Only at the end of the book did I read in the author's note that the fire which is one of the central events in this story is based on a fire which broke out at the Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago on 1 December 1958 claiming the lives of 92 children and 3 nuns. The author's mother in law had attend the school and her younger brother had just left the school building on an errand before the fire broke out.
The story that he has written is based on hearing the grief in stories told about the fire, and he portrays in the main character and narrator in this story the way in which some people try to manage their grief.
The way that the author unravels the story of Anthony Lazzeri and his family is masterful, and manages to make you really feel the pain experienced by him and his family.

When it comes to grief, I have often been told "to each their own." There is no manual or proper way for one to grieve, but if there is something that grief thrives on, it's silence. This book captures the essence of this silence in Anthony's neighborhood. At first we encounter him doing what he knows best, pushing people away by being a jerk and rude to them, but as the story unravels, the author peels the layers of his grief and we learn of the fire at their school that took away his sister and many more children.
I found the writer's tone crisp. His descriptions, the characters dialogues and his portrayal of them and their mannerisms were enough to get me to understand that they had all been stuck, and no matter how far they went or what they did, the loss of their loved ones in that fire was something they could never undo.
We see the world, nine years after the fire through Anthony's eyes, because he is struggling to comes to terms with what happened and why he cannot recall most of it and as he does this, in a way he gets his family to talk about the fire and is a step closer to healing.
I also learned that there was a school fire in Chicago in 1958 and it broke my heart reading this because we've had many school fires in my country, Kenya, too but the one I've never forgotten is the Bombolulu fire. I'm glad to have received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Wow, this book was so so sad. My parents lived in Chicago and were in their teens when this fire happened. They remember so many details about that day, what happened and the aftermath. This is the reason I selected this book from Net Galley (THANK YOU!!). It was kind of hard to read because Anthony, the main character was so broken, lost and sad after the fire that had occurred almost 10 years ago. His family was split up and he was seeing a psychologist of help with his depression and suicidal thoughts and his ongoing conversations with his sister and Nonna as well. The story is about Anthony's search for the truth as to how the fire started because he does not remember what happened immediately afterwards...he is on a quest of sorts with the help of his on-again/off-again girlfriend, his former teacher and eventually his parents...who have also suffered great loss and suffering post-fire. From what I know in reality, the author did a great job depicting the very tightly woven Italian community during that time and how the pain and reality of such a great loss affected everyone. Anthony is trying to put his life back together and live successfully as an adult as works towards figuring out his story and giving himself and others around him peach of mind. Heart-wrenchingly sad and honest historical fiction about the endurance involved in the of healing wounds and living in the present after surviving a horrendous tragedy.