I was really excited to read this book because the description and perspective hooked me. While it did take me a moment to settle into the story, once I did I was transported in the most beautiful way. The book explores a fractured family and some of the lies that tear them apart. A fire erupts on a banana plantation in Costa Rica in 1968 and the Valverde family has to live with the devastation forever. Since I don’t want to give too much away I will just say that the book explores how the devastation affects the family and how colonialism, colourism, and classism all play a part in the demise of the plantation and the family as they try to move forward. The writing is gorgeous.

Although there were parts of this book that I really did like, this one just didn’t hit home for me. 😕
Multiple timelines and multiple POV’s definitely did not help!
Also, multiple Maria’s! 😮
Takes place years ago in Costa Rica, and more recently in DC.
Brought out some great points on how things had been done in the past…and just kind of swept under the rug…and that was definitely NOT cool. Made me really think, and want to get justice for so many people that were affected!
Concentrated on the Banana Market/Plantations, and their workers and owners…and some of the very despicable things that were done to the workers. And the coverups when things started to go wrong.
BUT, I just couldn’t wrap my head around ALL that was going on ALL the time. For me, very confusing characters.
Thank you though to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of the audiobook. Due to be released on September 19th.
2 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me, rounded up to three.

✨Book Thoughts✨
Where There Was Fire by John Manual Arias
Pub Date: September 19, 2023

Let’s talk about covers for a minute. The cover to this book is so fun! I listened to this one and sadly it was a little hard for me to follow. This was a dual timeline story which sometimes left me lost. The actual book may be different though. I think this book had all the elements of a good story but it didn’t pull together as I hoped. From a historical viewpoint, learning about plantations in Costa Rica from this book was incredibly interesting. The author chose to write this from the female perspective but I’m just not sure he understands females enough to do so. There were many moments where it just didn’t seem like a woman would have had those thoughts. In the end I got about 75% through the audiobook and gave up. I may finish it soon but I needed a break.

Thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an advance copy courtesy of NetGalley and John Manuel Arias in exchange for my honest opinion. The title and the cover were what drew me to this book. Upon reading it, I can imagine being part of a family where the family's dark secrets are encumbered and/or enhanced by the secrets culled from their professional relationships. Toxic familial relations are familiar to me and the hard work that overcoming centuries' worth of generational trauma is a "known" known as well. What has me baffled is how Jose Maria seemed to be working, by the age of 13 nonetheless, to overcome his inherited traumas only to digress when a Dr. Smith sold him on a load of "fool's gold" relating to his family and he snapped...Teresa not finding their bodies for decades after (right before her demise) seems anticlimactic to me because an earlier discovery could have fostered growth and healing within the family while avoiding unnecessary loss of life and relations. I would recommend this book to friends although I did not care for the ending...unless, of course, it set us up for a sequel.

John Manuel Arias created a sprawling, multi-generational tale in Where There Was Fire. Through out the story, you can almost feel the warmth, the smolder of the fire that sets the story in motion. It is ever present. The relationships between all of the characters are charged in a way that felt visceral and very real. Secrets, ancestral histories and a touch of magic weave their way through Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family.

I listened to this as an audiobook and Adriana Sananes breathed even more life into this story than it already had. Her voice dripped with the emotions of the characters. I hope to listen to many more stories that she lends her voice to.

This book is set in Costa Rica and begins with the fire and destruction of an American-owned banana plantation. The word plantation gives you an accurate picture of the working conditions for the native laborers. A family connected to the plantation is torn apart by the events of that night leaving the survivors with more questions than answers. The story is told from many viewpoints and from different time periods. The most prominent characters are a mother and daughter who have been estranged many years as a result of that tragic night. The two women are left to piece together the mysterious events and make sense of what happened.

This is a fantastic book. The reader is left guessing the whole time. It’s definitely not straightforward. The author takes the reader on a circuitous journey around the story revealing the many layers. Also, the colonial-type relationship the US had with Costa Rica is disturbing and I wish I could say surprising. I didn’t know any of the country’s history and was intrigued and appalled in equal measure.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration is very good. Although, the story might be easier to follow in print with so many characters and time periods. I think it would have been helpful to flip back and check on names and dates to keep things straight.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook.

