Fire and Ice

In this post, I feature two new books of fiction, one contemporary and one historical, one about a forest fire and the other about an icy dead body! They are both very compelling.

The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri takes place on a tiny Greek island and is about a family whose lives are traumatized by a deliberately set fire. After the wildfires in Greece this past summer, the book is paricularly significant. Lefteri visited sites that had been devastated by that fire, and she interviewed people as they attempted to recover their lives. While focusing on the environmental issue of global warming, Lefteri manages to write a story that is rich with memorable characters and important themes that she develops with great sensitivity.

The author was born in London in 1980 to Greek Cypriot parents. She also wrote The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon was inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a well known midwife in Colonial days. The book is really a mystery about a man whose body is found frozen in an icy river in Maine. Who killed the man? Will Martha Ballard testify to secrets only she knows?

From the early European colonization of the Americas, midwifery was understandably an important profession. It was one of the few trades women could engage in, sometimes being paid in kind for their successful deliveries. A woman named Bridget Lee Fuller delivered three babies aboard the Mayflower as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean!! *information taken from the February 7, 2024 issue of Book Browse Recommends

Author Lawhon also wrote I Was Anastasia