Grace is content in her life. She has two small children and a third on the way. She doesn’t have warm feelings towards her husband, but she is hoping things will get better; Gene is a very good provider and he cares for their children deeply. The best part of her life is her daily talks with her neighbor Rosie. But one day everything changes. Gene is off fighting the inland fires when Grace is awoken by her daughter’s screams and the smell of smoke. The fire has turned to the coast and is coming their way. Without a car, or even the ability to drive, Grace manages to get her children as well as Rosie and her children to the ocean where they huddle in the surf with wet blankets over their bodies hoping to survive the flames. They survive, but they awaken to a new world. Grace must try to find work, learn to drive, and take care of her family because Gene is missing in the fire, possibly dead, and she needs to provide for all of them now however she can.
Based on the true events of the fire that ravaged coastal Maine in 1947, this is a dark, bleak look at marriage during the time right after World War II when women were housewives and mothers unprepared to become the provider for the family. This book is Grace’s story, we get to know her and her motivations on every page. I have to admit I didn’t think the book would take as dark a turn as it did, but you’re still cheering for Grace and hoping that her new found confidence will see her through whatever life throws her way.
