American Fire

Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

Monica Hesse

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Paperback

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English

Liveright Publishing Corporation
22 June 2018

True crime; Rural communities

Shocked by a five-month arson spree that left a Virginia county reeling, reporter Monica Hesse drove to Accomack to cover the trial of Charlie Smith who pled guilty to 67 counts of arson. But Smith wasn't lighting fires alone: his crimes were galvanised by a twisted love story. Hesse uncovered the motives of this troubled addict and his accomplice, Tonya Bundick. In depicting the dangerous shift in their passionate relationship, Hesse brings to life the once-thriving coastal community and its distressed inhabitants, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. Incorporating this drama into the history of arson in the US, American Fire re-creates the anguished nights of this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America—a land gutted before the fires began.

By: Monica Hesse
Imprint: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 211g
ISBN: 9781631494512
ISBN 10: 1631494511
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 22 June 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Monica Hesse is a feature writer for the Washington Post. Winner of the Edgar Award and a finalist for a Livingston and James Beard Award, she is also the author of Girl in the Blue Coat. She lives in Washington, DC.

Reviews for American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

Using straightforward prose and well-developed historical context, Hesse makes a story in which very little happens feel urgent and relevant. -- Times Literary Supplement