast due to a summer-long drought.

I really enjoy historical fiction when I get around to reading it and this book was no exception. I particularly liked Shreve's vivid and beautiful descriptions of the town and the setting. In fact, the writing as a whole was quite beautiful. The characters were wonderfully written and fully fledged, as are the stories of their personal tragedies and moments of unhappiness. I liked reading about their strengths and their efforts to overcome their circumstances, and their grace in doing so, and thought the ways in which Shreve portrayed their sadness, bravery and triumphs was lovely. There are some really triumphant moments in this book that makes it a really enjoyable read. I was pleasantly surprised by this! I would recommend it particularly as a read for a beach or poolside holiday or a rainy day!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

Haven't read Anita Shreveport for ages. Used to read all her books but stopped. This one reminded me why I enjoyed them a fairly predictable tale of an unhappily married woman together with devastating historical background her prose does make you feel you know the characters. A thoroughly enjoyable read

This was out of my usual range, but was most enjoyable. I'd like to have known Grace better, and for the book to have followed her past the ending, but maybe that's the sign of a good writer, to leave you wanting more?

Years ago I chain-read Anita Shreve novels. I stopped because I ran out of backlist. This wonderful story of a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage is a reminder of why Shreve's novels deserve to be read. When a fierce forest fire wipes out the coastal neighbourhood, Grace is presented with hope for a new future - until it is cruelly snatched away from her.
As always, Shreve can be relied upon to deliver a story which is more than simply a strong central plot. The setting is evocative and the characters are flawed and believable. A page turner which manages to feel real.
Highly recommended.

I was gripped by the storyline from the very beginning. The descriptions of the devastating fires were truly terrifying. The courage and ingenuity of the main character in saving her children was inspiring. This is a story about love, abuse, friendship, loyalty and compassion. It's one of the best Anita Shreve's I've read. I'd definitely recommend it.