The Fires

Each wisp of smoke seems to carry a scent of its own, some sulfurous, some close to incense, others light and sweet, as if drifting off clouds. Ella is drawn to fire the way others are drawn to love. She delights in the first promise of a spark, the curl of a thin trail of smoke, and the greedy spread of a blaze. Her anger finds its only voice in flames.

Set in a drowsy Indiana town, this debut novel by Rene Steinke follows Ella as inner demons push her toward arson and reckless sexual encounters. Steinke gives her a narrator who is both eloquent and disturbed, a character who feels specific and painfully human. The prose makes Ella's unraveling both unsettling and hypnotic.

As Ella struggles to come to terms with her family's painful past and an uncertain future, the reader moves deeper into her inner world, where her sensuality grows toward a ruinous end. Only love might be strong enough to cool the blaze before it consumes her.