Rachel Beanland: The House is On Fire

Rachel Beanland, who we interviewed previously about FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER, is back to talk to Carol Fitzgerald about THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, her latest work of historical fiction. This novel reimagines what happened in the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811 through the eyes of four characters. This lively conversation includes Rachel sharing why she selected these people to represent the story and her feelings about each of them. She also explains how this story came to her — and how she headed down the rabbit hole to research it. The pandemic precluded her writing another book, which would have required more research, so she was lucky to have this story to explore near her Richmond home. The back of the book includes some of her reference material for further reading. This would be perfect for a book group discussion.

Book discussed in this episode:

THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE by Rachel Beanland:

https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-house-is-on-fire

Latest “Bookreporter Talks To” Interviews:

Lisa Scottoline: https://youtu.be/8F-CDltuc3E

Sadeqa Johnson: https://youtu.be/TW01NY0d7CE

William Landay: https://youtu.be/Zcok9PHuRHw

Shelley Read: https://youtu.be/aZHZx2LaU4Y

William Kent Krueger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDK_Ngau8qs&t=45s

J.T. Ellison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F63lFI2nmw

Hank Phillippi Ryan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMZjJCtKUU4

Jane Harper: https://youtu.be/-N2EWgHeeEU