Review of The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri

*The Book of Fire* by Christy Lefteri (2024). Published by Ballantine Books.

If you’re new here and found this blog through the mysterious powers of the Internet, welcome! My name is Ashley, and I’m a dedicated reader and movie watcher who thought to turn this website into a little digital archive of sorts.

I was watching and reading so much that I wanted to keep track of it all, so I began blogging as a way to keep these books as memories somewhat forever.

That said, I recently fell into a period of unemployment, and this blog was a solace for me. Not only was it a way to make a little bit of money when there was nothing else coming my way really, but I found, after getting my finances in order, that I enjoyed sitting down to write blog posts when I had nothing else to do in my day.

I’ve been dubbing this period as funemployment while I look for a job, but the job market isn’t looking too great right now. Regardless, I spend a lot of time in my local library, and because I am such a big fan of simple living, I enjoy the little moments where I can find a book for free here or there, while also supporting such a critical aspect of my community.

A habit of mine I’ve been developing, especially as I’ve been looking to diversify the kinds of books and perspectives I’m reading, is going to the new fiction section and finding a book that interests me in any way. If the synopsis is something that seems remotely interesting, I’ll check it out and give it a chance.

And that was how I found The Book of Fire. I had not heard of Lefteri, but I knew of her other book that’s quite famous. Turns out I just didn’t know the author this entire time. I finished this book over the course of two days, which means I was pretty absorbed by what it had to say.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much. I know introductions can get a little long on blog posts, so I don’t want to bore you before the main event.

After a fire destroys a Greek community, the protagonist grapples with loss and a sense of revenge.

This is a book about devastation, and what comes after it. Inside of an ancient forest, our protagonist is Irini. She’s from the region and is a musician, teaching kids around them to play music and unlock their hidden talents. She has a daughter of her own, Chara, and a husband named Tasso who makes paintings on the forest.

But one night, a fire comes through the town and destroys everything its path. The forest, which was so beloved by many, is full of scorch marks, and many townspeople were left homeless or dead because they could not get away. One of the many missing is Tasso’s own father.

All of this is interjected by a story of survival. At first, we can think that this story is entirely fiction, as it’s told a little bit like a bedtime story, but then we slowly comes to terms with the fact that it is real and mimics what Irini, Chara, and their dog went through trying to escape the fire.

One day, months later, Irini goes into the forest. She finds a man preparing to hang himself from a tree, then recognizes the man who was doing it. It’s the guy who has caused the fire; apparently he was trying to burn the forestland in a controlled fire, but then it spread and became an inferno.

Irini does nothing to help him, even though it is obvious he is dying. She makes this decision out of the anger and sorrow she experiences because of the fire, but it’s going to become something that haunts her for the rest of the book.

As all of this happens, Tasso is going through depression. He mourns his father, who hasn’t been seen since the fire, and most likely will be never seen again because of how quickly it ripped through the community. We see through the other tale about how the smoke was so thick, and that many who had made it to the water died of it, drowning, or simply could not keep going.

When the police begin investigating the man’s death, as they need to rule out any charges of homicide, they come back to Irini, who had reported it. As she weaves a narrative that isn’t true about finding his body, it digs a deeper hole for her. We can see through the journaling and writing who she was before and after the fire, and we can see through her husband ever how this major trauma has changed all of them forever.

Overall Thoughts

I was really impressed with the writing in this book. I felt like I was truly transported into the world of the Greek village in which these characters are living inside of, as well as the fact they were going through something incredibly traumatizing and life changing. I’m reflecting on this during the times of the LA fires, which makes this even more poignant in an American context.

That said, I found the journal/storytelling in the parts describing what happened to be the weaker section of the novel, although it was still quite strong. I can see why this was included in the novel though, as it bridges the gap between the current moment and what happened to get us here.

I would recommend picking this book up if you’re interested in the plot, characters, or the author. I thought the writing was well done in the end, as I mentioned before, and the prose flows quite beautifully. It’s worth a read at least once, so go to your local bookstore or library and give it a chance!

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