I really enjoyed this book which had a nice blend of history and fiction. I'd never heard of the 1947 great fires of Maine which this book is based around. It took a great number of lives and destroyed complete towns. I am inspired to read true account of that period in the book Anita Shreve recommends at the end.

In this book, a five month pregnant Grace Holland and her 2 toddlers have a dramatic escape from the great fire as it completely engulfs her town and destroys her home. Her husband, Gene, has gone to fight the fire and is missing afterwards. As are her friend, Rosie, and Grace’s mother, Marjorie, whose homes are also destroyed. This is a great tale of Grace's survival and rebuilding of her life from scratch. I would have liked the ending to be a bit longer as I wanted to know more about what happened to Grace in later years but maybe that is an indication of a good story to end on a high and leave the reader wanting more.

I haven't read any Anita Shreve books before but plan to do so now I've discovered her. I especially liked her clear style of writing and the fact it was all in one continuous time period from Grace's viewpoint. So many book jump about time periods and between characters these days that I appreciate being able to relax into one that doesn't.

A brilliant book, living up to Anita Shreve's very high standards. Beautifully written, very evocative of the period, wonderful characters that you really care about - one way or the other ! Highly recommended.

A very different and engaging story. A great insight into American lifestyle in the 40s. A strong and courageous heroine.

Anita Shreve is on top form and this book deserves every success, in fact, it is probably the best book she's written. Grace's story is compelling and cleverly crafted. I read this in one sitting and the story stayed with me long afterwards.

Before reading this work I was unaware of the fires which devastated Maine some decades ago. At times this tale was harrowing, frightening and edgy but on the other hand there is loyalty, friendship and compassion shining through. The script is so clear and vivid in its description that I feel that I have watched this on film rather than just got a sense of the story. .If it is ever made into a film, which I think it should, I will be reluctant to spoil the cinematography within my own mind.

This is an emotional and inspiring story. Set in Hunts Beach, Maine. It starts in 1947 with Grace and Gene Holland and their two children. Graces best friend Rosie her husband Tim and their son.
That summer was dry and went on longer than it should, due to the drought, warnings were put out telling people to be on alert. It isn't long before another word is on the lips of the towns folk and that is Fire. Wild fires are spreading along the coast and it is not long before the inevitable happens in Hunts Beach. WHile Gene and Tim go to help with fire defences, Grace and Rosie are left at home wondering what they would pack or do if the fire came.

When the fire starts burning the town, people panic, the air is full of shouting, car horns, ash and burning debris. Grace and Rosie grab their children and do the only thing available to them and several others, they head to the beach and hunker down in the sand with wet blankets over them hoping for the best. When they are found and rescued from the beach, the town has been burnt to the ground. They have nothing left, Rosie and Tim go to his mothers' house in Nova Scotia. Gene has not returned, is he dead or has he just run off ?

She has always been reliant on Gene, he is the only wage earner, he takes her shopping as she cannot drive. She now has to learn how to live life as an independant single mother. What will happen to her? Will she be able to do this? Will Gene ever return ?

The transformation of Grace from the meek little wife and mother to an independant single parent is great. The little steps she achieves in her life give her a strength that she will need to get through the decisions she will have to make later in life.

This is a great book, a first for me by this author, and it will not be the last.

Grace is stuck in a bitter love-less marriage with uncommunicative Gene. She is pregnant with her third child when fires whip down the Maine coast, destroying her home as well leaving her with a missing husband. In the good time honoured fashion of down trodden women in this style of fiction, she picks herself up and makes the best of a bad job. Things pick up, things get worse and there will be a happy ending of sorts.
I loved Anita Shreve’s earlier books, ‘The Pilot’s Wife’ being a particular favourite. But then maybe I overdosed on Shreve and found the books were becoming a bit samey so I moved on. I decided to give ‘The Stars are Fire’ a go – maybe I had been missing out over the last few years? Sadly I don’t think I have – this was very formulaic.
There were pages and pages detailing the everyday moments of Grace’s life ‘Grace sets the kettle to boil, finding tea, sugar, a little milk…’. This contrasted with the weird skipping over of two huge mysteries. Firstly, how did her mother-in-law afford all of the jewels and why did she have them? Secondly, how did Gene manage to remain unidentified in a coma for three weeks even though the police were trying to find him, and he was the only person unaccounted for after fire?
If you have not read any Anita Shreve, or have not reached saturation point, then you will enjoy this tale of hardship, misery and eventual happiness. If you have read a few too many of her books I would suggest that going back is never a good idea!

Wow. The Stars Are Fire is an absolute gem of a book. It's the perfect historical fiction - pick an event, and tell me about the people who lived through it. The concept - the fire that destroyed part of Maine in 1947 - is terrifying,

Grace is an amazing woman. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Grace is bored, frustrated, restrained. Shreve approaches marital rape with the attitude of the time, but also with a modern perspective. Grace's husband, Gene, views sex as his right, and cares nothing for how Grace feels. Their third child is conceived through what Grace comes to think of as "that terrible night", but what readers of today would, rightly, identify as rape.
But then, the fire. Grace grabs her two children, both infants, and, together with her neighbour Rosie, runs down to the beach. Somehow, somehow, she manages to keep her children safe. I wonder if this part of the story is based on a true account, if some woman laid face-down on the beach, legs in the water, a wet blanket covering her and her children, waiting for help to arrive. I'm inclined to believe it. The bravery of women, the strength of mothers, is unimaginable.

