2.5, rounded up. Like a guilty paramour leaving an unsatisfying relationship, I almost want to apologize to this book, saying " Honestly, it's not you - it's me"! But then again, if I had only felt any connection to this tale of the unrelieved religious guilt caused by a momentary affair, told from the point of view of a married female poet/academic ... but I didn't, so I have to feel the author's lack of extracting universal truths from these specifics bears some responsibility for my lack of enthusiasm.

Clearly the author has a way with words - certain sections are rendered in lovely, lyrical prose - but then, others get so bogged down in uninteresting minutiae, that I felt like skipping whole passages (one of which, during which the protagonist is in the midst of a religious/sexual frenzy, is a shoe in for the annual Literary Review bad sex in fiction award; sorry I can't cite it, but the publishers have requested no quotes from these uncorrected proofs). Speaking of which - I still can't QUITE decide if my Kindle was just exhibiting formatting errors, or if indeed, this was written in a purposely odd linguistic style that mashes together sections that should be separated, and foregoes standard grammar/punctuation - somehow, I despair that it is indeed the latter.

Since it was a very quick read, taking less than a full day to get through, and I didn't actively HATE it, I begrudgingly give it a 2.5, but I can't truly recommend it. My sincere thanks, however, to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me access to an advanced reading copy, in exchange for this honest review.

It was different than I expected from other reviews. I expected more narrative, but it felt closer to a woven stream-of-consciousness. I expected a conclusion, but found questions. And the prose was lovely and the feelings true, so I much preferred the reality to the expectation.

Maggie and Thomas have been married for years, raised a family, and now are in middle age. Maggie has strayed from her marriage and now tries to reconcile her religious beliefs with what she feels.

This story is not just non-linear, it jumps from from action to Maggie's pondering on religion without any notice. We go back and forth from past to present, slowly learning how Maggie arrived at this place in her life.

There were a couple things I found problematic with this novel. The style did nothing for me in terms of furthering the story. The main issue I had though was not with the style; the problem was the characters. I could not connect to them at all, which made it difficult to care what happened. This may work better for other readers, but it fell flat for me.

He was her first partner and is supposed to be her last. Meggie and Thomas have been married for more than 20 years, raised to nice children and, if looked at from the outside, a perfect life. When Meggie discovers the poet James and writes to him because he seems to be the one who can express what she, too, feels, she sets in motion a chain of events. Months of e-mails, James and Maggie get closer and closer on an emotional basis. Then they finally meet and the faithful believer Maggie and -especially her body – reacts in a way she has never believed to be possible. It is a short encounter, and a second, not even a real affair, but a bond has been created which threatens their lives as they have known it.

Fire Sermon – a discourse delivered by Buddha in which he describes that you need to burn to achieve liberation from suffering. Only if you detach yourself from your senses through the burning process can you reach a higher level of existence. The burning can occur through passion, aversion, delusion and suffering. Meggie, Jamie Quarto’s protagonist in whose head we find ourselves as the reader, goes through all four of them.

She feels passion, after so many years married not anymore for her husband, but for the poet with whom she feels connected immediately. Aversion is what she experiences in bed, aversion towards her husband, whom she loves but not in those moments when he is selfish and she either complies with his wishes to find peace or opposes him and risks a fight. Delusion – she is thinking of what her life could be, how it could have been and what she might get if she gives up her family. Last, suffering. She suffers a lot, from remorse and guilt, but also physically and emotionally. At times she goes through hell.

Jamie Quarto does not narrate a love story, but a story about love. Different kinds of love. Love full of passion, love full of emotion, love that goes deep, love that is stronger than anything else. And love that hurts. There are different layers of love, different types which are experienced with different people. And looming around the corner is always the question: does love require faithfulness and singularity? Or can you love different people in different ways at the same time? And how can this be reconciled with the Christian idea of marriage? The author does not provide you with answers, just with the example of one woman and how she finds answers to those questions.

I really liked the novel even though at times I found it hard to endure. But it is so easy to sympathise and identify with Meggie and her worries that you can easily immerge into it.

This sounded like it would be an intriguing book and I have a few friends I know would enjoy it; but the constant back and forth in time plus the angst about how they 'shouldn't be doing it' made for tedious reading for me. I didn't find the characters especially likable and it all seemed so repetitive. The writing was beautiful in some places, though, so the author shows promise.

Wonderful,wonderful, wonderful! This is a
most beautiful book. Maggie, the main character has a very hard time navigating her way through an affair due to her Christianity and her love for husband and family. She has enormous guilt but also an overwhelming sexual desire and love for her lover. This author has taken a subject that is commonplace and put a completely different spin on it. I can't say enough good about this book, it is one of the best.

