Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias is an atmospheric tale of family secrets, murder, and simmering tensions set against the vivid landscape of Costa Rica. The writing is vivid and lush, transporting you directly into its mysteries. It’s a slow burn, but please stick with it - the twists and emotional punches make it worth the read.

This book had so much potential but it lost me around half way through. I love a multi-generational, multi-POV story, which is what we have here. The book highlights plantations and un-investigated plantation incidents and the long lasting effects they have through generations. It is a difficult topic and it is dealt with well. But there was a really weird undertone in this book around women that I really did not appreciate, it didn't even further the story at all it just felt like the authors personal opinions sneaking in.

There are two parts to the book. Both stories are twenty seven years apart but time and the tale flow between the two, a little off sync, moving between different people to provide us with a wider image of all the things that happened and are happening in our closed circle of characters.

One family is the focus of the book. We have a couple with two daughters and a trauma they carry much into the future. Both sisters deal differently with their load, till there are even fewer members left in the family, with death coming to claim another.

I know I am not being specific about what the book is about. This is mostly in keeping with the narrative voice used, since we are told individuals life stories and only bits actually eventually contribute to the central plot.

The bananas are a prominent part of the plot, something I ended up looking into online as I came to the end. There was a fascinating interplay of insecurities and situations that caused so much grief to so many.

I didn't think I'd enjoy a book where I felt like I was constantly wading into someone or the other's grief, but at some point I realised that I liked the way the picture came together. There is no happily ever after, or even a satisfactory conclusion where the remaining people can move on, but I was glad I chose to read this book.

I would recommend this book to people who do not mind reading about family drama and like a differently situated narrative style.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I didn't get to finish my ARC as I had a problem with my kindle not saving the document and then the Title was archived on Netgalley. However, what I did read, I thoroughly enjoyed.
The writing filled my minds eye well and left me wanting more, I would like to read more by this author, the topic was handled well.

This book had so much potential and it is unfortunate that it didn’t live up to its full potential. I really enjoyed the multiple point of views and dual story timelines. This was definitely written from a male gaze point even though the characters were female, the female perspective wasn’t pulled off well.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

Costa Rica, 1968. Teresa Cepeda Valverde's life is changed forever by a cataclysmic chain of events one hot summer night. She flees to the United States, leaving her two young daughters behind, returning after six years to find her relationship with her daughters irreparably damaged.

Twenty-seven years later, Teresa is estranged from her elder daughter, Lyra, and her only grandchild. With a milestone birthday looming and her health declining, Teresa must reckon with her past so that both women can make peace with their family's history.

From the first page, I was entranced by John Manuel Arias' lyrical prose. He deftly uses figurative language, pathetic fallacy and imagery drawn from gothic tradition to create a haunting, riveting narrative about family, trauma, corruption and legacy. I was fascinated to learn about the history of Costa Rica as a 'banana republic', with the American Fruit Company which links the lives of many of the characters a thinly-veiled stand-in for the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company which ruled Latin America with a casual disregard for the wellbeing of the workers whom had made the white directors rich. The different perspectives - including chapters from outside the two main timelines which filled in important back story - were interesting, and I felt invested in Teresa, Lyra and their relationship.

The one element that troubled me was the confidence with which this male author voiced the female characters - and most of the characters are female. These are women who are largely consumed by their relationships with men, are poisoned by their jealousy of other women's looks, and are defined solely through their roles as wives and mothers; the three characters who have 'achieved' neither role are played largely for laughs, the author seeming to take a nasty satisfaction in the fact that three women who were once celebrated for their looks have been reduced to wizened crones whom nobody wants. One part that deeply disturbed me was José María's recollection of his father beating his mother: 'José María knew that his mother, deep down, liked it... She loved him because he was the only man she had ever loved and the only man whose fists she knew as intimately as his lips.' This could only have been written by a man, and suggests a contempt for women that is belied by his writing an otherwise excellent book about them. It left a sour taste in my mouth and prevented me from awarding a five star rating to a beautifully written book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

A novel should take you to another world. As rain continued to fall in Britain -Costa Rica in South America was certainly a tempting prospect!
This is a rising literary name and rightly so for it is beautifully written. Evokes the scenery in glorious colour, scents and sounds.
1968 provides a political backdrop to a seemingly family dispute over a fire destroyed business and the main characters Teresa and daughter Lyra are given the task to survive and understand what has become of their life.
Immersed in the plot with excellent characters this was a super read on a cold wet wintry English evening.

