Signal Fires is a beautifully written novel with deep emotions and thoughtful themes about family, fate, and time. Dani Shapiro’s prose is lovely, and the characters feel real, but the slow pacing and non-linear structure made it a bit hard to stay fully engaged. There are some really powerful moments, but overall, it didn’t completely pull me in. A good read for those who love introspective, character-driven stories, but not quite as gripping as I expected. 3.5 stars overall

'Change one thing and everything changes.'

Signal Fires is the story of a tragedy, of how one terrible night sent shockwaves through a family and a community. It is the story of how that night - and the tacit agreement never to discuss what happened - would reverberate through the decades, tainting everything those involved would go on to do, their grief and guilt scarcely dulled by the passing of time.

It is also a quiet, beautiful and terrible story of family, inheritance and the lengths we go to for those we love. It is a portrait of a marriage after the children have grown up and flown the nest, and their parents are left to attempt to fill the empty spaces and break the silences, finding a new way to be together - or not. It is a warning about the illusion of safety which draws families to the suburbs, on a street where no one locks their doors, where neighbours become friends and parents should be able to watch their children grow up, unmarked by tragedy. It is a tale of two families with seemingly nothing in common, yet whom are inextricably connected.

In August 1985, seventeen-year-old Sarah Wilf, buzzed from a few illicit beers, palms the keys to her parents' Buick and instructs her two years younger brother, Theo, to take them - and a neighbourhood friend - for a drive. Before the night is over, one of them will be dead, and the others' lives will be forever changed.

Over the ensuing nearly 300 pages, we jump backwards and forwards through time, checking in with the Wilf family at moments of seismic change: the night a split-second decision sent Sarah and Theo spiralling out of each other's orbit, their bond irrevocably warped; on the eve of the new millennium, fears of the dreaded bug causing everyone to look back at their lives so far; the night before Ben is due to move out of 18 Division Street, leaving his home of forty years to be filled with a new family's hopes and dreams; midway through 2020, a year which requires no explanation.

Through the years, the events of that summer night shape the lives of the Wilfs in major and minor ways - and eventually the lives of the Shenkmans, their neighbours - too. We see each member of the family find their own way to navigate their pain and shame, desperately seeking - and yet shying away from - connection to each other.

The relationships between the characters are each unique and nuanced, tenderly and realistically portrayed by author Dani Shapiro: the stoic, angry middle-aged man and the young son he doesn't know how to relate to; the long-married couple renegotiating the terms of their life together now their children are adults; the sweet, unusual young boy and the old man who sees him for who he truly is. Not all of the characters are relatable for me personally, and some of them are not particularly likeable, but there was not a single POV that I dreaded returning to; each narrator added a new perspective to the story and built the world of Division Street in more and more detail. My favourite relationship is the sibling dynamic between Sarah and Theo; the author beautifully captures the bond between estranged siblings wrenched apart by what happened, yet bound by a shared history that no one else will ever fully understand - a past forged not on one terrible night but over years of small moments:
"In the space between them, there is a whole lost world: street names, phone numbers, summer barbecues, broken bones, family dinners, shadows on walls, stolen turns, dappled light playing against floorboards. French toast sizzling in an iron skillet. Pages of homework strewn across the dining room table. Beethoven quartets on Saturday afternoons. The smell of black cavendish tobacco."

Signal Fires is a beautiful, timeless story that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful family saga or rather a two family saga told over fifty years but with the time spinning and settling at all different non chronological periods. You hear the future almost like reading a book review without the warning of spoilers but it really doesn’t matter. It’s just a delightful book.

I couldn't read this as an ebook for some reason so will get it when it comes out! Sorry! (Leaving a 4 star review to be fair.)

This is another stunning book by Dani Shapiro, it deals with a traumatic family secret, and the far reaching effects it has on them. It is both haunting and tender as we learn of the event that has changed their lives forever. It travels between 1985 and the present day as the consequences of a decision, made in a haste, determines how the family live with their choice. It is set in a suburb of New York, with a normal middle class family at its centre, who are traumatised by their collective resolution to a tragic accident.
It is beautifully written, heart warming and heart breaking at the same time. The characters are skilfully drawn, and you are immediately invested in them as they remain connected to each other though staying apart while trying to deal with their own responsibilities to what occurred.
I loved this book and would highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Chatto and Windus for the ARC.