As this novel opens, we learn that in 1968, a deadly fire burned through the banana plantation owned by the American Fruit Company in Costa Rica. This night was a pivotal moment for Teresa Cepeda Valverde's family, and now, 27 years later, her daughter Lyra is trying to understand what happened. The book follows several different family members throughout different timelines to understand the events that led up to the fire and the other events on that night.

I really enjoyed this book, though I will admit that I got a tad lost in the different timelines and who each character was in the audio version (but also the audio narration was stellar - just make sure you pay close attention!). I might give this one another read in a paper format to make sure I got everything straight, and also because it's the kind of book that you finish and want to read again because it was that good.

This is a very well-told story that kept me coming back to see how all the pieces fit together and what happened to wound this family so deeply. The mother-daughter relationships in this book were complex and touching, and the theme of machismo wove through the story in subtle but important ways. I loved the magical realism elements and the presence of ghosts with attitude. There is also drama! Lots of twists and turns, a few affairs, and a queer romance.

I was extremely here for John Manuel Arias' exploration of US neocolonialism in Latin America. Though the American Fruit Company is fictional, the United Fruit Company did exist, and was later rebranded as Chiquita. Some quick research shows parallels between the abuses the AFC perpetrated against its Costa Rican employees in this book and the real life abuses that past employees accuse Chiquita of, specifically relating to the exposure to pesticides and their harmful effects on workers' health.

This is a strong debut novel and I will definitely be interested to see what else Manuel Arias writes. I would definitely encourage fellow readers to pick this one up, especially those who enjoy intergenerational stories and a touch of a mystery to solve as the story evolves.

I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it. I'm always on the lookout for authors from Central-America since I'm Salvadoran.

I loved this book! I loved the complicated familial relationships, the gray characters, magic realism and atmosphere of this book. It also had so many of my favorite tropes.

The story takes place in Costa Rica, from 1960's thru 1990's. At the center of the story is Lyra who is estranged from her mother Teresa. Teresa has also been battling her own demons.

There are quite a few POV's so I was really glad I had the physical book so I could see the family tree. It helped a lot! Slowly we start finding out the tragedy that happened in Teresa's life and what led to Lyra no longer wanting a relationship with her mother.

I thought for a debut novel this was an amazing book and can't wait for more future books from this author. I have read some reviews about having issues on how the women were written by a man. I had no issues but maybe because I've read some that are so much worse than this. Just wanted to give a heads up about that.

I thought the narrator was great. I had no issues with her accent. It was very easy to follow along with her narration. I also noticed that the audiobook skips the last chapter and goes straight to the epilogue. Not sure if it was my copy that was faulty, but hopefully it gets fixed!

4.5 out of 5 stars.

I love a good multi-generational family drama set in a country different than my own, so I had a feeling that I would like Where There Was Fire. We have a story that follows multiple generations of the Valverde family as they deal with the fallout from a fire and cover up on the American owned banana plantation where they work and live in Costa Rica.

One thing that really struck me about this book is how realistic it is. I've traveled fairly extensively in Latin America and something that I commonly came across was just how much the USA interfered in various countries...whether it be via businesses that produce fruit or oil or via covert military and political intervention. Knowing all of that made this plot feel even more like it could've been a true story.

As other reviewers have noted, sometimes that main characters felt realistic and at other points they were a bit jarring. I think it's because they were almost exclusively women and written by a male author. There were some things that happened that seemed to be things that a man might imagine a woman doing, but don't really happen in reality.

The description in this book was definitely a high point and really gave this book a very visual feeling. I could easily imagine the places the characters were and the things that were happening.

That said, this book felt a bit uneven. It is multi-POV and nonlinear, so you do really have to focus to follow it effectively. It's certainly an ambitious book for a debut and in some ways, I think that showed. Arias clearly has talent as a writer and in some ways this book reminded me strongly of Cien Años De Soledad in style, so I expect as he gains experience, he'll be turning out some stunning works.

I did listen to an audio ARC of this and I'm a bit torn about the narrator. Overall, I liked her, but I did find her exuberance a bit of a strange contrast when she's talking about horrific situations like the American company making men sterile.

If you like multi-generational family focused stories, regional politics, culture, and a bit of mystery, you may enjoy this book.

