Many thanks to my friends at @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook.  

 

Well researched and thought provoking, this is an incendiary look at the best and worst of humanity.  

 

Historic fiction was my first reading love.  It has often provided me what high school history lessons never could: an appreciation for what happened long ago and ambition to learn from its missteps.  

 

In The House is On Fire, where Beanland chonicles the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811, I am again reminded of the power of historical perspective.  

 

With social season at its height, Richmond finds its theater packed to the gills.  The celebratory atmosphere quickly turns grim when the unthinkable happens and the theater catches fire.  Right away, we see the community reeling from the face of destruction and immense loss of life. 

 

Through alternating points of view, the recounting of the fire becomes personal.   Two slaves, one woman, and one orphaned boy provide four unique lenses that allowed a full and intimate perspective of the events.  

 

True character is often revealed most fully in the face of adversity.  And ultimately, this narrative, both the true account and this fictionalized version, becomes a story of heroes and cowards.  As we see the characters grapple with complex moral dilemmas, the essences of their souls are laid bare.  

 

To survive?  To help?  To make excuses?  To take responsibility?  A bright spotlight is shown on the depravity, but in the end, it’s the compassion and bravery that provide hope as the dust settles over the long-extinguished flames.

 

The author’s note at the end is a must!  She outlines the depth of her research and any changes/extra details regarding the characters.  It gave me a greater appreciation of the book as well as closure in areas the book’s ending did not.

 

🎧This full cast audio brought the story to life.  With four distinct narrators, each character felt authentic and provided a human element to the account, as though a real person telling his/her own story.  It’s worth noting that the narrator for Gilbert is an actual ancestor of his.  This information from @no.more.shelf.control gave me an ever greater appreciation of his story and presentation.