We've had four nice spring days in a row - and all of them I've had off work. On Friday we were able to watch Middle Sister run in a track meet. Saturday was spent running errands and getting food ready for Easter. Yesterday we attended church, had lunch at my mom's and then spent a little time relaxing at home. And today I've made some food, done some laundry, and tried to get things ready for a busy week ahead. Somehow these four days have flown by.
I hit the leisure reading hard this weekend - until yesterday when I realized how much I needed to get done. I'm also presenting in May at a library workshop so my middle grade and YA reading is ramping up for the next few weeks.
One of the best books I read this weekend is Rachel Beanland's The House is on Fire. Beanland wrote Florence Adler Swims Forever which I loved, and this second novel didn't disappoint.
Beanland researched the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811 and has written an amazing historical fiction account of it. Four narrators tell the story from different perspectives: that of a slave girl who survives but decides to take this opportunity to flee to freedom, a widow whose sister-in-law is gravely injured, a slave who is happening by the theater and rescues many people, and a stagehand who knows how the fire really started. Each of these perspectives provide an interesting look at this event.
Seventy two people perished in this blaze that destroyed the theater; the majority of them were women. Beanland explores the reason for this and I was thoroughly interested in learning more about this event in history.
If you haven't read Florence Adler, it is one to pick up, and this sophomore novel also is remarkable.
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