Historically I am incredibly interested in stories that expose the deep level of corruption and harm American companies caused within Latin American countries. One of the worst corporations that operated with American government backing was the United Fruit Company. The UFC brutally controlled the peoples, governments, and environment of many Latin American countries including Costa Rica. The company is also still in operation…rebranded and merged as Chiquita Brands International.

1968 Costa Rica, a fire ignites in the American Fruit Company’s largest banana plantation. How the fire began, who was involved, and the secrets within the company’s operation have been covered up for decades. Lyra was a young girl when the fire began and she has suppressed the memories from that night that took the lives of her father and grandmother. That night also forever changed her relationship with her mother, Theresa, and her sister. As the plot continues, we follow the lives of Lyra and Theresa in the past and the present, leading up to a huge family revelation. The struggles within the mother daughter relationship feels very genuine and enough information is given for the reader to make their own conclusions.

The story is well presented and may be much easier to follow with the audio production. There are many characters introduced throughout the book that are incredibly minor in their relation to Theresa and Lyra, such as the three Marias. These insights, though useful, may have been better left out to keep a better plot-character flow.

Ultimately, I found this story incredibly interesting from a historical viewpoint. The family dynamic is dysfunctional at best and they present some very serious issues such as postpartum depression, suicide, abuse, and PTSD.

For some reason that's not entirely clear to me, Juan Manual Arias chose to write this book almost exclusively from the perspectives of female characters. And that might have been fine, if he had any idea how women actually think and feel.

Let me flip-flop and talk about what I enjoyed in the book. The narration of the audiobook is excellent; Adriana Sananes sounds somehow like a full cast all by herself! I also really enjoyed the historical details of Costa Rica in the 1960s and 1990s, learning a decent bit about a place I haven't spent much literary time before.

Now, on to what I disliked. As I said, the female characters are the focal point of the novel, and there are moments that irritated me so much that they brought my entire rating of the book down. The women are oddly and overly sexualized throughout the story — an older woman is entirely focused on the sagging of her breasts when she looks in the mirror, another is enjoying and encouraging ogling from her best friend's husband, and ANY time a woman is dancing for any reason it is described as sexual or sensual. Yuck. Those are just the ones I recall off the top of my head.

I also found the timeline and perspective switches to be a bit confusing, but this may be clearer in a print version that has paragraph/page breaks.

Overall, I can't really recommend this book because of the way the women are written. It's damaging. But I do appreciate the chance to learn about the history of Costa Rica, and will continue to seek out books with similar settings. Thank you Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

John Manuel Arias' debut novel, "Where There Was Fire," takes listeners on an evocative journey through time and secrets, unravelling the intricate tapestry of a Costa Rican family haunted by a deadly secret. Adriana Sananes' narrating prowess enhances the lush and lyrical narrative, weaving a spellbinding tale that delves into the complexities of familial relationships, historical cover-ups, and the lingering impact of the past.

Set against the backdrop of Costa Rica in 1968, a fatal fire engulfs the American Fruit Company's banana plantation, shrouding a massive cover-up in secrecy. The story leaps forward twenty-seven years, where Teresa Cepeda Valverde and her daughter, Lyra, navigate the lingering aftermath of that fateful night. Lyra's resentment towards her mother is palpable, yet her desperate desire to uncover the truth about her family's past drives her to confront the ghosts that still haunt them.

The narrative effortlessly interweaves past and present, crafting a multilayered tale that explores themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the inextricable ties between generations. As Teresa and Lyra grapple with their fractured relationship and the enigmatic events that shaped their family's destiny, the novel unveils a complex web of machismo, jealousy, labor uprisings, and the destructive legacy of banana plantations in Central America.

John Manuel Arias showcases an extraordinary talent for infusing the story with vivid imagery and rich symbolism. The inclusion of ancestral spirits, omens, and the anthropomorphic forces of nature elevates the narrative to a level of magical realism, immersing listeners in a world where the boundaries between reality and the mystical blur.

Adriana Sananes' narration is a perfect match for the novel's lyrical prose and emotive depth. Her voice captures the raw emotions of each character, from Teresa's haunted regrets to Lyra's determined quest for truth. Sananes' skillful performance adds an extra layer of immersion, making the audiobook an engaging and captivating experience.