#Gifted #Netgalley

Signal Fires centres on two families living on the same suburban street in New York, and how their lives unexpectedly intersect over the years.

Spanning fifty years in this one neighbourhood; the Schenkmann’s and the Wilf’s live through tragedy, grief, secrets, love, and redemption, with fate intervening to bring them into each other’s orbits more than once.

The overriding theme in this book is that we are all connected; the very nature of being human makes it so.
There are plenty of very somber moments here, overall I’d say it’s a sad story with a hopeful ending. Both heartbreaking, and heartwarming.

If you enjoy a family saga and don’t mind a slower paced read then you’ll enjoy this one. Its been compared to Little Fires Everywhere, and Paper Palace so if you were a fan of those, definitely worth checking #SignalFires out.

I read it on audio and found the jumps in timeline and character perspective a bit confusing, so it might be one to read in print.

With many thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for my copy. Signal Fires is available to buy in paperback as of February. All opinions my own, as always.

I was asked ro review this beautiful book by NetGalley

Both moving and emotional with great characters, this author writes so well, that the reader will savour each sentence. There is also a bit of spirituality thrown into the mix too.

Just a fantastc read. I will be seeking this author out.

This was such an interesting, engaging read. I love a family story, one that recounts the complex dynamics in a home, and the different roles members play within their families. I also love a story about how one single moment - a moment in time when the everything in the universe comes together - can have the most tragic of circumstances, and people's lives are changed forever. Shapiro's novel really delivered for me in that sense.

I really enjoy a non-linear narrative, and I enjoy going back and forth in time to learn more about key characters. For some readers, the structure may feel disjointed, and I feel that's important to point out. It didn't deter me, however, and I was completely swept up in the story of these characters' lives.

The opening chapter was powerful: the story of a car accident in a small community, when a young girl dies. The novel then explores the threads of the decisions made on that night, and how the characters try - and sometimes fail - to move on from them.

An excellent and emotional read - highly recommended!

An enjoyable, inspiring and engaging read. Easy to follow and understand, good character development and gentle exploration of some emotional situations.

This is a beautiful read, emotional, moving and sad, yet brilliant and lovely too.

The Signal Fires of the title are the stars in the sky, and the way these stars connect the characters and thread the story together.

In a typical American suburban street, Waldo is born hurriedly in his parents' kitchen, aided by neighbour Dr Ben Wilf - this is just the start of their relationship and ten years later they are together again, and united in pain and sadness.

I can't write too much in this review without revealing what happens, but what happens is beautiful and sad, and shows us the value of love and human relationships. This is also a story of neurodiversity, and both the many strengths and sometimes challenge this can present for people sometimes inhabiting a slightly different world.

This is the first time I've read anything by Dani Shapiro, but I don't think it will be the last.

"Two families. One night. A constellation of lives changed forever"


Signal Fires is essentially the story of two families, Dr Ben Wilf, his wife Mimi and their children Sarah and Theo; and their neighbours Shenkman, his wife Alice and their son Waldo. It is 1985 and Ben and Mimi Wilf have lived on Division Street, Avalon, New York, since they were newly weds and expecting their first child, almost two decades ago. In middle class suburbia, home to young professional families, Ben is a much respected pillar of the community, until the fateful night when his children cause the death of Misty Zimmerman, ironically in full few of the entire street and right outside their own front door. Ben makes a fatal error of professional judgement that night, which will haunt him forever and  which will not have helped to heal the rift which immediately opens up between brother and sister, and between the siblings and their parents, leaving unspoken recriminations and resulting in both teenagers leaving the family home just as soon as they are able to.

By comparison, come the 1990s, Mimi and Ben are by now just about the oldest residents on the street, when the Shenkmans move in across the way. It is here that their own son is due to be born, so without knowing any of the history surrounding Ben's downfall from grace, Shenkman finds himself calling on the medical services Ben can provide, when Alice goes into a premature and difficult labour at home and paramedic help is some distance away. Having successfully delivered young Waldo Shenkman into his mother's arms, Ben takes a keen interest in the lad, although neither he nor anyone else has any idea of events unfolding behind closed doors.

