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msnoir85 's review for:
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
by Monica Hesse
Living in an a rural part of California that is eerily similar to Accomack county, from the family names that go back many generations to the volunteer fire departments, and the adjusting economy to the one bar that every one in the area seems to go to, made this book really hit close to home. These are people with very similar backstories to a lot of people I know and that made them so much more human to me. It was a fascinating outsider's perspective on something I experience every day and that's the decline or at least changing of rural communities and the ways they are surviving but not really growing, but it's also a love story, and a very real one. Maybe most don't end up going to the extremes that this couple did to deal with the stressors and strains on their relationships, but I think everyone, especially if you've lived in a small town with fewer romantic options, has seen this kind of crazy love that eventually turns toxic. The only thing I wish Ms. Hesse had been able to give more insight into was Tonya's perspective but since the subject wouldn't talk to her it's not so much the author's fault, it just felt a little bit one sided or unfinished.