BOOK REVIEW: Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center @katherinecenter @stmartinspress #thingsyousaveinafire

Katherine Center’s newest book Things You Save in a Fire is the type of book that stays with you. It was actually the first book I read in 2019 and I absolutely loved it. When I recommend it to people, I describe it as the type of book that heals the soul when you read it. I felt very introspective while I was reading it and I reflected a lot on myself.

About the Book

Cassie Hanwell is one of very few female firefighters in Austin who has slowly earned the respect of her male counterparts and superiors through hard work, discipline, and efforts to mask any qualities that may be perceived as feminine or weak. Nearly ten years earlier as a teenager, Cassie’s mother left her and something happened to Cassie on a date the very same night that caused her to build protective armor around her heart to shield herself.

Now, Cassie’s hard work has paid off as she is set to accept a service award at an event for Austin firefighters. But when an encounter with the boy who destroyed her life in high school causes her to act out in front of her superiors, Cassie’s life begins to spiral. In the wake of disciplinary action and a request from her estranged mother for assistance, Cassie is forced to relocate to an old-school firehouse outside of Boston to rebuild her career. Cassie is not only the new firefighter on the totem pole, she’s also the first female to serve at that firehouse.

Cassie finds herself having to start from scratch and work to earn the respect of her crew. In the midst of her mother’s failing health, hazing from the other firefighters, and a handsome rookie who may derail her focus even more, Cassie learns to open her heart up and finally live her life to the fullest.

Reflection

I really connected with theme of forgiveness in this book. Cassie is estranged from her mother, when the encounter at the ceremony and her mother’s loss of vision in one eye lead her to move from Texas to Northeast where she’s the first female firefighter in a small fire station outside of Boston. Cassie not only needs to learn to forgive her mother, she needs to learn to forgive herself. The lessons in this book really made me think a lot about my life and the story and others. I found it wonderfully insightful to see how devastating life events sometimes are exactly what we need to rise up and heal, to learn to forgive, and to find our way.

I loved the breadth and complexity of the characters in this book. Cassie seems so strong, but there were glimpses of her vulnerability. The members of her crew at the firehouse are unique, authentic, and diverse despite how homogenous they seemed at first. I can’t imagine being the only female on a team like that. I thought about it a lot, actually, because I have had my fair share of challenges being seen as an equal as a female, but I’ve never been in the position to be the only female in a conventionally male field. Cassie’s position is a tough one to be in—any sign of weakness or even just of being a female is easy ground for them to pick on and say she doesn’t fit in and can’t do the role.

This book has that wonderful quality of being the type of story that makes it’s way into your heart as you read. I read it over six months ago and I still remember it so vividly. Truly a wonderful, heart-warming story that is simply good for the soul!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.