Fast forward eleven years to 2010 and Waldo, who is now eleven, has an IQ which labels him a child genius and is obsessed by what he sees as the infinite wonders of space and the place of humanity in the wider universe. Unfortunately, Shenkman senior has never been able to cope with, or adapt to, the responsibilities of fatherhood, which has left him feeling bitter, angry and inadequate; although to Alice and Waldo, this translates into a man with a vicious tongue, who rules the house with a regime of terror and subjugation. Meanwhile, across the street, Mimi Wilf has retreated to a place inside her mind which only she can access, so Ben has reluctantly rehomed her in a local nursing facility, where he is now looking to join her, having sold the rather dilapidated property to another aspiring young family. Neither of the couple's, now middle-aged children, maintain regular contact with them, with Theo having eventually settled relatively close by in Brooklyn, where he runs a couple of successful restaurants and Sarah having moved right across country to California with her husband and twin daughters. He therefore has no real idea that both of them are still so haunted by the trauma of that long ago night, that they are living dysfunctional, off-the-rails lives, barely communicating with one another and because of their silence, have never been able to move on with their lives or reconcile their differences. Having decided that he can no longer bare to live with Shenkman and convinced that neither of his parents truly love him, Waldo decides to leave home in the middle of a freezing winter's night. Unfortunately Mimi has also chosen this inclement time to have had her own moment of epiphany, so when the two meet by accident and are forced to seek shelter together, Waldo finds himself taking on the role of adult carer in the only way he knows how and one which will change his own life and those of both the Shenkman and Wilf families, forever.

Now, in 2020, with the Covid Pandemic at its peak and lockdown a worldwide phenomenon; Ben is living with Sarah and her family in California, Theo is busy feeding the less fortunate who have been laid off work during furlough and Waldo has finally returned home to be reconciled with his father, albeit that both know that this will probably be the final time they will be together.

...

This multi-layered storyline was very firmly rooted in the details and nuances of some wonderfully textured dialogue and narrative, so reading every word to keep the entire premise in context and perspective, was a must, although in no way onerous. I was therefore not quite as thrown as I might ordinarily have been, by the unmarked chapter breaks and non-signposted jumps back and forth between 1985 and 2020 and several time periods in between. Also, I'm not usually prone to showing or feeling much in the way of emotion, even in 'real life', so to evoke in me so many feelings from a work of fiction was definitely no mean feat on behalf of the author. Nor were events ever contrived to shock or upset by being larger than life, as I felt they truly reflected, with a compelling passion and profoundly touching honesty, the 'behind closed doors' scenarios of modern life and living in so many households right across the world.

The difficult discussions around mentally coercive and controlling mechanisms. The inevitable consequences on relationships when a secret so heavy to carry for a lifetime must be borne in silence, lest the pain of  discussing it be too great. The unspoken fractures within a family where a daughter will always be the apple of her father's eye, whilst a son will always be assured of his mother's unwavering love. The silent and deadly disease of dementia, locking away a person's mind, until theirs becomes the only true reality. The lengths a parent will go to, to protect their children. The manifestation and mental anguish of a parent unable to connect with a child who doesn't fit into that perfect square box they imagined, causing uncommunicated love to be misconstrued as rejection.

If the events and locations were the thread which held this powerful and thought provoking story of contemporary fiction together, then the characters were definitely the very fabric of the saga, with them all being allowed plenty of time and space for their voices to be heard. Some I wanted to love, whilst others I couldn't help but love to hate, they were all emotionally complex yet authentic, often unreliable and vulnerable, but always genuine and believable

Whilst the geographical physical footprint of the story was quite small, concentrated predominantly in the Avalon district of New York, there were also mentions of other areas within the State and across country in California. Many of the places mentioned were real and had been afforded some good attention to detail, which meant that I could research, plot walk and track the action for myself. So as an avid 'armchair traveller', I certainly wasn't too disappointed.

Not a dry eye in this house!

Author Dani Shapiro doesn't publish new fiction books on too regular a basis, however I shall definitely be sourcing some of her previous stories for my wish list.

A great family drama, well-written characters and plot. A compelling read which I’m sure will be popular and well received.

