Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
When I set up this blog, the omission of the romance category was intentional. I usually steer clear of the romance genre and I had no idea when I started to read this novel that it was a romance. It was the next month’s selection for a local book club, and I liked the title. “What would we save in a fire?” I wondered. I couldn’t wait to find out.
Cliches abound in romance stories. They include the good guy: an empathetic, kind, loved-by-all hunk with a six pack; several evil-spreading misogynists; at least one character dying of cancer (usually an inoperable tumor); a Cinderella reveal: heroine puts on make-up, heels, and a sexy dress—-hunky guy swoons); and predictable plots (catastrophe occurs, hunky guy saves Cinderella or vice versa, they live happily ever after). This story contains all of these and more, but it worked for me. I wanted to be the protagonist, Cassie: the youngest person-and only female ever—-to win the Fire Department’s valor award. I wanted to do nine one-handed pull ups in quick succession in front of a group of disbelieving, mouthy male chauvinist firefighting guys. I wanted to live with a mother who would cook me lobster bisque and serve greens from her garden while fighting a brain tumor the size of an egg. I knew the author was playing me and I just did not care.
BookPage® refers to the author of Things You Save in a Fire, Katherine Center, as the “reigning queen of comfort reads.” She was born and raised in Houston, attended Vassar College, and earned her M.A. in fiction from the University of Houston. Ten years later her debut novel, the Bright Side of Disaster, was published in 2006 and seven additional books followed. Her stories’ themes include resilience, struggle, and savoring life’s joys when we can.
The focus of this novel is Cassie’s journey of self-discovery through her relationship with her mother and her friend Owen. Yet it was the scenes where Cassie is at work that kept me engaged in the story. Ms. Center excels when comparing Cassie’s progressive workplace in Austin to the Lillian Fire Department on the outskirts of Boston, in which she is the first woman to be hired. Ever. It is interesting to note that the author acknowledges that these scenes would not exist without the assistance she received from her husband, a former paramedic and volunteer firefighter/EMT. The following quote provides an example of the author’s attention to detail when describing the work of firefighters.
“I tied a guide rope to a pole near the entrance, then turned on our PASS safety devices and secured our masks and air tanks. Sometimes, in a well-vented structure, you don’t have to turn on your air right away—-but this place was the opposite of well vented. I opened the valve on DeStasio’s tank. DeStasio opened up Owen’s, and Owen opened up mine.
Time for a quick reminder. “Rookie,” I said, “what’s the average time the air in a thirty-minute canister lasts in a working fire?”
“Fifteen-point-six minutes,” Owen answered.
“Very good,” I said, tugging on the guide rope to make sure it was secure. “At the eight-minute mark, we come back out for new canisters—-no exceptions. Even if your low-air alarm isn’t going off yet. Even if DeStasio won’t come with you. I am not letting you die today, got it?” [p. 244]
