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HOME FIRES is Judith Kirscht’s third novel. Her first, NOWHERE ELSE TO GO, was published by Florida Academic Press in 201l, and her second, THE INHERITORS (New Libri Press) came out in 2012. Born and raised in Chicago, Judith Kirscht received her BA from the University of Chicago. She raised her family in Michigan and received her MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won two Hopwood Awards, one for an earlier version of her first published novel. She taught writing for many years at the Universities of Michigan and California, Santa Barbara before moving to Washington State to devote herself to writing fiction. You will find more at www.judithkirscht.com
Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite
When things come crashing down on Myra Benning’s idyllic life in Home Fires, she has to reach deep inside to find the strength to continue. Judith Kirscht tells the story of how the awkward girl who grew up on the Minnesota Prairie faces a life and family that has fallen apart. Having discovered her husband’s infidelity, she decides that she will stick it out until her oldest son has gone on to college and her daughter is adjusting better to school. Things take a turn when her husband carries things into deeper issues and she has some difficult decisions to make. While facing down the Benning family’s string of issues that have been passed down from father to sons, she refuses to turn a blind eye and faces the situation head on. Though she takes the hard road, it is the beginning of healing, but will it be enough to get her life back on track again?
Judith Kirscht has brilliantly chronicled the deep emotions and struggles that go along with infidelity and the way it ruins families in Home Fires. As she develops the emotions of the characters and unravels the plot, the added touch of her “venting” comic strip provides a unique twist to the telling of the story. I found myself deeply wrapped up in the emotions and struggles and had a tendency to wander off and explore issues from my own experience. Honest, real and profound, Home Fires will challenge you on a very deep level and open your heart on another.
