racheltho 's review for:

American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse

4.0

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And his world would briefly turn sparkly and perfect in a way that he had heretofore never dreamed, because this is the night he would meet Tonya, who would be the love of his life.

In Accomack County, Virginia, more than 60 fires were set in a span of six months. The once rich but now increasingly desolate farmland area was burning - and at the heart of it all is a messy and rather unconventional love story.

I enjoyed this detailed, real-life portrait of small-town life, and the poetic and metaphorical connections Hesse makes between the arsons and the natural decline of this farming community were quite beautiful. Her depiction of Accomack County seems to be very thorough and really allows the reader to get to know the the community and various involved individuals. As the actual crimes unraveled and the motivations behind them slowly surfaced, I found myself totally hooked on this story.