What happened? The House is on Fire (by Rachel Beanland)

#TheHouseIsOnFire #NetGalley

Readers who remember Florence Adler will want to take a look at Rachel Beanland’s new book of historical fiction. She tells a complex story that takes place in 1800s, Richmond, Virginia.

Many people are attending a theater performance when the unthinkable happens and a catastrophic fire breaks out. This incident will inform the lives of this book’s characters, both those who are white and those who are Black.

Two of the women in the theater are Sally and Cecily, one of whom takes in the show from the “colored gallery.” Readers follow them and also Jack and Gilbert. How will their lives entwine and what will happen to each?

What and who cause the conflagration? What narrative will be told about this and will it be the truth? Read this novel based on real events to learn more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this title. All opinions are my own.

This book was published in April2023.

Note: This book earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick

THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW:
“The Richmond Theatre fire of 1811 was, at the time, the deadliest disaster in U.S. history, killing seventy-two. This historical novel examines the event and its aftermath through four figures: the stagehand who accidentally starts the fire; a well-to-do widow in a box seat; an enslaved young woman, attending with her mistress but confined to the colored gallery; and a blacksmith, also enslaved, who rushes to the scene and rescues patrons jumping from windows. The bad behavior of the powerful becomes a theme: the theatre company attempts to pin blame on a fabricated slave revolt, and men in the audience trample their wives in making their escape.”—The New Yorker

“Beanland’s gripping fictional account delves into this tragedy [the Richmond Theater Fire], examining the aftermath, the stories that were told and the blame that was unfairly laid on people without the means to defend themselves.” —Washington Post

“The House Is on Fire is wildly entertaining and it deals with touchy subjects very well. [The characters] all have unique voices and their stories are treated with equal care and attention, which speaks volumes not only about Beanland’s research skills but also the empathy she has for the people she writes about. This novel is a fictionalized slice of history, but in a time when so many treat teaching history as a taboo, it is also a stark reminder of how privilege, sexism, and racism have been in this country’s DNA since its inception, and that makes it necessary reading.”—NPR