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The Fireman's Wife: A Novel [Paperback]

Jack Riggs (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Book Description

December 30, 2008
It’s June 1970. As the low country of South Carolina burns in a seven-month drought, Cassie Johnson longs for escape: both from her husband, Peck, the town’s newly promoted fire chief, who seems more interested in saving everyone else’s life than in living his own, and from the low country marshes where Cassie has never quite felt at home. But as Peck and Cassie drift apart, their teenage daughter, Kelly, finds herself torn between her parents and her desperate need for normalcy. It will take a tumultuous journey back to the North Carolina mountains before Cassie can begin to understand the complicated love that resides, unrecognized, deep in her heart.

From a masterly voice in Southern fiction, The Fireman’s Wife is an emotionally bare and moving novel about one woman’s struggle to do what’s right–for her family, for her love, and for herself.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The unhappy wife of a fireman in 1970 realizes too late that her independence comes at a high price in Riggs's often heavy-handed novel. Early pregnancy forced Cassie Johnson into a marriage and a life she wasn't sure she wanted. Her husband Peck's job as their small South Carolina town's fire chief prevents him from giving her the attention she craves. Cassie finds solace in the arms of another fireman, Clay Taylor, and leaves town with him, determined to start over, but when she realizes she's just repeating her mistakes, she flees to her mother in the mountains for some soul searching. Soon she realizes the unexpected and tragic consequences of her actions. Riggs's 1970s South bears little resemblance to the South of social turmoil, and he overuses tired metaphors of rain, drought and oppressive humidity. But despite Cassie's lack of complexity, Riggs captures her internal life well and gives her conflicts legitimacy and gravitas. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

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

Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 30, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345480066
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345480064
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to love this book..., September 6, 2009
By 
GiGi (The deep south) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Fireman's Wife: A Novel (Paperback)
I so wanted to love this one. Written by an award winning author from Georgia. Fiction with a strong Southern voice is my go-to genre. Character development that makes me love at least one of the characters is more important to me than lively plot.
This book, which should have had both, had neither. I absolutely hated the main character, the actual fireman's wife. Reading through the chapters, expecting my feeling to change, I found instead that I was thinking up ways to kill off the woman. As a mother, I've made my mistakes. Stupid ones. But never, would I have blundered motherhood like this woman. Perhaps writing from the female perspective was the problem. Perhaps he just doesn't completely understand that a mom who behaved in such a careless manner is in need of a major transformation before I'm going to warm to her. By the end of the book I was just relieved not to have to be with this shallow woman for one more minute.
As far as the Southern flavor...maybe so Jack, but not the South I know. Certainly not the South I want to hang out in during my down time. No charm. Not a whole lot of beauty.
He did his homework from the fireman's perspective and I did learn a lot about fighting fires...but that's not what I was looking for.
Men, I suppose, would like this book more than woman. So if you're a man...give it a go, Jack Riggs can write. But if you are of the female persuasion, maybe take a pass on The Fireman's Wife.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars snuck up on me, January 5, 2009
This review is from: The Fireman's Wife: A Novel (Paperback)
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.
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4.0 out of 5 stars extraordinarily written, February 26, 2010
This review is from: The Fireman's Wife: A Novel (Paperback)
I entered the lives of 2 others when I read this book and was able to see heartbreak, disappointment, parenthood, a marriage, and the state of SC from their views. Written any other way, I don't believe this book would be near as good. Being from SC, I can say the setting is so accurate I could imagine myself in the different places at that time period. This is a book that should definitely be read by those from any walk of life.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Wife, Jack Riggs, John Boyd, Whiteside Cove, Garden City Beach, Myrtle Beach, Clay Taylor, Bel Air, Tallulah Gorge, Whiteside Mountain, Peck Johnson, Pawleys Island, Boy Scout, Coach Lambert, Collie Walker, Murrells Inlet, Johnny Cash, Goose Hetzel, Happy Birthday, All Star, Main Street
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