The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh is a gripping and thought-provoking book that explores the devastating impact of choices, fate, and the interconnectedness of lives. The story follows Robyn Sandoval, a CEO-in-waiting, who is preparing for the next chapter of her life. On the anniversary of her mother’s death, she takes a morning run, aware that her father— a local fire-fighting hero— is desperate to speak to her before she assumes her new role leading the corporation that dominates their Northern Californian town of Destino. But when Robyn arrives at her father’s home, she finds him dead.

Simultaneously, a freak forest fire ignites on the mountain ridge that overlooks Destino. The town has always believed itself to be safe from fire, protected by the geography of the land, the direction of the winds, and a long-standing belief held by its people. But as the fire spreads, everything changes.

Robyn’s life is thrown into chaos after her father’s sudden death, and her grief shatters her reality. Yet, when she wakes up the next day, the world she knows has changed: her father is alive, and there is no sign of the fire on the ridge. What follows is a journey of intense emotional and psychological discovery, as Robyn grapples with two conflicting versions of her reality. She must confront not only the secrets of her past but the truth behind both versions of her present, all while racing against time to prevent the fire from consuming everything she holds dear.

This book was absolutely sublime. The exploration of how lives are shaped by choices—whether small or monumental—is both poignant and compelling. Kavanagh masterfully weaves together the stories of multiple characters, each with their own personal struggles, before bringing them all together in an explosive and unexpected ending. The twists and turns throughout the plot kept me on edge, never quite sure who would survive and who wouldn’t. The suspense is relentless, and the emotional depth of the characters makes the stakes feel all the more real.

The Time of the Fire is a captivating and multifaceted book that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Its exploration of grief, choices, and the ripple effect of those choices is both haunting and profound, making it a truly memorable read.

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Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for sending me an ARC of The Time of the Fire.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure this was my cup of tea when I requested it. But I thought it sounded interesting, different from the usual thing I read. So decided to give it a go.

It did take me a while to get into the story, and I was very confused to start with! But so was the main character, so I was at least in good company.

Once I got my head round the structure of the story, I really got into it. I found it especially poignant reading it with the backdrop of the Hollywood fires currently occurring in real life 2025.

Overall, a really good, solid read, throughly enjoyed it once I got going.

Emma Kavanagh’s The Time of the Fire is not 100% sure what type of novel that it wants to be. There is the central point of view story about Robyn Sandoval who lives in the small town Californian town of Destino and finds her biological father dead on a day when the town is under threat. Then there is the alternative story of Scarlett Morgan, who is Robyn Sandoval in an alternative life also facing the same emergency. But there is also the story of Mags Reys and her fraught relationship with her dominating mother Bonnie. And then there is the story of the mega fire that threatens the town. And while all of these strands kind of come together, plenty of disbelief has to be suspended to get there.
The book opens with the death of Harper Morgan in a car accident. Thirty years later, her daughter Robyn, who was adopted by the wealthy Sandovals, is about to take over the company which owns half the town of Destino. After Robyn finds her biological father Mack dead in his cabin she has what can only be termed a break and starts to experience the life of Scarlett Morgan, an alternate version of her in a world in which her mother lived and it was Sandovals who died. Luckily in this world her boyfriend Zeke is a physicist who is able to explain the many-worlds theory to her and believes that she is not just psychotic. In both worlds a major fire is bearing down on Destino and the different ways in which the town developed and prepared in each world will have a bearing on its impact.
As always, many worlds theory (that every single decision creates a new branch of reality) while a fun concept (cf Sliding Doors among many many others) raises many more questions than it answers (not just: why this particular alternative world? why this particular person? and if every decision Robyn/Scarlett makes in that world creates a new world, how does she go back to the same one every time). Readers who cannot buy into this premise will probably not make it to the end of the book.
So The Time of the Fire is a mystery story in which Robyn gets clues from the way thing turned out in her alternative life. It is a disaster story, in which Kavanagh explores the way people react to oncoming disaster. It is a story about nature versus nurture – in exploring the different ways that Robyn/Scarlett’s lives turned out. And it is a story about families and secrets and the impact of those on relationships – particularly in the relationship between Mags and Bonnie. Along the way Kavanagh also provides a scarily atmospheric rendering of an out-of-control bushfire that will put Australian readers in mind of the Black Saturday bushfire 2009 and the catastrophic bushfire season of 2019-20.
As already noted, The Time of the Fire uses a speculative hook and requires a little suspension of disbelief. The fact that Kavanagh can hold all of the strands together, develop the amount of tension that she does and bring the story home with a bit of emotional heft in the way that she does is impressive even if it means not thinking too much about how she got there.

Set in a mountain ridge area of Northern California during the period of a wildfire that is advancing towards residential areas, this story takes a sliding doors type approach to what happens to our characters as a consequence of an event that happened decades ago. It is such a clever concept and although at first, as these things can be, it felt deliberately unsteady as to what was happening and what the connections would be, this book adeptly and boldly lays out the events, choices and secrets as they unfold. The impending fire acts as an urgent catalyst to the quest for answers and what the fate of the characters will be. This story really had me gripped from start to finish with such rich, interesting characters and a beautiful subversive narrative

Ever since I read Emma Kavanagh's first novel I knew I'd found an author I would follow throughout her career. Beautiful writing and clever stories, insightful characters and the thing we always want - addictive reading and surprising emotion.

Into The Fire is, for me, her finest novel to date. Reading the afterword I know it didn't come easily but gosh I'm glad it arrived at a time I needed just such a book. One with emotional trauma and emotional resolution, a book that makes you think about the path not travelled, the possibilities of life, a life shaped by the people and events in it.

One woman. Two lives.

What might have been?

What actually is...

Intelligent and thought provoking and I highly HIGHLY recommend it.

A psychological thriller that explores the ripple effects of tragedy and long buried secrets.

It is a slow start, but it soon builds up with many layers for the reader to unravel. Due to the authors writing style, you are left with an interesting complex plot.There are two sides of the story that are very interesting.
This is one that is definitely worth a read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the ARC

On the anniversary of her mother’s death, Robyn travels to her father’s house as there is something important he needs to tell her. Only when she arrives she finds him dead. Meanwhile forest fires are looming around the town which threaten and shake the local community. Suddenly Robyn wakes up and her father is alive with no signs of the fires. To confront what is happening she needs to delve into the secrets of both versions of her present.

This is my first book by this author and I was originally drawn to the unique premise and the striking cover. I find speculative thrillers intriguing and this certainly ended up being a compelling mystery. At first, it took a while for me to get into, as it started slowly with an abundance of detail and little dialogue, however after about 10% the story gets going. The story is told in two separate existences in a sliding door style, exploring current topics such as climate change, nature vs nurture, as well as power imbalances and how mankind can impact natural occurrences. Both sides to the story were interesting and I found it easy to differentiate between the two. There were also some fascinating facts about quantum mechanics and theories, that had me questioning the reality of the universe we live in.

This is a well written thriller, with an attention to detail and superb at creating a harrowing, intense atmosphere. I could really imagine the fires burning and feel the heat. The characters are strongly written, especially Robin, I felt an understanding of her personality and her dilemma. Although this was a good thriller, I did find some chapters describing the fire, overly descriptive and unnecessary, personally I felt they didn’t add much to the story. There were also times where the timeframe did not connect to the previous events, so seemed slightly unsystematic. Apart from these small niggles, I am glad I picked this up as I enjoyed the storyline and reading something a bit different. This is a thought provoking story that will definitely leave me ruminating, with a great mystery at its core. I will certainly be looking at other books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me this wish.