A debut novel in which a wildfire creeps toward Berkeley, California, igniting tensions as characters from all walks of life confront the injustices growing beneath the city's surface.
Ruiz-Grossman balances the social and political, the emotional and physical, with insight and precision. Her disparate characters all hail from different worlds, and it’s a horrific thrill to witness their dramas unfurl and collide ... At times, the novel’s political discourse can feel forced upon the narrative, resulting in moments of stilted dialogue and formulaic characters. Ruiz-Grossman’s writing is finest when she tackles the devastation of climate change ... Her prose is equally sharp and evocative when the fire finally does arrive: 'A burnt-orange sky hung low, as though night had fallen and a hellish sun had risen in its place.'
A Fire So Wild occasionally reads like a prosaic checklist of intersectional issues compiled by a dutiful progressive. But as the story advances and the didacticism wanes, Ruiz-Grossman’s novel reveals itself as a frequently compelling, consistently thought-provoking group portrait of a half-dozen idiosyncratic characters (along with one or two cardboard cutouts). It’s an earnest, frustrating, hopeful book ... Willow, alas, embodies the novel’s shortcomings. More of a notion than a fully developed character, she’s preyed upon during her teens by her morally repugnant stepfather and placed in mortal danger by an all-too-familiar disaster. The plot doesn’t give Willow much else to do ... To reach the best parts of this book, though, you have to get through some awkward scenes in which characters demonstrate their political affinities. They fall into two distinct, familiar camps ... In subtle, perceptive scenes like this, she deemphasizes the book’s topical themes and transforms A Fire So Wild into a creditable novel whose defining characteristic is its refusal to give in to cynicism.
As the characters’ paths twine with fervor, Ruiz-Grossman’s engaging tale offers a vivid exploration of modern-day disparities within the timeless and universal search for belonging and self-determination.
