The Arsonist

A novel

By: Sue Miller

Narrated by: Sue Miller

From the best-selling author of While I Was Gone and The Senator’s Wife, a superb new novel about a family and a community tested when an arsonist begins setting fire to the homes of the summer people in a small New England town.

Troubled by the feeling that she belongs nowhere after working in East Africa for fifteen years, Frankie Rowley has come home—home to the small New Hampshire village of Pomeroy and the farmhouse where her family has always summered. On her first night back, a house up the road burns to the ground. Then another house burns, and another, always the houses of the summer people. In a town where people have never bothered to lock their doors, social fault lines are opened, and neighbors begin to regard one another with suspicion. Against this backdrop of menace and fear, Frankie begins a passionate, unexpected affair with the editor of the local paper, a romance that progresses with exquisite tenderness and heat toward its own remarkable risks and revelations.

Suspenseful, sophisticated, rich in psychological nuance and emotional insight, The Arsonist is vintage Sue Miller—a finely wrought novel about belonging and community, about how and where one ought to live, about what it means to lead a fulfilling life. One of our most elegant and engrossing novelists at her inimitable best.

Rich in character; weak in plot

What did you like best about The Arsonist? What did you like least?

Sue Miller is very skilled at drawing characters so you know them intimately. She's also excellent at physical description. But if you need a strong plotline you will be disappointed with this book. I also found the ending a bit frustrating.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sue Miller? Why or why not?

Only if I was in the mood for a very intense character driven novel

Have you listened to any of Sue Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first Sue Miller performance but I think she did a good job in making all the characters sound different.

Wonderful! And not (thank heaven) a "crime" novel

What did you love best about The Arsonist?

Not able to figure out the ending, until I got there. That's because the people in the book are complex and realistic. The arsons challenge and divide them. And throughout, they have also to deal with and adapt to the regular stuff that happens to people and families at various stages of their lives.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sylvia, the main character's mother. She struggles with what others need or expect from her, and what she needs. She balances, adapts, makes mistakes, takes chances.

Who was the most memorable character of The Arsonist and why?

Alfie, the main character's father, who has dementia. His disease progresses in spite of all that's swirling around everyone due to the arsons, relationship issues, romance, moving, age, opportunities, etc. But he copes with things too, and it is uncertain what exactly he understands and what he doesn't. This makes the things the people around him say and do, affect him in a different way than everyone else.

Any additional comments?

People all behaving the way they do because of what's happened to them in the past, affected by what's happening to them in the present and what may, or may not happen to them in the future. Loved it.

Excellent book

The story keeps you interested in the lives of the subjects to the point that you don't really care about who set the fires.

keeps you listening!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Arsonist to be better than the print version?

I don't know, I didn't read it, I listened.

What did you like best about this story?

It was interesting on many levels, with several different stories going on.
The ending was interesting and not quite what I thought would happen.

Have you listened to any of Sue Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

That is not possible, but it kept me lidtening.

A book about nothing.

This book was terrible. It went nowhere. If i had been reading a hard copy I would have put it down. I kept waiting for something to happen. It never did.