Rachel Beanland

1811, a theater in Richmond Virginia goes up in flames. Historical fiction masterfully told. A story about a terrible tragedy, an expose of those who sought to help and save as well as a population whose fear, bigotry and cowardice were accepted as the norm. A harsh focus on the disparities between the the sexes, the rich and poor, the races, and the worst abuses of slavery and racism allowed to foment. Rachel Beanland has written in the most beautiful prose the most horrific story. It show more happened, her research is impeccable and astounding, her depictions are breathtaking in their scope and breadth.

This is a story not be missed by a very talented writer. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy. show less

I really enjoyed this historical fiction by a local Virginia author about a theater fire in Richmond that killed many of the attendees. A fire starts in the backstage sets and quickly engulfs the building, trapping and killing at least half of the people there. The author chooses four people from the historical record to tell the story of the fire and the aftermath. Sally Henry Campbell (daughter of Patrick Henry) was present and escapes by jumping out of a third floor window, after throwing show more out at least a dozen other men and women to save them first. When she begins to think back on the traumatic experience, she realizes how many of the men escaped at the expense of the women they were with. Southern gentility and chivalry of men is called in to question in her mind. Jack Gibson is a boy who works as a stagehand and was closely involved in the mistake that caused the fire. When the rest of the acting troupe wants to blame a nonexistent group of rebellious slaves for setting the fire, Jack will have to decide if he's willing to publicly accept blame for the fire that killed so many or go along with this incendiary story. Gilbert Hunt is an enslaved man who runs to the fire to try to find his wife's white owner, who she has raised from the time she was a baby. He can't find Louisa, but catches and saves over a dozen white women jumping from a second story window. This action might change his life. And Cecily is an enslaved young woman who is at the theater that night. She escapes unscathed and then realizes this might be an opportunity to escape to the North, since her owners will likely think she died in the blaze.

I was immediately sucked into all of these characters' stories. This was one of the first large-scale disasters in the new US, and there is lots written about it in the historical record. It's clear that the author did her research, and at the same time she balances the research with really well-drawn characters. I flew through this book and was sorry to see it end. show less

historical fiction - a fictionalized account (based on real people, with embellishments to fill in where historical sources might lay silent) of the 1811 theater fire that tragically killed many in 1811 Richmond, Virginia.

I didn't know if I'd like this since historical fiction is often not my cup of tea, but rather than feeling boringly didactic, it was riveting--Beanland skillfully weaves class, social, and race dynamics throughout so as to make the content vitally relevant.

First sentence: Sally Campbell's shoes are fashionable but extremely flimsy. She ordered them from Curtis Fairchild's specifically for Richmond's winter season, but now she feels like a fool for thinking she could get away with wearing them on the half-mile walk from her brother-in-law's house to the theater.

Premise/plot: Historical fiction set in Richmond, Virginia, in December 1811. This historical novel based on a true historical event--the 1811 Richmond Theater fire--and features some show more historical figures. It has four alternating narrators: Sally Campbell (the daughter of Patrick Henry and widow of Robert Campbell); Gilbert Hunt, an enslaved man who rescued dozens of women from the fire by catching them (they were being tossed/thrown out of a third-story window); Cecily, a slave of the Price family (whom is being sexually assaulted by her own half-brother Elliott Price); and Jack Gibson, a young stagehand just getting into show business.

The theater fire occurred on December 26, 1811. The book chronicles the immediate aftermath from these four perspectives.

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. Is it perfectly perfect? Probably not. Did I find it incredibly intense and super-compelling? YES. A million times yes. It was torture to keep reading. It was torture to stop. I'll try to explain. This book NEEDED the freezer. The part about the fire itself was terrifying and scary. SO horrifying. I had to know what happened but I was worried about what might happen. The aftermath was perhaps a little less intense, but it was fascinating as well. Cecily and Gilbert's story stayed INTENSE.

I loved all four narrators. All the characters were well written. Even the ones I didn't really "like" all that much. I would definitely recommend this one. show less