Bad decisions made by two teenage siblings lead to the death of a young friend. The car crash happens almost at their front door and their father, a doctor, is the first one on the scene. His decisions to aid the mortally injured girl and protect his own children from prosecution will haunt him for the rest of his life. Dr. Wilf's children, Sarah and Theo will spend the next 30 years trying to outrun the guilt they feel, either in the bottle, in affairs or in just escaping the civilized world. When their mother's Alzheimers rapidly progresses and his children are nowhere to be found, lonely Dr. Wilf spends an evening with a young neighbor stargazing. They each will not realize for another ten years how important that one evening will be. Threading together the stories of each of the characters, author Shapiro let's the reader discover the damage that guilt can produce in a life. Each action causes a reaction be it positive or negative. We are all caught up in a circular existence where coincidences may not necessarily be just that but perhaps part of a greater plan.

I want to be able to give more than 5 stars to this beautiful story. I was just wowed moments ago when I finished it. These characters! My heart bursts for all of them. Such an amazing dissection of the lives of two families, the street where they live and the impact of decisions they make. This one will leave me with an impossible book hangover. So hard to start another book when you are still so affected by such a powerful and lovely read! Amazing.

A fantastic novel that takes one back and forth from then to now to before then after giving the reader time to contemplate life and its lost opportunities and treasured moments as well. Oh to only start over and correct mistakes and appreciate the present and observe others and care more before it is too late to realize whether you are or are not. Read this one, Dani Shapiro did a remarkable job.

I loved Signal Fires. At first, I wasn't sure where the story was going, but it ended up being much less about one certain instance and much more about the love, loss, and grief that life brings to each of us. I felt for the characters as they traversed issues from the past and in the present and worried about the future. None of us is infallible, but we can be hopeful and move forward.

Many of us have had experiences that in one moment, have completely changed our lives. In Signal Fires, we see how those kinds of experiences change the Wilfs and Shenkmans. Because the traumatic events were never discussed, they grow into very dark secrets. The book explores the many types of loss.

This is only my second Dani Shapiro title (after Inheritance) and I am hooked for life. What a spectacular writer! She captures families so well - poignant but never sappy. More please Dani!!

I was excited to start this book when I got it, but unfortunately it was slower than I would have liked. I do think it held promise, but the execution of the plot fell short for me. I was intrigued in the beginning with the car crash, but after that I found the story slowed down and I had trouble keeping engaged. I think what would have made this book better for me was if there was a few less timeline changes and instead a bit more depth to the characters and their life choices. For example, Ben's job as a doctor and how he felt guilty for having moved the young girl from the car after the accident, I would have appreciated more insight into how that played out, both internally and externally. Overall I do love what this story was trying to do with the idea of connections and the dynamic of how our lives can play out, but it didn't quite reach the mark for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for the review copy of Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro,

5 whole stars. I’d give it more if I could.

Signal Fires tells the story of The Wilfs and The Shenkmans, two families who live on Division Street and are immeasurably affected and tied together by a tragic car accident that occurred on the quaint suburban block in 1985. The younger Wilfs, Sarah and Theo, were in the car and thankfully unharmed, but harbor a secret that follows them through adulthood. Their father, Dr. Ben Wilf, is the first to arrive at the scene, and makes a career damaging mistake. Decades later, the Shenkmans arrive and unknowingly weave their way into the patterns of the Wilf Family and Division Street.. When their eccentric and intelligent son Waldo, who loves to study constellations, befriends the elderly Dr. Wilf, the ties that bind the Wilfs and Shenkmans will get tighter than they could have ever imagined.

Signal Fires is the first book I’ve read by Dani Shapiro and if the rest of her work is anything like this, I am certainly on board to read more. This book took my breath away. Her writing style is so gorgeous and poetic, without being overly flowery. I love a novel told from different perspectives and I think Shapiro did a fantastic job expressing each character’s voice/state of mind in their respective chapters. Mimi, despite her relatively short turn as narrator, really stood out as a pronounced voice in the novel. I really felt like I was in the mind of an advanced Alzheimer’s/dementia patient in her chapters. The confusion, the disorientation, the unsteadiness —it was all so real and terrifying, But then there was this strange sense of comfort from Waldo. It was also particular simple to get into his head and understand his being during Waldo’s turns as narrator. I could almost hear the germs turning in his head during his chapters.

I loved every part of this book. Even though it hurt, it still felt like a hug. Maybe that was the point.

When I began reading this book, I was hooked. The characters hooked you, you needed to know what happened to them, their lives. But as the book progressed, I felt it was too technical with the stars, constellations, I ended up skipping over some of the latter part of the story. I still recommend it - good story overall.

We are all connected in some way. This truly resonates with the characters in Signal Fires. One night a tragic event changes the lives of one family and also sets in motion the connections that will develop in the future. This was a heartbreaking story with characters that I wished I could read more about. It was beautifully written and hard to put down. Highly recommended.

Signal Fires
by Dani Shapiro
Pub Date: October 18, 2022
Knopf
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
In Dani Shapiro’s first work of fiction in fifteen years, she returns to the form that launched her career, with a riveting, deeply felt novel that examines the ties that bind families together—and the secrets that can break them apart. SIGNAL FIRES is a work of haunting beauty by a masterly storyteller.
What I loved about this book is what was unsaid... the way it made me feel. The mood. I keep thinking about the characters.
Beautiful, well-written book! 5 stars

Beautifully written book that looks at the many aspects tragedies and life. The characters were so well written, I couldn't help but care for them. A sad but wonderful read.