For a book of such initial intensity and with such a compelling synopsis I found this overall fell a little short for me. This was mainly to do with the back-and-forth narrative that just didn't gel with me, (but this may have been more to due with the proof copy formatting that did not differentiate between present and past tense with even a paragraph break) and I felt a continual jarring sensation as I attempted to acclimatise myself after each of these shifts. This brings up some interesting points of discourse but, as a story, was lacking something for me.

An interesting take on an affair, that takes part mostly at an intellectual level over years, but which eventually crosses over into the physical with far reaching effects. Writer Maggie connects with poet James, initially on a professional level. Both of them are married with children, yet they develop a flirtatious relationship.
As the story progresses, they meet up and things slowly develop. Viewed from Maggie's point of view, we see her struggle with temptation and her faith, and i have to admit this is where the story lost me a bit as the theological aspects took over more, and I could relate less and less to her internal monologues. Ideally the reader needs to be able to identify with the characters, and Maggie seemingly feeling worse about betraying her religious beliefs than her supposedly beloved husband.
It's an interesting juxtaposition, pitting faith against temptation, I just felt the narrative was a little lacking.

Poetry, religion, sex. This is a hard one to review because at times it's quite annoying - almost pretentious-and at others it's fascinating. Maggie's love triangle with her husband Thomas and the poet James is really larger than that as she explores her faith as well. It's a quick read that raises more questions than it answers. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Not posting a review since this book was not a good fit for me.

Jamie Quatro uses different mediums (email, poetry, dialogue, inner thoughts, and narration) to describe Maggie Ellman's journey through twenty years of marriage. Maggie graduated from college at twenty and married Thomas in a breathtaking setting in Malibu. Thomas had a job on Wall Street, NY, and Maggie began graduate school at Princeton.

Maggie grew up in an evangelical family, and throughout the story, she contemplates theology of different religions, interspersed with the story of her life with Thomas. Maggie had two children, two dramatic births and settled into life in Nashville in a beautiful home. Maggie eventually drops the idea of finishing her Ph.D. and teaches at a small college.

Early in the novel, Maggie describes her sexual experiences with Thomas. She is confused that her intellectual love for him doesn't match her physical attraction and their sex life becomes an issue for both for both of them. Tommy's desire stays strong, and Maggie struggles. As readers, we are witness to all of the thoughts and questions, to Tommy's pleas, and his resignation.

Maggie meets a famous poet, James Abbott, and they correspond by email. Maggie and James develop a friendly rapport that turns flirtatious. Their meeting in Chicago is dramatic. Her physical attraction to James is new and overwhelming. Maggie is settled, in her forties, and struggles with the memory of one night and what to do about it.

Fire Sermon is a novel of a personal journey that offers much to those who struggle with fidelity and a long life in a monogamous relationship. Jamie Quatro has written a brilliant piece from a woman's perspective. The writing resonates deeply, and I recommend it to all adult readers who care about the heart and soul of a well-lived life.

Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

#FireSermon #ThanksPublishers

For me, the marks of a great book are that I a) am constantly highlighting bits of beautiful prose and b) am not so bogged down by the beautiful prose that the plot and characters don't carry me relatively swiftly towards the novel's conclusion. Quatro's 'Fire Sermon' meets both of these criteria. It's a wonderful insight into women, marriage and desire and contains a number of passages that would qualify it for the good sex awards, if such a thing existed.

Fire Sermon is a short intense book that can be read in one sitting. It flits back and forth in time, as Maggie struggles with her faith, her love for her husband Thomas, and her desire for possible lover James. I suppose the underlying story is familiar, but the execution is potent and at times beautifully written. The sex is fraught, and at times explicitly so. The emotions are uncomfortable, but not shocking to be shocking--rather, they feel like the honest complicated emotions of a conflicted person. And once I fell in step with its rhythm, I really appreciated the fragmented writing--snippets of thoughts, emails, conversations, and inner dialogues with Maggie's Christian God and a real or imagined therapist. It all come together nicely -- including the choice Maggie makes at the end. This won't work for readers looking for straightforward stories or narratives, but it's definitely worth a try if you're open to fiction that is more meditative and non linear. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

This book surrounds the internal drama about an extra-marital affair. There is a lot of hand wringing and questioning of the adulteress' actions within the context of her Christianity. Kirkus reviews said that readers who connect with this book will love it, those who don't will want to throw it across the room. Unfortunately, I find myself in the later category.

Margaret Ellman is an academic who starts a correspondence with a renowned poet named James Abbott. Both are married with children, but their intellectual connection has turned into a romantic involvement.
Fire Sermon is a novel concerned with the literary view of God and infidelity, and it doesn't really succeed in portraying effectively either. The book is simply too short and shallow as regards the former, and not that much stronger when it comes to the latter.
A quick read, with the germ of something interesting.

