Fire is the third in John Boyne’s novella series preceded by Water and Earth both of which I’ve reviewed. It follows Freya, already an eminent surgeon at thirty-six, living alone in a luxurious flat, once the home of a footballer who she helped convict of rape as a jurist.
Since my twelfth summer, I have been consumed by fire, laying waste to everything and everyone around me.
Freya has been careful to distance herself from her colleagues, her only friendship with a nurse about to retire. Her specialisation is burns, chosen because so many turn away from disfigurement. Her success is all the more to be admired given her rackety childhood and the trauma she underwent aged twelve at the hands of privileged fourteen-year-old twins who’d spent the summer abusing her culminating in burying her for a night, afraid that she was about to reveal what they’d done. When she and her intern attend a four-year-old with burns that can only have been inflicted by an adult, she’s quick to blame his father, mistakenly so, as soon becomes clear. The scars of Freya’s own abuse have resulted in a toxic fallout of revenge perpetrated over years, a cycle which she seems incapable of escaping.
‘Come on, Freya,’ said Arthur. ‘It was a joke, that’s all. A game. Don’t be mad at us.’
Abuse is the overarching theme of Boyne’s series. The first instalment, Water, explored the idea of collusion with Willow happy to enjoy the trappings of her husband’s job while blinding herself to his behaviour. In this instalment, Boyne asks whether abusers are born or made while also addressing the question of female abusers and the devastating legacy of abuse. Deeply damaged, Freya is a complex character, capable of humanity and concern for her patients but desensitised and calculating away from work. Boyne explores these themes through a narrative which flashes back and forth between the present day and the summer of Freya’s ordeal, quickening the pace as events play out. It’s a gripping piece of fiction which leaves its readers with much to think about. I’m looking forward to Air, the fourth and final episode, which is due to be published in May next year.
Doubleday London 9780857529879 176 pages Hardback (read via NetGalley)
I too have just finished reading Fire, and it was the most disturbing of a series which has has abuse in different forms at its core. Somehow I think this one may be the one that stays with me the longest, and I’m still thinking about it. I’m happy to wait a while before tackling Air. Take your time, John Boyne, because I know I’ll be itching to read it once it’s published!
I so admire the way that Boyne’s tackled this theme. Choosing this format has allowed him to come at it from different angles. I wonder what he’ll do next.
Me too. It’s particularly clever how he’s woven characters from the rest of the series convincingly into the narrative.
I’m yet to read John Boyne.
This sounds a sensitive exploration of a really complex subject.
It’s quite a departure for him. His usual format is the doorstopper but the novella is much better for such a difficult subject.
One of the toughest books I have ever read. He’s really digging into our minds with these 4.
I’m impressed by the way he’s approaching different angles of abuse. So thought provoking, but as you say, tough reading.
This sounds so impressive. Very keen to read these books.
They’re very skilfully interlinked, Cathy, and they suit the novella format well. Too tough a subject for his usual doorstopper length
I have deliberately avoided John’s books around this particular theme as I would find it too challenging. He is a great writer and so diverse in the topics he addresses.
They’re difficult reads, for sure. I’ve been grateful that they’re short. I read a desperately sad piece by him today, published in the Irish Times in 2021, about his own experience. I hope writing this series has helped a little.
I’ve enjoyed the books I’ve read by Boyne so I will explore this novella series. Thank you.
My Week-3 Novella Reviews
You’re welcome, Anne.
This sounds intense much like the others before it but also very well done. Yet to start reading them, though!
They’re definitely worth reading although best with an interval between each.
Really looking forward to this one (after doing Water and Earth for this year’s #NovNov). Although thinking I’ll wait for Air to be released so that I can do another Boyne double.
Not a bad idea. Easier to pick up links if read together, I’m sure, unless you have a pin-sharp memory.
This sounds like a very rewarding, but demanding, series. Are there many direct links between the three books so far, or mostly thematic links? I’ve only read one of his books but would like to read more.
A minor character from the previous one in the series became the lead protagonist in the next in the last two but the overarching link is thematic. This format is a departure for him. He tends to write doorstoppers. Well worth reading.