Reviews for
The Fireman’s Wife
*BOOKLIST says of THE FIREMAN'S WIFE:
In Riggs' second novel, after When the Finch Rises (2003), the South
Carolina low country becomes as much a character in the novel as the
young family at its center. It is set in the summer of 1970 during
the middle of a vicious drought, with small fires constantly
threatening to consume the parched countryside. Cassie Johnson is
only 33 but feels much older, still wrestling with the repercussions
of an unplanned pregnancy 15 years ago that forced her to drop out
of college and get married. Her husband, Peck, a fire chief, is not
only consumed by his dangerous work but also worried sick that his
wife is having an affair and that their tortured marriage has
negatively affected their daughter. Cassie hates her life on the
marsh as much as Peck loves it-it's the mountains she calls home,
and it's there she decides to retreat to. Riggs brings an intimate
knowledge of the land as well as a feel for the emotional highs and
lows of marriage to this sensitive novel of love and loss.
- Joanne Wilkinson for BOOKLIST
*Cassie Johnson and her husband Peck aren’t really getting along. He’s too busy these days in his job as newly promoted fire chief in a town where it’s been dry so long, fires are popping up out of nowhere. Cassie’s feeling neglected and dissatisfied, and beginning to wish she’d done something more with her life than just marrying Peck and raising their daughter Kelly. Enter a younger fireman named Clay, who’s been flirting with Cassie for as long as she can remember. It may not be the best solution to her problem to have an affair with him, but Cassie’s not thinking too hard about consequences. As a result, teenaged Kelly sees more than she should, and before the summer’s out, the Johnson family is predictably torn apart. If it were only Cassie telling the story, it could end there. But author Jack Riggs gives half the narrative to Peck, whose hands-off approach to Cassie turns out to be more about love than it is neglect. And Cassie’s heated affair with Clay, seen from her perspective, isn’t really what she’s looking for, anyhow. What I loved about this book was how it realistically portrayed what causes a marriage to fall apart - the affair, the neglect, the dissatisfaction - and just as convincingly brought the discussion back to something more important: what holds it together.
-Gina Webb, Tall Tales Books
*“The Fireman’s Wife is a compelling portrait of an unraveling marriage. Jack Riggs' empathy for his characters, coupled with a refusal to judge them, gives the novel an integrity that makes this story all the more memorable.”
—Ron Rash, author of Serena
*“Jack Riggs
has written an honest, brave, riveting, and heartbreaking novel
about relationships, loyalties, betrayals, and transcendence. The
Fireman’s Wife is a great book, full of heart and, ultimately,
hope. You will not want to put it down.
—Connie May Fowler, author of The Problem with Murmur Lee and Before
Women had Wings
*"Read The Fireman's Wife, a book so beautifully crafted and compelling you can't put it down, and see for yourself why Jack Riggs is a writer on his way to the top. The details are so vivid in this unforgettable book that you'll never look at the working lives of firemen, or their families, in the same way."
—Cassandra King, author of The Sunday Wife
*“Jack Riggs’
The Fireman’s Wife is the kind of book that reminds you of the
reason you love reading – a story wonderfully told, with memorable
characters and tense and tender moments. Written in the first person
voices of Cassie and Peck, it examines the fragility of a woman
caught between her history and her uncertainty – a story that
suggests a smattering of experiences we’ve all had in one fashion or
another. Riggs is an accomplished story-teller and a splendid writer
and The Fireman’s Wife is a book you will happily share with
reader-friends.”
—Terry Kay, author of The Valley of Light
*Amazon Customer Reviews:
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Simple and honest voices; beautifully depicted landscapes, January 1, 2009
The Fireman's Wife tells the story of a troubled marriage in
chapters that alternate between the first-person narratives
of a husband (Peck) and a wife (Cassie). True to his
southern fiction roots, Riggs's real strength in this book
is his evocative descriptions of the two distinct landscapes
that feature in this story, the mountains and the low
country of South Carolina. These landscapes play a critical
role in the plot and help to form the identities of the
primary characters. In many places, the characters seem like
personifications of the land. In this excerpt, Cassie
describes the low country where she and Peck live: Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) |
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: deep character study, January 1, 2009
In
June 1970 South Carolina low country is in its seventh month
without rain. Drought or not Cassie Johnson is bored with
being the wife of Walhalla fire chief Peck and even the
mother of their fifteen year old daughter, all star pitcher
Kelly; the reason she married responsible Peck. The drought
just makes it more oppressive on her as her spouse is always
putting out fires. Since the last rain, she and firefighter
Clay Taylor have had an affair hotter than an out of control
blaze; he even jokes that the rain will only come if they
cool their relationship. Comments (14) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) |
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snuck up on me, January 5, 2009
This is a book about choices and regrets. It's about not leaving things unsaid. I didn't realize how much I was into this book until about 3/4 of the way through, when the really dramatic thing happens (I'm definitely not going to give it away here). At that point, I realized that I really had developed a connection to the characters, to the point that I was almost in tears reading about their pain. |