This is an in depth look into life and marriage. Maggie questions the institution and delves into the basis of a marriage to Thomas, being a mother and I took to her delivery experiences; the natural birth of Kate and later on Tue c-section of Thomas,and slowly the unraveling of having sex as a couple.
It's quite a stark representation of things not being as great and glossy on the inside as they seem on the outside.

When she finds herself drawn to an acquaintance, James, and a meeting paves way for what the world deems an affair, Maggie begins to question God, her actions, religion, poetry, and truth, but for me it was not just enough that she did this but how she did it.
The author's writing is poetic and what you and I deem abstract is not so in her writing. She writes from different points of views, at one time she is the observer or she is taking the lead sometimes she is being led and these took a while for me to grasp.
I believe it was at the point when I was 41% into the story where I came to appreciate and acknowledge the poetic prose.
I'd say part two of the story was more interesting, but that is me being less serious, and trying to hide the fact that this is not your read in one sitting kind of book! This is the "I need to reflect on my life" kind of book. If you're in a hurry or are seeking to be entertained, back off. If you are looking to go on a journey into a woman's reflection of her life, choices and actions, then give this book your time, attention and patience and you'll definitely have some things to think about.
I am glad to have received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest views on it. It's my second book off Grove Press and I'm beginning to scout for more of their published works.

Life is messy. And sometimes we make it messier still. Take Margaret – or Maggie, to her friends. She comes from a well-off and tight-knit family which has given her a comfortable and solid upbringing. Raised an Evangelical, she remains a committed Christian into adulthood. Indeed, her approach to religion is quite intellectual, with a lively interest in comparative religions (and particularly the contrast between Western and Eastern faiths), early Church fathers and mysticism. Maggie is an academic, “nerdy” type – she graduates with flying colours in her early twenties. At around the same time she marries Thomas, choosing to abandon the prospects of a glittering career to dedicate time to her new family. She does keep contacts in academia though, retains modest teaching posts over the years and also tries her hand at creative writing, particularly poetry. As for Thomas, he’s a successful professional, an all-round decent guy and a good-looking one at that, the type of man who gladly helps out with their son and daughter, who would never cheat on his wife and who makes Maggie’s female friends rather jealous. The cherry on the cake is an unexpected legacy from a rich uncle which makes what seems an already charmed life even easier, enabling Thomas and Maggie to settle down comfortably in Nashville with their kids.

Could there be a marriage as strong and stable as Maggie’s? It seems not. But in her forties, Maggie embarks on a correspondence with James, a (married) poet who shares her spiritual and literary concerns. And what starts as a seemingly innocent exchange of emails eventually leads to a physical encounter, consummated with a passion that Maggie has never known with her husband. This experience is so beautiful to Maggie that she finds she cannot condemn her actions, even whilst seeking to save her marriage to another man she also loves and whilst struggling to remain true to her principles and Christian values.

This is Jamie Quatro’s first novel, following the publication of an acclaimed collection of stories some years back. And what a breathtaking debut it is. What I particularly enjoyed is its original and yet beguiling storytelling approach, which seems to draw us effortlessly into Maggie’s mental struggles. Maggie is clearly the protagonist and she remains the focal point throughout the novel. Yet the perspective seems to be constantly shifting, thanks to continuous changes in the narrative mode. There are passages in the first person, others in a more “objective” (is it?) third person; there are flashbacks and flashforwards, passages of dialogue, extracts from journals, prayers; there’s a lot of philosophy and theology; there are what seem to be transcripts of counselling sessions (although they could be read as Maggie arguing with herself, or with God); there’s poetry – and I mean actual poems, not poetic writing (although there’s much of that too). And, towards the end, there’s the “Fire Sermon” itself, Maggie’s defiant statement/confession/manifesto about sin, temptation, God, marriage, love. All these seem to be pieces of a mosaic which build into an intriguing psychological, emotional portrait.

The novel works at many levels. It is, in essence, a love story (or two of them rolled into one). It is a family saga with elements of a coming-of-age novel. But it is also a book rich in philosophical insights about religion(s), about how faith informs the life of practicing Christians and about how these same believers can convince themselves that they are in the right, even when acting against religious tenets they hold dear. You might not agree with Maggie’s choices or with her theology. No problem – she is herself often contradictory and admits as much. But her spiritual journey is the stuff of great novels. I’m ready to bet that this will be one of the most talked-about debuts in the coming year.

This book is extremely well written, yet I found myself frustrated quite often with the author's apparent need to demonstrate her intelligence at every turn. This is a book about an intellectual/emotional affair that becomes physical, and the implications that has for the main character. It's a strange book, immersed in the literary world and yet not quite as literary as it thinks itself to be. Nonetheless I do admire the writer's evident skill with language--her writing is impressive on nearly every page.

I read it, but it was a huge waste of time. The language was to flowery and poetic. Not my taste. Book would have been better without it.