The Fires

by Rene Steinke

Book Overview

Smoke has as many different scents as skin. Part of the pleasure is not knowing what it will be -- sulfurous or closer to incense or airier and sweeter as I imagine the smell of clouds. Ella is a connoisseur of fire, a woman enthralled by it as other women are by love. She savors the seductive promise of a spark, the caress of a curling wisp of smoke, the all-consuming hunger of a spreading blaze. Ella's heart seethes with a rage that can be spoken only with tongues of flame. In her remarkable first novel, Rene Steinke has created a narrator so lyrical and lucid in her madness as to raise the book to the level of romance. Trapped in a sleepy Indiana town, torn by inner demons that drive her to pyromania and promiscuity, Ella is at once entirely original and unforgettably real. As she struggles to come to terms with her family's tormented past and her own uncertain future, she draws the mesmerized reader ever deeper into her scorched soul, revealing a sensuality that will spiral into final, fiery destruction -- unless it can be quenched by love.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688175848
• ISBN13: 9780688175849
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

An ultimately uplifting novel with a complex lead character.

I felt I should write in after reading the less than favorable review from Seattle. I have not met one person who didn't love this book. I bought it based on one of these reviews and have now quoted passages from it. I hear it's going to be a movie!! I think it will make a beautiful film.

The life of a pyromaniac

René Steinke's The Fires is the story of a young women in herearly twenty's who not only suffers from pyromania but also frompromiscuity. Ella lives in a small town of Indiana. She dropped out of college and abandoned her teaching career because she felt that all she could teach her students was how to wait. She now works at the Porter local hotel. The novel starts off with Ella's grnadfather's death. She is torn by his death, and the fact that he committed suicide. Ella decides to go out and find her aunt Hanna, although nobody knows where she is. Ella feels she has the right to know about the death of her father. Ella slowly begins to realize that there are many loose ends and secrets surrounding her family. Ella's passion for fire can be compared with the passion one feels when in love. Whenever she feels depressed or angry. She has the need to set a fire and soothe her own inner fire and anger. She started off by burning little things, but with time the fires grew bigger and more dangerous. She blames her promiscuity on her scars. She seduces men in order to test her femininity and physical beauty. She wants to see if men will still want her if they see her scars. Although Ella is a fictional character she seems entirely real, and her tormenting yet captivating story entangles the reader's interest.

A lush and beautifully told story.

One of the most compelling novels I have read in years. Steinke writes with such beautiful metaphors but her style of writing does not alienate the reader. Ella is a complicated character and unbelievably rich. This is a fantastic and quick read. I highly recommend it.

A disturbing tale of a young woman unraveling.

This novel is my great new find!!! I almost wish I could keep this book to myself because I loved it so much. To use an old cliche', you cannot put it down. That being said, I wish Oprah would put it on her show so others can feel what I felt for Ella the main character. This story is heartwarming and sad at the same time. Not since I read ORDINARY PEOPLE or CATCHER IN THE RYE have I felt so connected to a character.

An evocative, beautifully-written story.

The writing is wonderful. Like poetry. This could win a Pulitzer. I felt liek I felt reading SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS, where the sense of place is so strong and the characters come alive. Highly recommended.