Review of A Day of Fire by Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, Vicki Alvear Shecter

A Day of Fire is a collection of six interconnected stories set in Pompeii on the day Vesuvius blew up. The stories immerse us into a variety of strata of Roman life in this iconic city. They build a rich palette of characters despite being in the format of short stories, and we genuinely care what happens to each of them: senators and other officials, whores, a pregnant lady of privilege, an insecure but appealing young man, and more than one determinedly independent woman.

Despite the setting, it’s not all gloom and doom—well, the gloom covers the sky for much of the book on a literal level, but there’s light in a metaphorical sense. Some characters survive and some don’t, and hence suspense builds with each story as we watch their choices and weigh the possibility of life for these three-dimensional souls we’ve gotten to know. I found myself trying to will certain characters into a speedy departure from Pompeii, but these are complex people, held or drawn back by love, duty and spirituality, as well as the expected fear. Some of the victims face their fates in a way that gives the collection a sense of hope and a positive outlook. Sometimes it’s raw courage found deep in the inner reserves when no one would have suspected its presence. Some characters responded to the challenges around them with transformative growth, even in the short time allotted. When that development happens with a character who lives on, the destruction gains a mitigating purpose for the reader.

When such growth occurs just before death, the character is imbued with a dignity and sense of self worth in those final moments that lifts the reader out of a grim view to a powerful one. We, after all, are looking in from a world that continues unburied by ash and fire, and we want to believe that humans are hard-wired for positive metamorphosis. The stories explore the ethics of what we owe other human beings even at the risk of our lives. This is a universal idea that here is also played out against the decidedly Roman ideals of civic duty and family obligation. A Day of Fire also plumbs notions of ancient spirituality and what they offer as a promise of hope or optimism even in the grimmest of environments. These stories place us back in Roman times not only through their vivid and painstakingly accurate depiction of Pompeii’s physical setting and daily life but also through the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of that world.

A good writer makes lots of bad things happen to his or her characters. By that measure this is one knock-out book—but all those bad things do not add up to a depressing read. That’s skillful writing where meaning and excitement are interwoven. This is a talented group of writers, so I’m not surprised, but even with my premonitions of a good read, I was still delighted with how much fun this book was. You’re not supposed to enjoy disaster this much. A Day of Fire is a perfect read if you’d like to visit Pompeii on its last day but don’t want to get burned.

To purchase on Amazon, click here: A Day of Fire: a novel of Pompeii