With the emotional echoes of Little Fires Everywhere and the lush atmosphere of Disappearing Earth, a riveting debut novel in which a wildfire creeps toward Berkeley, California, igniting tensions as characters from all walks of life confront the injustices lying beneath the city’s surface.
As a wildfire threatens Berkeley, the city’s inhabitants are forced to reckon with the cracks in the lives they've built.
Abigail, a wealthy homeowner, decides to throw a lavish birthday in a hillside mansion to raise money for the city’s newest affordable housing project—and prove to her family that she’s made something worthwhile of her life. Sunny, a construction worker who sleeps in a van along the bay’s shore, is in the running for an apartment—but only if enough funds are raised at the party.
As the heat and smoke from the approaching blaze descend upon the town, tensions rise and residents—young and old, haves and have nots—confront the inequities laid bare, and the fragility of building a life in a world on fire.
Alternating among a colorful cast of characters, A Fire So Wild is a timely, tautly paced novel that questions why when everything burns, not everyone is left with scars.
Author Bio:
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman is a writer and former reporter at HuffPost, where she covered the climate crisis and other social justice issues. She lives in California with her husband and their pit bull.
Moderator Bio:
Marina Fang (she/her) is a senior culture reporter at HuffPost. She primarily covers film and television, examining their intersection with politics, race and gender, and exploring how culture reflects questions of power. Previously, she was a breaking news and national politics reporter, which included managing much of HuffPost's evening and weekend coverage of the 2016 election. She has been a fellow at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Critics Institute and the Poynter Institute's Power of Diverse Voices writing program. Raised in Pittsburgh and a graduate of the University of Chicago, Marina lives in Brooklyn, NY.
