Mini-Reviews: Things We Save In A Fire and Shadow of the Lions

Non-review books, people! A romance and a mystery--

Human connection had its upsides, but it sure was a lot of work. The risk-reward raion was low, at best.~ from Things We Save In A Fire by Katherine Center

A cute, page-turner romance with darker themes of forgiveness and overcoming challenges, this was an enjoyable distraction, the kind of book I pick up between heavy, demanding books. I read my husband's ARC provided to him by the publisher.

From the publisher:
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping . . . and it means risking everything—the only job she’s ever loved and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Things You Save In A Fire
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250047328
Publication Date: August 13, 2019

*****

"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann

They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.

Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.

As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to follow any trail to find Fritz.

"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"

Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.

from the publisher:
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question that Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend Fritz vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past—guilty, responsible, alone.

Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

A sharp and moving tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.

Shadow of Lions
by Christopher Swann
Algonquin Books
ISBN-10: 1616205008

ISBN-13: 978-1616205003

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

After reading Wiley Cash's fantastic historical fiction novel The Last Ballad I bought A Land More Kind Than Home. I sped through this Southern Gothic novel, its dark and unsettling sense of dread drawing my interest. The details of place and culture are outside my scope of experience, but the insights into human nature are universal.

A con-man turned preacher takes over a church. Hidden from view by newspapers taped over the windows, worship involves faith healing, poison, fire, and snakes. Also hidden from view is the pastor's abuse of power over his parishioners and their blind trust that allows him full rein.

"It was like Mama was lost in the desert and had gotten so thirsty that she was willing to see anything that might make her feel better about being lost." from A Land More Kind Than Home

One woman dares stand up to the pastor and demands the children stay out of worship. She teaches them in Sunday School in her home. It is her way of protecting them. She knows first hand that the pastor is a dangerous false prophet and has singled her out as his enemy.

"People out in these parts can take hold of religion like it's a drug, and they don't want to give it up once they've got hold of it." from A Land More Kind Than Home

Most affecting in the novel are the stories of the children. They see things that are hidden and confusing, and ultimately are targeted by the pastor.

When a child dies during worship an investigation ensues; the action rises to propel the reader to the conclusion, in which a form of justice dealt out, after which the community begins to heal.

"It's a good thing to see that people can heal after they've been broken, that they can change and become something different from what they were before. Churches are like that. The living church is made of people, and it can grow sick and break just like people can, and sometimes churches can die just like people died...A church can be healed, and it can be saved like people can be saved." from A Land More Kind Than Home

Cash was inspired by a true story. 

Getting Personal

A pastor can have so much power because of his position, and abuse of that power can become easy. Pastors are lionized, congregants sometimes flocking around like groupies. They are allowed into the homes and souls of their congregants. When my husband was in active ministry, the denomination required education in boundaries and sexual abuse. A pastor once asked if that meant that clergy could not ever date a parishioner; basically, the answer was sure, if you intend to marry them. We knew several pastors who did marry parishioners. And we heard of pastors who had sexual relationships that were illicit. Some, not all, lost their ordination.

The title is from Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again:

"Something has spoken to me in the night, burning the tapers of the waning year; something has spoken in the night, and told me I shall die, I know not where. Saying: “To lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth.Whereon the pillars of this earth are founded, toward which the conscience of the world is tending-a wind is rising, and the rivers flow.”