The House is on Fire

Title:  The House is on Fire

Author:  Rachel Beanland

Publication Information:  Simon & Schuster. 2023. 384 pages.

ISBN:  1982186143 / 978-1982186142

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Sally Campbell's shoes are fashionable but extremely flimsy."

Favorite Quote:  "But now he realizes that all any of these documents are is words, and not even very mysterious words. Words like free and rights and liberty. How can it be that so few words, scratched on a a piece of letter paper, are what's separating Sara and him from a life of freedom?"

On December 26, 1811, during a performance at a theater in Richmond, Virginia, a candle chandelier was raised with the flames still lit. The lit flame touched a scene piece, starting a fire. The entire theater burned down. Seventy two people - 54 women and 18 men died. At least 6 were black or multiracial. It was the largest loss of life in a disaster in the country's history at the time.

This book creates a fictional story with historical figures and this fire. The author's note states, "I ultimately chose to center my story on the lives of four people who experienced the first firsthand and were, in one way or another, forever changed by it. The characters of Gilbert, Jack, Sally, and Cecily are all based on real people who lived and breathed, although we know considerable more bout some of them than others."

Gilbert Hunt is a slave. He becomes a hero in the fire saving the lives of many. Through his eyes, we see the history of slavery and atrocities of that, even as he is deemed a hero.

Jack is young stagehand. In the story, he is the one to raise the chandelier. Through his eyes, we see the how people look to manipulate the truth about the fire to suit their own purposes regardless of who suffers because of those lies. His reckoning is whether he will stand for the truth regardless of the danger that presents to him.

Sally is a young widow, who shows courage during and after fire. She is responsible saving many lives and for forcing a reckoning of what a disproportionate number of women died as compared to men. "Well, weren't we promised that if we married well, we would be taken care of? That our futures would be secure? Where is the security in a husband who would sooner climb over you than help you to your feet?" Per the author's note, "family legend places Patrick Henry's daughter, sally Henry Campbell, in the theater the night of the fire."

Cecily is an enslaved young woman, who accompanies her mistress to the theater. She survives the fire and then sees the opportunity that survival presents. It may be her one chance to escape the abuse she has suffered all her life. But at what price?

Through these four perspectives, the author weaves a compelling story of a preventable disaster, its aftermath, its heroes, and its villains. It also paints a vivid picture of a time and place - slavery, the role of women, the role of artists and performers, and the city itself.

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