Review: The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

I love a book that is based on careful research and historical detail.  Beanland provides a historical account of one of the deadliest fires in early U.S. history, which took place in 1811 in Richmond, Virginia. It was the night after Christmas and the house is packed. This fictionalized account describes how the fire came about, with one of the actors yelling out to the packed audience that the set had caught fire. The theater went up in flames, and people scrambled to get out of the three-floor theater.

Beanland tells this mostly true story from the perspectives of four characters.  Sally is a young widow attending the play with her sister-in-law.  Cecily is a slave who receives devastating news just before the play and is sitting in the galley.  Gilbert is an enslaved blacksmith who is trying to purchase freedom for himself and his wife Sara.  Jack is on the stage crew, doing anything he can to earn a place in the historic Placide & Green company of actors. 

I loved everything about this book, from the thoughtful characters to the rich historical detail, to the complex issues of racism and sexism that are explored (also explored are medical practices and journalism).  This book worked well as an audiobook and a print book (I had both), and it was both hard to put down and deeply satisfying.

I loved the complexity of the characters. Sally is thoughtful and brave but also comes to realize how much (and at the same time how little) privilege she has. Jack has to decide between loyalty, ambition, honesty, and honoring the values of his father.  Cecily makes the most of an unexpected opportunity but puts her loved ones at great risk. Gilbert acts heroically, but struggles to maintain hope that someday he’ll be able to build a family in freedom. These characters are all based on historical accounts, as the author explains in an afterword.

I received a copy of this book from Jenny Lawson’s Fantastic Strangelings book club, a club I’m very excited about even though I haven’t read all my books yet.  Lawson is one of my favorite writers, and her picks haven’t disappointed me yet.  This one seems a bit more serious than her others, which seem to be a mix of quirky and humorous, which won’t surprise if you’ve read Lawson. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about U.S. history, particularly our history with regards to slavery and racial inequity. This one was even more interesting to me as it’s close to the area I live.