Signal Fires
A novel
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4.2 • 236 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BEST SELLER • From the beloved author of Inheritance: "a haunting, moving, and propulsive exploration of family secrets” (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings)
Two families. One night. A constellation of lives changed forever.
A TIME Best Fiction Book of the Year • A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction • A Real Simple Best Book of the Year
An ancient majestic oak stands beneath the stars on Division Street. And under the tree sits Ben Wilf, a retired doctor, and ten-year-old Waldo Shenkman, a brilliant, lonely boy who is pointing out his favorite constellations. Waldo doesn’t realize it but he and Ben have met before. And they will again, and again. Across time and space, and shared destiny.
Division Street is full of secrets. An impulsive lie begets a secret—one which will forever haunt the Wilf family. And the Shenkmans, who move into the neighborhood many years later, bring secrets of their own.. Spanning fifty kaleidoscopic years, on a street—and in a galaxy—where stars collapse and stories collide, these two families become bound in ways they never could have imagined.
Urgent and compassionate, Signal Fires is a magical story for our times, a literary tour de force by a masterful storyteller at the height of her powers. A luminous meditation on family, memory, and the healing power of interconnectedness.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A tragic accident haunts two families in this deeply moving drama by Dani Shapiro, the author of wonderful memoirs like Inheritance and Hourglass. After a fatal car accident in the mid-’80s, teen siblings Theo and Sarah keep a huge secret that, decades later, brings repercussions not just for themselves but for a neighbor family who didn’t even live nearby at the time. With loving attention to detail, Shapiro explores the emotional damage brought on by repression and trauma. Her damaged characters feel frustratingly real, but she never robs us of the hope that healing and redemption are possible. Signal Fires is a poignant family saga about the deep pain of bad decisions and the power of love and acceptance.
Customer Reviews
Masterful
Tragic beginning, sad middle but surprisingly uplifting. Philosophical. Shows us the connectedness of all things, friendship, and what it means to live, die and be human. Highly recommended.
Beautiful,peaceful work
I am hardly a book critic but just someone who likes to read. This was one of the most beautiful and poignant books I have ever read. The characters were not depressing to me but human. They were confronted with tragedy and sadness but prevailed in a very uplifting way.
The universe is all connected,we are all connected.
Thank you Dani Shapiro
seemed to go go nowhere
the timeline was confusing and the characters depressing. Ending fell flat.