Signal Fires is a beautiful book about family, love and loss. It successfully avoids all of the usual trappings that the description might imply and instead gives us an intimate look at two families intertwined lives.

I love when a novel makes me care enough about the characters to cry, and Signal Fires did that. A hauntingly beautiful story about the lasting trauma of secrets, and our interconnectedness -with each other, the world around us, with the entire universe. Perfect for fans of Richard Powers.

The plot starts with a car accident involving minors and a death. Then the book switches between the past and present to explain how the car crash affected multiple people's lives and how all these factors are connected in life and in death. Bit too slow moving for me but I'm sure many people will enjoy it. Well written.

Dani Shapiro has written a thorough examination of cause and effect. A terrible .car accident occurs at the beginning of the book in which three teenagers are involved and one of them dies. This is a backdrop to a story about familial love and resilience as the Wilf family moves forward with their lives. The story also brings in a neighboring family where a deep bond is formed between the dad of the teenagers and young who is unable to connect with his dad. The novel spans a few decades as we witness the reverberating results in their daily lives. Well written. #SignalFires #DaniShapiro #NetGalley

"By here, he means somewhere on the western edge of the United States. It’s possible to grow up in the wrong house, on the wrong street, in the wrong town, in the wrong part of the country. It’s possible to go to the wrong school. To have the wrong dad. To be pushed to do the wrong things. But it is also possible to survive all these psychic indignities if you have one, maybe two people who recognize you for who you are. His mom saw him. By seeing him, she saved him."

I loved this book.

Shapiro's latest explores two families, going through tumultuous times, as she weaves back and forth in time to show us how they ended up here and the journey they took both in the past and into the future.

The book opens up with three teens in a car accident, where one of them dies. And of course, that moment changes the lives of the parents (and the kids) forever. Then it shows the neighbors next door, with their 11 year old son, who decides to run away from home. Then the story goes back in time and it goes forward in time and by the end of the book, you are in love with every single character and your heart has been broken and put back together in a million little ways.

This story is about family, resilience, being there for each other, and marriage. It's so very beautiful. I absolutely loved it.

with gratitude to edelweiss and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a short book but don’t be deceived, for it is a heavy one. It begins with a tragic accident in 1985, and the story proceeds forward (and backward) in time until 2020. We are introduced to several characters who live in two separate households on the same street, with vastly different lives — the Wilfs and the Shenkmans.

I would not say this story is plot-driven. It is entirely focused on the characters and how they deal with intense feelings of grief, regret, and loneliness over a 35-year period. Dani Shapiro’s voice is lyrical and poignant, taking her characters through a vast array of highs and lows in such a short span of pages.

I will admit that this book is not what I expected it to be. I was anticipating “the accident” to play a starring role, but instead I found it to be the subtle undercurrent, the details of which you almost forget. Instead of focusing on action and consequence, you are asked to contemplate the nature of connections and the concept of time itself. A beautifully written, unexpected book.

I will say that it didn’t grip me or stir too much emotion in me, but I definitely appreciated the ability to cram so much into this relatively short story. I loved the relationship between Ben and Waldo, but I think the most stirring moment for me was when Sarah raised her hand. Definitely pick this up if you’re in the mood for something unique!

Thank you to Dani Shapiro, Knopf Doubleday, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Beautiful, lean book about the connections between families and generations and how tragedy and love bring families together and tear them apart. The book went between multiple time periods between 1985 and 2021 and dealt with everything from Y2K scares to the current pandemic. Shapiro has a gentle and lovely way of describing the love parents have for their children even if that love sometimes gets tested. The book deals with two families that live in a suburb of New York; Ben and Mimi Wilf and the Shenkman family. Ben Wilf is a doctor living with wife Mimi and two kids, Theo and Sarah. Their life changes forever when a car accident leads to the death of Sarah's teenage friend. The Shenkman's are neighbors and their young son Waldo forms a lasting connection with Ben that helps the young boy who often feels misunderstood by his parents and peers.

As the years go by the families deal with depression, anxiety and guilt, as well as medical illness, dementia and possible autism. My favorite parts of this book were the sections about gentle, smart, Waldo who is obsessed with astronomy and frustrated at his father who is often yelling and cold. Waldo has an app on a tablet which shows the night sky all over the world and he often talks about the way stars can take a long time to die or can suddenly explode and the way new stars can be made from the dust of the old ones. There is a lot of symbolism here and the author wants us to consider that life may be short but our love and connections to each other can last beyond our physical time on earth.

I was hoping for some more positive things for the characters as they mostly seemed friendless and unhappy although they all found some success in their professions. I appreciated Ben for his gentleness and Waldo for his curiosity about the world, Alice for her fierce love for her son and Sarah and Theo for the love they had for each other. It is the type of book that makes you want to give your loved ones a hug, and it is a story I will remember. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

This was a great, quiet family story that reminded me in parts of Bewilderment and in other parts of Kent Haruf. Lots of feelings about life & death & parenthood & the pandemic.