Teresa and her daughter Lyra are brought back together almost thirty years after a devastating fire at a banana plantation. Lyra is eager to find out what happened and Teresa is still upset about her missing husband and haunted by the ghost of her mother.

This book took the long way to the end and I'm not sure it served this fantastic story well. Parts of the story were too long and did not contribute to the story.

If you enjoy multi-POV, dual timelines stories about a multi generational family, check this on out!

I received this as an ARC through netgalley. This book has so much potential but I couldn't finish it. The multiple characters and time periods were very difficult to follow; I love multi generational tales spanning decades but this one just fell short. It was very slow and I'm not even sure what was happening half the time.

Like the best historical fiction, this book made me want to look more into this period of history. I loved the way the history of the American Fruit Company was woven into the Valverde family history. The writing really immersed me in the story. I really want to look into the history of banana plantations in Costa Rica. As with many dual timeline books, I found myself more drawn to the one of the timelines (in this book it was the earlier timeline in 1960s Costa Rica). I really appreciated this look into a piece of history I was not at all acquainted with.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy for review.

I'm so conflicted about this review because the book had so much potential.

Where There Was Fire is a multi-generational, multi-POV , dual timeline story set in Costa Rica about a banana plantation incident and the lasting repercussions. It highlights the exploitative choices and violence American based companies enact on Latin American countries and the complete disregard for worker's well being. Aria also blends in elements of magical realism that adds depth to the storyline and setting. This is a hard hitting book as many family sagas tend to be. You can expect heavy content, and heartbreak.

I really thought I was going to love this story. It has all of the elements that I usually enjoy. I should've known what I was signing up for when the Goodreads synopsis described this book as being "steeped in machismo." Aria purposely decided to write the majority of this book from a female perspective. I'm not implying men can't write female characters but I do think there is a degree of research required to pull this off. I found myself constantly being pulled out of the story due to some misogynistic and weird statements.

One that comes to mind is when one of main characters goes to the doctor to get examined as she has been unable to get pregnant. Now I can't remember the exact phrasing but this experience is followed by the narrator insinuating women go to the doctor for the every single thing without justification as if it is all in our minds.There was also a weird sexualization of women at different points in time that felt very much like they were coming from the male gaze.

It's a bummer because the story had potential. If you can get past the misogyny and male gaze there are elements of brilliance in this book.

As to the narration. This is narrated by Adriana Sananes. It is my first time listening to a book narrated by her. I thought she did a great job. I did see some comments attacking her 'accent' which I will say did not bother me. Every narrator is going to have an accent. Get over it.

Thank you to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio ARC of this book. Publication date is Setptember 19,2023.

I had a hard time with this book. I listened to the audiobook and it was very hard to follow. I think I would have been able to enjoy this book more if I read it as opposed to listening. I wasn’t able to keep the characters or different timelines straight. The narration by Adriana Sananes was very theatrical and entertaining at times. I hate to write an overall negative review but this book didn’t work for me. I would like to try reading a physical copy and see if that makes a difference.

3.5⭐ I had really high hopes for this one. The premise sounded fascinating, the artwork on the cover and the blurb had me hooked before I started. But for me, the story was mixed.

4⭐ (narration) I always feel a little off-kilter listening to an audiobook when there's another language interspersed in the story, but since I speak Spanish, I don't think that was an issue. The narrator was fine. I listen to tons of audiobooks, and this narrator didn't stand out one way or the other for me. The narration was solid, if not spectacular.

The story had a weird, chaotic, haunted, fateful feel to it. I don't know much about Costa Rican culture, perhaps that was intentional. I actually liked the story, but I felt like the redemption piece at the end was missing. It didn't seem like the characters or the readers got closure. Maybe that was the vibe the author was aiming for, but it just fell a bit flat for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review!

Not accurate star rating because I did not finish this one, it wasn't for me. I do not think it's fair to give a star rating since I didn't finish it. This book is definitely going to be a winner for some.

To be honest, I struggled a bit following this one. There were parts that weren’t clear and I had a hard time keeping the characters straight. Other parts were really good though and I can see where the characters had some profound breakthroughs. There were some pieces of the culture I didn’t understand but really wanted to!