A Different Kind of Fire

A Novel

By: Suanne Schafer

Narrated by: Ayesha Kleinjan

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Ruby Schmidt has the talent, the drive, even the guts to enroll in art school, leaving behind her childhood home and the beau she always expected to marry. Her life at the academy seems heavenly at first, but she soon learns that societal norms in the East are as restrictive as those back home in West Texas.

Rebelling against the insipid imagery woman are expected to produce, Ruby embraces bohemian life. Her burgeoning sexuality drives her into a lifelong love affair with another woman and into the arms of an Italian baron.

With the Panic of 1893, the nation spirals into a depression, and Ruby's career takes a similar downward trajectory. After thinking she could have it all, Ruby now wonders how she can salvage the remnants of her life. Pregnant and broke, she returns to Texas rather than join the queues at the neighborhood soup kitchen.

Set against the Gilded Age of America, a time when suffragettes fight for reproductive rights and the right to vote, A Different Kind of Fire depicts one woman's battle to balance husband, family, career, and ambition. Torn between her childhood sweetheart, her forbidden passion for another woman, the nobleman she had to marry, and becoming a renowned painter, Ruby's choices mold her in ways she could never have foreseen.

©2018 Waldorf Publishing (P)2018 Waldorf Publishing

Great book, poor performance

I listened to the audio version of this book while reading a physical copy and was dismayed at the poor quality of the production including duplicated lines, mispronounced words, and poor cutting of the reading.

Great story. Desperately needs a producer.

Suanne delivers a difficult story that’s all the more important because it’s challenging. Full marks for a great story well told. The parts of the story that stalled for me are in MY head and are my own challenges to overcome, not the story’s. Suanne earned every word.

Ayesha has a lovely voice. But she desperately needs an experienced producer and some more vocal training. Mispronunciations, wife variations in tonal and audio quality, as well as poor cuts make it hard for me to recommend the audio version.

Out of West Texas to her Passion

How does one stifle seething insides? Ruby Louise comes from a small provincial town. Her destiny is etched in the common, the mundane, and in ho-hum west Texas, 1890 tradition. Bismark, her betrothed, is loyal as a mule, but something is missing. She's defies family obstacles and makes it to a Pensylvania art school. There her sexuality and artistic pursuits shake out of her true self. Shaffer boldly draws you in, wrenches your expectations, and leaves you limp at the end. It is a great first showing.