Signal Fires

Memoirist and novelist Shapiro (Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love; Black & White) sensitively narrates her latest, detailing the splintering of a family engulfed by trauma. In the summer of 1985, Sarah, age 17, has been drinking, so she tosses the keys to the family car to her 15-year-old brother Theo, who does not yet have a driver’s license. Theo invites Misty Zimmerman, a girl he wants to impress, to ride with them. Driving too fast, Theo crashes into the large oak in the front yard of the Wilf family’s home. Tragically, Misty dies. Skipping back and forth through the years before and after the tragedy, Shapiro describes the toll that the accident exacts on Sarah and Theo’s family, as they keep the details secret but continue to be haunted by the aftermath. Shapiro is especially skilled at describing how the complex and well-developed characters cope differently with their deeply felt grief.