Paper and Fire comes from the mind of first-time author Edwin J McBride. It tells the tragic story of the Thomas family. The book begins as a tale of suspected adultery but becomes much more as a doting father is forced to leave his loving family. We watch the Thomas family pick themselves up as life throws every tribulation imaginable at them.  Paper and Fire is a story about love and loss. Mourning and struggle. But even more so it is about the resilience of those we leave behind.

Paper and Fire’s main character is an author named Christian Thomas. McBride describes Thomas as an author who cares about story first. The most important thing to him is that his readers are made to feel. Thomas is an author who has little time for pretentious writing. Author Edwin McBride is the same. The writing here is descriptive and emotive without being flowery. McBride describes Thomas as “Not brilliant by critical standards yet his words had spoken to people and moved them as desired.” If I had to describe McBride’s writing I would say the same.

Paper and Fire is a labor of love. McBride has devoted himself to making his readers feel. He wants to challenge us. The book can feel relentless at times as tragedy after tragedy is thrown at the Thomas family and the people around them. This can make for uncomfortable reading. The book explores themes such as mental health, depression, sexual abuse, and suicide. Sometimes I had to put the book down for a little while to reflect on what happened and understand the emotional upheaval inside myself.

In the wrong hands this could have all become a bit too much. A depressing downer and a slog to read through. However, McBride’s characters are easy to root for. They never stop picking themselves up and carrying on, no matter how bad things get for them. This turns a book that could have been depressing into something much more uplifting. A book about hope and resilience.

Paper and Fire might not be a book for everyone as it can be a challenging at times. But nothing easy is worth having. The story is engaging and I found myself caring much more so for the characters than I have in any book for a long time.

Pages: 274 | ASIN: B083S21S8T