The untold story of the deadliest fire in American history.

In 1871, the Lake Michigan shoreline is a tinderbox of ambition and drought. Delia, a Swedish orphan, now lives in a rugged Wisconsin lumber-camp brothel. Her only solace is Big Mo, a verse-quoting lumberjack fleeing his own violent past who sees the soul beneath her hardship.

Their fates are inextricably bound to William Butler Ogden, the "Richest Man in the West" and Chicago's first mayor, whose empire of rail and timber unknowingly provides the tinder for the coming inferno. Zelda, an enigmatic circus lion tamer, becomes a haunting muse to William and a link between his high-society empire and the struggles of frontier folk like Delia and Mo.

As the deadliest firestorm in American history consumes Peshtigo and levels Chicago, Delia, Mo, and Zelda are thrust into a harrowing fight for survival, while William must reckon with his part in the apocalypse that threatens to swallow everyone he loves.

The Fire Born recounts the forgotten Peshtigo catastrophe and the Chicago fire the same night through the eyes of those who lived it, tracing the journey of resilient spirits who find their true strength in the flames and rise from the ashes of disaster.

Deborah Hufford is an award-winning writer, historian, and former magazine editor. She began her career at Better Homes & Gardens and has written for The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and Connoisseur, later serving as publisher of The Writer's Handbook. She is the creator of the popular history blog Notes from the Frontier. An Iowa native and former rodeo queen, she holds a master's degree from the University of Iowa, where she taught Iowa Writer's Workshop students, and has taught graduate writing at Northwestern and Marquette universities. Her debut novel, "Blood to Rubies," was published in 2024. She lives in a Northshore suburb of Milwaukee with her husband, Evan, and her dog Blue.