I must admit to having to look up Costa Rica on a map when I began this debut novel, suggesting it is a new location for me to visit through fiction. Set in a number of time periods in the latter half of the twentieth century this rich, impressive work features generations of a family held back by disappearances, secrets and murder.
John Manuel Arias is a poet and it shows. I cannot remember reading a work so expressively lush since fellow poet’s Kevin Jared Hosein’s 2023 debut, the Trinidad-set “Hungry Ghosts” but there I think this aspect was maybe over-used which gave a queasy over-ripeness but the balance seems just right here imbuing this family tale with an evocative richness and depth.
Events centre around one night in 1968 when a massive fire engulfed a banana plantation, the aftermath of which left a grandmother dead, a father missing, a mother unable to cope and two young daughters, Lyra and Carmen abandoned. It was a night when secrets were both exposed and formed. The story moves back through the 1950s and forwards to 1995 where a party is being planned for the mother, Teresa.
Characterisation is solid, there’s a lovely cameo from triplets known as The Three Marias, born “three minutes and three shades apart,” who deserve a novel of their own and the presence of those who have passed on is evident from the ramifications of their actions and sometimes by their ghostly manifestations. There is more than a hint of magical realism here. It is a tale of fire, of storms, of toads and exploitation of the Costa Rican people by American big business. It is both tragic and life-affirming and it proves a strong introduction to a writer who combines a poetic vision with real, instinctive story-telling skills.
Where There Is Fire will be published in hardback by Picador on 22nd February 2024. It is available now as an e-book. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

I found this book well plotted, fascinating and well written. There's a lot of elements that reminded me of Garcia Marquez and some parts seemed to pay homage to Macondo.
A good book if you like South American magic realism
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Reminiscent of the magical realist writings of Isabel Allende. I was hooked in on the lyrical prose and overall premise of this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

The premise has great potential: multiple points of view , secrets, trauma and resentment. Nice piece of historical fiction set in Costa Rica.

John Manuel Arias has a very great language, very intruiging story and characters. Pulled me in very quickly.

🇨🇷🇨🇷 When There was Fire - John Manuel Arias

Set in Costa Rica in 1968 as a lethal fire burns through America Fruit Companies most lucrative banana plantation. Killing all profits and the cover up that took place there.

27 years later mother Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the piecesal after this fateful night. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that night. As we work through the present and more recent past we explore the family dynamics, including what made Lyra guardian to her sisters son. We also continue to explore the past, with us as the readers learning about the plantation and the huge cover up.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the setting was beautifully written about and the character development was superb. At times I found it a little difficult to switch between the multiple time lines as we explored between 27 years previously to the present. Definitely one to pick up when released

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Picador for my copy - 3/5

A multi-generational story of a Costa Rican family torn apart by class, colonial greed, misplaced jealousy and unhealed wounds.

The quality of the writing in this book was superb - lyrical, original metaphors, vivid characters - the pacing and forward momentum wasn’t quite there for me however. The book covers almost every topic under the sun - love, murder, secrets, corruption, infertility, suicide, folklore etc. and is told from multiple viewpoints. In doing so a sense of cohesion is lost and the number of side characters detracted from the family at its core. Magical realism - which I normally love - is woven in but didn’t quite hit the spot for me, but more I think because of the disparate, fragmented mood and the feel that the book was working too hard.

I’m excited to see what this author does next and feel this could have been edited and the fat trimmed better. Half recommend!

This is a story of broken families, a story of revenge, of corporate greed and of powerful men.

Flipping between the 1960s and the 1990s, the story begins in Costa Rica, amongst the banana plantations. Families are settled and love one another, but there is a terrible chemical being used that causes grief and devastation for all, and its use is covered up by the greed of corporate men.

The family of Teresa - her mother, her daughters Carmen and Lyra, her grandson - are all touched and devastated by the events of 1968, and the narrative sees attempts to uncover the truth and to reconcile.

This is a touching story, but I did find it hard to buy into the characters and found the story hard going initially.

Unfortunately this book was a dnf, I’ve rated it three stars as it’s definitely a book others might enjoy but the long sentence structure and pacing just wasn’t for me.. that being said I found the concept really interesting so I am sure this will be highly regarded by many others!!

I really liked the premise of this one, sounded like something I’d really enjoy. But sadly it just didn’t work for me.

I tend to struggle with a female POV written by a man anyway (don’t ask why, it just always seems disjointed for me - personal thing I’m sure). I found it overly wordy, and struggled to find a flow with it.

It would like to say, although it wasn’t for me, it’s a well written book. It’s one I can see a lot of people enjoying so please don’t let my review deter you.

This one didn't work for me. There are several really gorgeous turns of phrase here, but the quality of the writing alone couldn't keep me engaged. I found the chronology a bit messy and the plot confused. I'm not sure what the toads represent but the metaphor was lost on me. I also found the magical realism aspects of the novel clunky. Sadly, not the book for me.

(...)absurd that a family could so easily be torn asunder. Member by member, horror by horror. And it befell on family like Teresa's, so seemingly full of love. That was what truly devastated everyone involved and anyone else who learned it as a legend. If it could happen to them, what else was possible?



Costa Rica 1968, when American Fruit Company banana plantation is ablaze, life of many irreversibly change. Teresa's world crumbles, and the consequences of that night will affects future generations of her family.

I loved it! I was hooked from the first chapter and stayed up late at night to finish this story. It was compelling, rich and moving. I was fully invested in this family saga and slowly unrevealing story of how greed of big corporate company destroyed life of ordinary people. I really enjoyed the writing style. It reminded me of G.Garcia Marquez. Its an amazing debut novel.