This book could have easily become a cliche; it centers on the extramarital affair that Maggie has with her penpal-turned-friend-turned-lover James. But there are a few things that keep Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro from spiralling into an overdone narrative. Firstly, Maggie is quite religious, which of course raises a few eyebrows right off the bat. Secondly, Maggie’s marriage appears strong, and her husband Thomas is a fairly good guy (other than the fact that he’s got some issues in the bedroom that Maggie never seems comfortable addressing). Lastly, James lives nowhere near Maggie’s hometown of Nashville, so they rarely see each other in person, relying mainly on letters to continue their affair. See? I told you this book was full of surprises.
This is a very short ‘affair’: 205 pages, and many of the pages are only half-full because they are letters. This was the perfect length, because it kept my interest without delving too deeply into needless backstories of the characters. I am constantly harping on about this, but so many books could really do with a haircut, and shorter books tend to be better written, which is another reason I want to recommend this novel.
Author Jamie Quatro; photo credit Stephen Alvarez
Overall, I think the best way to describe it would be a ‘meditation on desire’. Shockingly there’s not alot of sexy bits in it even though it describes an extra-marital relationship. It’s more an unravelling of self-exploration and self-denial. Maggie and James’s relationship sprouts out of an academic admiration of each other, so their conversations are pretty high-brow and philosophical. Apparently this is what happens when english professors enter into a relationship; they analyze EVERYTHING. I didn’t mind this personally, especially because these parts didn’t drag on but I think it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.
The timeline of the story is quite broken up, we are constantly jumping back and forth through time. Everything is told from Maggie’s perspective so we don’t know much about James or his family life (other than the fact that he’s married with children too). We learn about how Maggie and Thomas met, what their life was like when their kids were young, how their relationship evolves over time. In fact, my favourite parts to read were the ones that centered on Maggie and Thomas alone because their marriage is full of contradictions, but aren’t they all? Another unique aspect to this story is the fact that Maggie keeps this affair a secret for a long time, and we don’t often hear about that particular perspective. What is it like to cheat on your husband then go years without telling him? Does the guilt slowly eat away at you, or does it lessen over time? Do you convince yourself it didn’t happen? And of course Maggie’s religious zeal adds a whole other layer to her secret that readers will find fascinating.
I don’t have any complaints about this book, I found the writing engaging and evocative, and the characterization of Maggie to be believable, if somewhat hard to relate to (as my husband exhales a sigh of relief!). This is a nice quick read for someone looking to dip their toes into a literary, domestic tale of strife.
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Pearl looks keen to share some information about this book with you! 🤣 She’s such a good puss to pose for you like she does. ☺️
it involves lots and lots of treats!
Mine would snatch the treats and leg it!
I’ve been meaning to read Jamie Quatro for a while now, this sounds great!
Yes I enjoyed it! I haven’t read anything else by her, but this was a nice, quick read.
I so agree about shorter books tending to be better written. Let’s start a campaign! Sounds intriguing – truthfully I always think the least interesting thing about affairs is the sex part (in literature, obviously – I’m sure if I had an affair with Darcy behind Lizzie’s back I’d feel differently… 😉 ) so it’s good to hear that wasn’t the main emphasis here.
Yes actually, I think you’d like this one FF! Not sure if it’s available in the UK though…
You’ve described this so well. I found it quite a page-turner, because of the way it was written. And I also found Maggie and Thomas’s marriage the most interesting part to read about. I felt so bad for them.
yes I know…although they both had the agency to leave, and never did. Maggie kind of frustrated me in that way I suppose.
I enjoy introspective books, even there isn’t a lot of action, so this sounds interesting to me. I love you book with cat pictures for each post! I’d consider doing the same, but I swear, my cat knows when i’m about to take a picture and does her best to mess it up 😛
Getting my cats to pose for these pictures is honestly the hardest part about blogging for me. It’s such a pain! haha
Your comment about wanting shorter books reminds me of the last fiction story my students just finished for a creative writing class I’m teaching. They were not happy that I said the story had to be 2,000 to 2,500 words–no longer nor shorter. Many wanted to go over the limit, feeling they couldn’t get a good story in the length I gave them. Well, I just finished reading the essays they wrote to reflect on their writing process for that final story, and words “surprised,” “better,” and “proud” sure came up a lot. *score one for me*
yessss thank god for teachers like you. spread the word!!!!
lol, thanks. In the end, the students appreciated the work they did that was crafted within the perimeters.
Pearl is so pretty!
This sounds like it’s an excellent read. I’m all in favor of more books getting haircuts!
I struggle to find a reader who isn’t in favour of shorter books quite frankly LOL
Oh my goodness, after reading your posts I just want to steal your kitty!🐱❤😇 The book reviews are wonderful but that kitty cat is just too cute for words! The kitty shall be mine! Mwhahahahah! Jk😊