A great family drama that covers love and loss.

It was emotional in parts the characters were well written and believable.

I would highly recommend this book

"Sarah and Theo had never talked about it, not once since that August night less than a decade earlier. Now, Sarah sometimes wonders whether talking would have been better. Silence didn't make it go away but instead drove the events of that night more deeply into each of them. Neither of them had ever been able to unsee what they saw, unhear what they heard."

Oh, I absolutely loved this book! The storytelling was brilliantly done, weaving past and present to demonstrate how two very different families can become intertwined. One summer night in 1985, Theo, his elder sister Sarah and her friend Misty go for a drive. There's an accident and Misty dies. The Wilf family never talk about it again but that night and the decisions they all made haunt them for decades afterwards. In 2010, young Waldo Shenkman is trying to find his place among the stars and constellations and avoid his father's disappointment. He and Ben Wilf, now an old man, strike up an unlikely friendship that will comfort them both in years to come.

A family drama, Signal Fires is in turns moving, nostalgic, insightful and reflective. The scene involving young Waldo and Mimi Wilf in the playhouse was just devastating and had me sobbing! I really felt for Waldo's father who struggles to connect with a son he has no idea how to be a parent to - so the frustration with himself comes out as anger towards his son. It's hard to make someone like that appear human, not monstrous, and I think Shapiro has handled it well. Shapiro describes very well what it's like to be born to the wrong parents, in the wrong time, and having to negotiate your way through the world trying to find another person to give you the love you need.

I just couldn't get enough of this story and wanted more and more - but felt very satisfied with ending.

I would recommend Signal Fires to fans of Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane, We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman, and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

Thanks to Netgalley for sending me an ARC of the paperback version.

Beautifully told story of the struggles of love and loss and the ways in which neither ever truly goes away. Being related through changing time periods and through different characters’ eyes shows how so much of our lives intertwines and will ever do so throughout time..

‘Everything that has ever happened is still happening’, is a quotation from this book and it sums up the disjointed, yet interlinked, lives of the characters in the Wilf and Shenkman families.

The book starts with a terrible car crash involving the Wilf children, when Sarah lets her teenage brother,Theo, drive and Misty Zimmerman is killed. Sarah takes the rap and the reverberations of this event roll down the years in the Wilf and Shenkman families. So, much later, Waldo Shenkman, a troubled young boy with a hard life, is befriended by Ben Wilf, the father of Sarah and Theo.

Waldo is fascinated by the stars and that leads to a kind of belief in an unknowable destiny and the question of what shapes individuals as they move through the world. Shifts in time in the narrative seem to underline the role of coincidence against the backdrop of some inevitable flow. It sounds over-the-top but it works.

One reason why is that Dani Shapiro writes very well and, also, much of the book is written in the historic present to add immediacy. It is a challenge to write a book which spans thirty years and shifts in and out of different times and dates but while we see past events forming the present day lives of the characters, we also see the present day explaining the past in some way.

It’s a good read which isn’t just a family saga but takes you deeper into the lives of these people and just when you think, well the car crash explains it all, you go back a little bit further and a little bit deeper! Whatever happens, life rolls on and you don’t just remember the past, you live in it.

With its richly drawn characters and intricate plot twists, this book is sure to captivate readers and leave them pondering the intricacies of their own familial relationships long after they’ve turned the final page.

I was sent a copy of Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro to red and review by NetGalley. I really enjoyed this novel and the relationships that emerged between the characters. The story is told in different timelines through the lives of two neighbouring families. This made things a little confusing at times but on the whole it was a satisfying read. I especially like the relationship between Ben Wilf and Waldo Shenkman and I’m sure that many of us would love to use the app of the stars and constellations that Waldo was passionate about. This is by no means a perfect novel and I feel that there were some chapters that could have been left out and not affected the whole, but what I did like I liked very much!

This is such a well told, unusual and emotional story. I found it a little confusing as it was set over multiple time periods and from multiple points of view. I think this is better read on a physical book rather than an e-book but I did really enjoy it. It's a story of to families, of love and loss, of relationships and secrets.

This is a story about loss, death and secrets that follow two Families throughout their lives .I felt the story was very slow and the constant back and forth between time lines was confusing ,but it was a good story .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.