Gene, along with other men who were helping fight the flames, disappears. Grace, homeless, injured, stays with friends while she heals, gets back on her feet. She remembers that Gene's mother had left her house to him, and that Gene had intended to move the family into it. A huge house, belonging to them, is standing empty. So she, her children, and her mother, move into it. But the house is not quite as empty as Grace believed. There's a squatter, a young musician, with whom Grace becomes friends, and then more.
Grace's story is sad, heartbreaking. With the disappearance of her husband, the fallout of the disaster, she becomes independent. She gets a job at a local doctor's office, she gets a car, she provides for her family. She is happy. But worse is still to come.

This is absolutely a feminist story. It's about a woman who, having never been able to stretch her wings, suddenly finds herself free of her cage, and takes flight as if she was born to it. It's about the restrictions of society, of marriage, and how women are the ones who suffered, who still suffer. The Stars Are Fire is a breathtakingly beautiful story. I strongly recommend this one.

I found this book quite captivating. I'd read The Pilot's Wife before and enjoyed that but had forgotten the name of the author so it was interesting to find this book. The book tells of Grace, an abused wife, controlled by her husband. Then Grace loses everything after uncontrollable fires swept through her neighbourhood but, by her own initiative she manages to save her two children. Her husband disappears whilst fighting fires and Grace carves out a new life for herself and family half hoping that her husband has died. However, he turns up, severely injured and even more controlling and abusive and disrupts Grace's new life. One empathised with Grace and her predicaments throughout the book and willed her to succeed. I found the read easy and apart from a couple of words I had to look up the transatlantic translation, they did not detract overall and I'd guessed, more or less, the meaning. The book takes one through many peaks of elation and troughs of despair. A book worth reading and makes me want to read more from this author.

Loved this book. Very good descriptions of the fire and the aftermath. A very determined lady who then made the best of what life dishes up even after trying to better herself. Follow your dreams!

Anita Shreve can always be depended on for well drawn characters and an interesting plot. This novel is well up to her standard and was well grounded in the attitudes and mores of the time in which it was set.

Really enjoyed this book . A quick but entertaining read . This book showed how resilient women are especially in times of distress and hardships. The main character Grace was able to leave an abusive and love less marriage to save herself and children . This book shows how determination can result in happiness. The characters were real to life. The book also depicted life in rural Maine and coastal Nova Scotia in the late forties which I found interesting.

This was an engrossing story about how wildfires in Maine affected whole communities. The main character, Grace, is well-drawn and likeable, and liked her resilient attitude and lack of self pity. A very enjoyable book, with a good plot, I would recommend it.

Gene and Grace are struggling to survive with their two children, they have little to manage on financially and their relationship is flawed. A devasting fire hits the area and Gene disappears. Grace looses everything but manages to save her children. She has nowhere to go but remembers her mother in laws House is empty. Her mother in law died of cancer a few months previously. The story tells of her survival and of how she copes with the return of her severely disfigured husband. I was slightly confused as to why she did not feel she had the right to be in the house and make use of its contents in the absence of both her husband snd mother in law, but could understand on her husband's return why she would wish to conceal her finances. He is brutish and has never loved her. It is a story of survival and triumph. As usual, for Anita Shreve it is beautifully written. There is a good balance of description and narrative. The characters are well formed and believable.

I liked this book but thought the ending was a little abrupt, I would have liked it to have been a little bit longer

Grace has lost everything...except her children. Set in 1947, the story tells of a terrible fire that eats its way through a township, burning houses to the ground. Grace survives with her friend Rosie and their children by wading into the ocean in desperation. Her very difficult husband Gene has disappeared and it is thought that maybe he has perished int he fire.
Grace, who has never had to be a leader, now sets out to create a home for herself and the children, and moves them and her mother into the old family home of her late mother in law. She finds work, she finds love, and her whole self begins to develop as she realises her strengths.
Then the unexpected happens and life changes.
This is such a beautifully written book, as are all of Anita Shreve's. One feels the anxieties, the horrors and the determination of Grace as she is pushed far beyond her 'norm'. It's a book to read again.

I think that this is the 3rd book I have read by Anita Shreve. Whilst they were all set in New England the time periods were different but they all had a central female character. The Stars are Fire is a heartwarming story of female friendships and a woman finding herself in the period immediately after World War II. Time and place are described evocatively and characters are given sufficient depth to understand motives, actions, etc. Recommended.

My first novel by Anita Shreve and I really enjoyed it. Set against the period of the largest fire in maines history, this is the story of Grace who is five months pregnant and has two children under three. Grace is in an unhappy marriage, she's young but finds happiness through her children and friends.
As a wildfire starts on maines cost it threatens Graces town. With her husband away fighting the fire it is up to Grace to protect herself and her children.
Grace evolves into a strong woman who overcomes obstacles in her way.
The historical detail in this novel was amazing and my desire to see Grace succeed was realised. Definitely a novel worth reading!! A great price of storytelling from Anita Shreve.

The Stars on Fire is about Grace, mother of two small children and wife of Gene. Young, naive, knowing that life should be better but not knowing how to change it. One summer the countryside burns and whilst Gene goes away to fight the fires; and is last seen walking towards the burning trees, it is up to Grace to save her children from the inferno.
The story follows Grace as she recovers her life from the blackened fires, as she gains strength and confidence and finally finds a way to move forward. The minor characters are richly captured - it would be lovely to see their stories developed in another book.
If you have read books by this author before then you know you will have a great story - if this is your first read then I envy you, you have so many other titles to look forward to.

I have to admit that I started this book without great enthusiasm, having found some of Anita Shreve's previous books dull. But i was pleasantly surprised by The Stars are Fire. It was an easy read, and somewhat predictable, but I thought the characters were well portrayed, and were "real" people, warts and all!