Home Fires
by
Fiona Lowe
Publisher: Harlequin Australia
Imprint: HQ Fiction
Publication Date: 18th February 2019
Pages: 487
RRP:$32.99
Format Read: Paperback
Source: courtesy of the publisher via AM Publicity
From the bestselling Australian author of Daughter of Mine and Birthright.
When a lethal bushfire tore through Myrtle, nestled in Victoria's
breathtaking Otway Ranges, the town's buildings - and the lives of its
residents - were left as smouldering ash. For three women in particular,
the fire fractured their lives and their relationships.
Eighteen months later, with the flurry of national attention long past, Myrtle stands restored, shiny and new. But is the outside polish just a veneer? Community stalwart Julie thinks tourism could bring back some financial stability to their little corner of the world and soon prods Claire, Bec and Sophie into joining her group. But the scar tissue of trauma runs deep, and as each woman exposes her secrets and faces the damage that day wrought, a shocking truth will emerge that will shake the town to its newly rebuilt foundations...
With her sharp eye for human foibles, bestselling author Fiona Lowe writes an evocative tale of everyday people fighting for themselves, their families and their town - as only this distinctively Australian storyteller can
Eighteen months later, with the flurry of national attention long past, Myrtle stands restored, shiny and new. But is the outside polish just a veneer? Community stalwart Julie thinks tourism could bring back some financial stability to their little corner of the world and soon prods Claire, Bec and Sophie into joining her group. But the scar tissue of trauma runs deep, and as each woman exposes her secrets and faces the damage that day wrought, a shocking truth will emerge that will shake the town to its newly rebuilt foundations...
With her sharp eye for human foibles, bestselling author Fiona Lowe writes an evocative tale of everyday people fighting for themselves, their families and their town - as only this distinctively Australian storyteller can
The
residents of Myrtle, a small country town cocooned by the forest of Victoria’s
Otway Ranges, are still feeling the effects of a fire that destroyed the town almost
two years earlier.
A
group of women that had formed a craft group decide to take action to put Myrtle
back on the map and attract tourists to the town.
Claire
is back home after living in large cities and has been with Matt for 3 years.
Sophie,
married to Josh, moved to the country for a better lifestyle.
Rebecca
is married to Adam through an arrangement instigated by her mother they have two
children and a third on the way. They appear to be the perfect couple.
The
story follows the three women before and after the fire. How their lives had
changed, their dreams shattered. The hardships not only financially but
mentally and physically when the rest of the world has moved on but the town is
still struggling to rise above the ashes and forge a new life.
Over
the months of meetings and planning they had changed from a random group of
women to become friends, working through their differences and supporting each
other. Even minor characters in the group, Julie, the stalwart of the town,
Layla and Erica, play integral roles in the bringing together of the community.
This
small town weathers it all; a deadly bushfire, a cancer scare, domestic abuse,
PTSD, teenagers using alcohol and drugs, but through sweat, determination and
hard work they come through it all.
Lowe
highlights how the impact of a fire goes far beyond the buildings that were
destroyed. It affects different people in different ways and quite often this
effect is not clearly visible on the surface.
Home
Fires is a timely tale with a quintessential Australian feel. Lowe brings the
country town of Myrtle, and its residents, into our homes and opens our eyes to
the hardships and heartbreaking aftermath of a devastating bushfire.
Recommended
reading.
My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content: domestic violence
drugs
post traumatic stress
*This review is:
Part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
& Book #6 in the Australian Women Writers Challenge
Part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
& Book #6 in the Australian Women Writers Challenge
Letter H in the 2019 AtoZ Challenge
Fiona Lowe has been a midwife, a sexual health counsellor and a family support worker; an ideal career for an author who writes novels about family and relationships. She spent her early years in Papua New Guinea where, without television, reading was the entertainment and it set up a lifelong love of books. Although she often re-wrote the endings of books in her head, it was the birth of her first child that prompted her to write her first novel. A recipient of the prestigious USA RITA award and the Australian RuBY award. Fiona writes books that are set in small country towns. They feature real people facing difficult choices and explore how family ties and relationships impact on their decisions.
When she is not writing stories, she's a distracted wife, mother of two 'ginger' sons, a volunteer in her community, guardian of eighty rose bushes, a slave to a cat, and is often found collapsed on the couch with wine.
