The Sound of Fire
by Renee Bellliveau
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Pub Date Sep 09 2021 | Archive Date Oct 25 2021
Nimbus Publishing | Nimbus Publishing Limited
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Description
I have a history here. I am part of this landscape. I have forged it, shaped it, and renewed it time and again. At times, I have been a mishap. Once or twice, I was brought forth at the hands of mischief. This time, I was sparked to life. I awoke from the elements, timid and trembling.
In the basement of a residence at a small liberal arts university in rural New Brunswick, while war rages overseas, a fire breaks out in the middle of the night. The town is sleeping.
A novel of devastating beauty, based on the true story of the December 1941 fire that destroyed a men's residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, killing four students, and bringing the horrors of war startlingly close to home. Told at a blistering pace and in multiple points of view – including characters based on Alex and Rhoda Colville, who were students at the time, as well as faculty and staff, students past and present, a local journalist, and suspicious townspeople &8211; this stunning work of historical fiction explores themes of trauma, love, and humanity in the face of tragedy.
Advance Praise
“Belliveau has created an immersive sensory experience, using vivid snapshots of the many lives affected by a devastating fire. But against this backdrop of death and destruction, there is an enduring gentleness. Somehow, she has managed to capture the fear and the darkness while also illuminating the beauty of human connection. A heart-wrenching and gripping story, incredibly told.”
–Nicole Lundrigan, bestselling author of The Widow Tree and Hideaway
“Both riveting and tender, The Sound of Fire is an unexpected page-turner rich with historical detail and an interconnected cast of vibrant characters. Belliveau’s clean yet emotive prose paints a captivating portrait of a tragic fire in a small community told from multiple perspectives, including, most strikingly, from the fire itself.”
–Deborah Hemming, ReLit shortlisted author of Throw Down Your Shadows
“Using a kind of personalized-archive technique to piece vivid shards of historical and imagined detail into an intricate mosaic, Renée Belliveau reconstructs a devastating residence fire at Mount Allison University in 1941. Told from the dozens of individual perspectives of those whose lives were changed by the events, The Sound of Fire sets a very local tragedy against the larger contexts of the still-lively memories of one world war and the ongoing carnage of another.”
–Mark Blagrave, author of Commonwealth First Novel Award–shortlisted Silver Salts and Lay Figures
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781774710180 |
| PRICE | CA$21.95 (CAD) |
| PAGES | 272 |
Links
Featured Reviews
Kelli S, Reviewer
I always enjoy a good historical book and this one did not disappoint. It is obvious that the author did a great deal of research to complete this book.
Maria H, Reviewer
A novel [...] based on the true story of the December 1941 fire that destroyed the men’s residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick... (Blurb of 'The Sound of Fire)
This was a truly remarkable read, which impressed me on several levels, most of all on account of its structure and composition. The story was told from the viewpoint and experience of numerous participants, both those involved in the actual tragedy and others peripheral to it. This gave extreme life and immediacy to the account and skillfully highlighted emotional and physical reactions to the tragedy. The masterstroke was, however, the personification of Fire, whose voice heralded by mimickry the evolution of the tragedy and its aftermath. As the fire grew in might and power, so people were devoured by its suffocating, deadly ferocity; as it reminiced on the magnificence of its fiery feast whilst lingering, almost satiated over its remainders, so people, dazed, took stock of their injuries and losses; as it was almost combusting again, so rumours and conjectures about its origin arose, until finally, the ashes dispersed, and so did all action. Nothing remained, except the scars in landscape and in those that were disfigured physically and emotionally. The pace of the writing imitated the pace of the fire, from breathtaking urgency to complacent reminiscence, and in such powerful prose that I was completely enthralled and hard pressed to pause reading.
The immaculate research into the disaster and Belliveau's mastery in weaving the local tragedy into the larger-scale horrors of WWII added to the richness of the novel's atmosphere. Add to that her impressive skill of sketching numerous characters within the constricted space of a chapter and endowing each with their individual context and background.
Harrowing and beautiful in one, this is a book that will stay with me for a while, as really good books should...
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the electronic copy of this riveting novel. This review expresses my own, honest opinions.
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