A novel [...] based on the true story of the December 1941 fire that destroyed the men’s residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick... (Blurb of 'The Sound of Fire)

This was a truly remarkable read, which impressed me on several levels, most of all on account of its structure and composition. The story was told from the viewpoint and experience of numerous participants,  both those involved in the actual tragedy and others peripheral to it. This gave extreme life and immediacy to the account and skillfully highlighted emotional and physical reactions to the tragedy. The masterstroke was, however, the personification of Fire, whose voice heralded by mimickry the evolution of the tragedy and its aftermath. As the fire grew in might and power, so people were devoured by its suffocating, deadly ferocity; as it reminiced on the magnificence of its fiery feast whilst lingering, almost satiated over its remainders, so people, dazed, took stock of their injuries and losses; as it was almost combusting again, so rumours and conjectures about its origin arose, until finally, the ashes dispersed, and so did all action. Nothing remained, except the scars in landscape and in those that were disfigured physically and emotionally. The pace of the writing imitated the pace of the fire, from breathtaking urgency to complacent reminiscence, and in such powerful prose that I was completely enthralled and hard pressed to pause reading.
The immaculate research into the disaster and Belliveau's mastery in weaving the local tragedy into the larger-scale horrors of WWII added to the richness of the novel's atmosphere. Add to that her impressive skill of sketching numerous characters within the constricted space of a chapter and endowing each with their individual context and background.

Harrowing and beautiful in one, this is a book that will stay with me for a while, as really good books should...
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the electronic copy of this riveting novel. This review expresses my own, honest opinions.

I always enjoy a good historical book and this one did not disappoint. It is obvious that the author did a great deal of research to complete this book.

Thank you, Net Galley and Nimbus Publishing for this interesting, informative, and impeccably researched historical novel. It was strongly based on fact. It centers around a fire at a small liberal arts university, Mount Allison, in Sackville, New New Brunswick, in December 1941. The men's four-story-high residence was engulfed in flames and destroyed within 15 minutes. The building housed approximately 200 students. The majority were members of the Canadian Officers Training Corps (COTC) which was made compulsory in 1940. It was aimed at being a fast track into officer positions in the military for those who successfully completed the course and decided to enlist. Also, housed in the residence were about 25 airmen taking a Radio Mechanics course in radar. The war in Europe was on everyone's mind. To some outsiders, there was a strong sentiment that the male students should already be in Europe fighting for their country and England.

I attended Mt. A in the 1950s and was amazed I had never heard about this part of its history. I was interested in reading if the book was based on a true event and not one entirely fictional. Thank goodness for the internet. A Google search gave me many details about the fire, the people described in the book, the inquiry, and the aftermath. The events and characters became real and present in this novel and the research seems exhaustive.

I was immersed in the life and layout of the University but not in the present-day (although I live only 35 minutes away), and not as it was when I attended. I was totally engaged in Mt A in 1941. The author brought to life the campus during WW2 and made it easy to visualize what it was like so long ago. Because of the scope of the novel, numerous faculty, staff, students, and some townspeople were brought to life. These many characters were all based on real people, with only their names changed. It showed the emotional impact of the tragedy but I felt distant. Sometimes I felt I was reading a news story and I was lacking a buildup of emotion that some historical novels might impart. This was because I found it confusing to keep track of so many names and had difficulty sorting them out, especially if a character's name appeared in a later chapter. The story well described the events, the impact on the people involved and their families.

Most of the book was written in the third person but there was also a unique addition, the voice of the Fire itself told in separate chapters spread throughout the narrative. This was beautifully imagined and written.

The four-story building was engulfed in fire so rapidly that there was suspicion an accelerant was used. The building was destroyed in 15 minutes. It occurred on a cold wintery night of December 16th while the students were asleep. Four students died, either from being trapped in the fire, smoke inhalation, or from jumping from third or fourth-story windows. others were severely injured with broken spines, pelvis, other fractures, burns, and smoke inhalation and transported to hospital. Survivors showed great heroism in helping rescue others from the fire and flames. The smoke had been so thick that it was almost impossible to find a way out. Most of the survivors emerged shivering outside, barefoot and clad only in their pajamas. All their clothing and personal belongings were lost. Families had thought their young men safe from the overseas war.

Several of the survivors were sent to the roof of the girl's residence to watch for flying embers. They were scantily dressed and without equipment on the snowy, chilly winter night. There were many rumors regarding the fire. Some believed it was deliberately set by an arsonist, perhaps directed at the military Radio Mechanics group. An Inquiry concluded it was accidental. The women students still feared an arsonist and were said to sleep in their clothing with suitcases packed, ready to make a quick escape if necessary.

The fear, loss of life, injuries, and the subsequent inquiry impacted individual perspectives and changed the lives and outlooks of many students and faculty. The surrounding town of Sackville gave generously in help for the students who were left without warm clothing, boots, textbooks, and housing

.An interesting part of the story was one of the male students became Art Professor there for many years. He was one of the most renowned Canadian artists, Alec Colville, under a fictitious name in the book. His girlfriend at the time watched the flames in and vowed to marry him if he survived, and she did. She mentions to a classmate how his pallette changed after the fire with muted colors, never red and rarely yellow.

I admired the way author, Renee Belliveau brought this mostly forgotten local history to life, and I hope she pursues other aspects of our local history. This book has been published and is now available to purchase.