Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 384 pages
First Published: 2023
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Rachael’s Review
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
On December 26, 1811, Richmond, Virginia’s only theater is packed with holiday revelers waiting to watch the Placide & Green Company perform. When the theater goes up in flames, split-second decisions by four people – a new widow who realizes how little women have in the world, an abused slave who sees her chance for escape, a young stagehand got in a moral quandary, and a local enslaved blacksmith hailed as a hero – have lasting repercussions in this novel based on a true event.
Beanland takes the true story of the Richmond fire and then gives a peek at how it might have changed the lives of four people. Quickly you are caught up in the world of slavery of colored people but also a world that disempowers women. Beanland keeps the historical fiction fairly grounded, making each of the characters feel very plausible. The blacksmith actually was a hero of the fire. Although the story lacked a powerful concluding message, I found the story interesting and engaging.
Publisher’s Description
Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment at the front of a church.
On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly-widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first.
When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined.
Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious—and fleeting—chances at redemption.
About Rachel Beanland
Rachel Beanland formerly worked in public relations and nonprofit management and is the author of the novels The House is on Fire and Florence Adler Swims Forever. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia. Visit the author’s website →
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