Wildfire: A Novel

By Mary Pauline Lowry

This novel of a female firefighter facing down her demons offers “a vivid portrait of life as a hotshot [and] true-to-life suspense” (Kirkus Reviews).
 
Julie’s obsession with fire began after her parents died, when she was twelve years old. Now, her fascination with flames has led her to an unlikely job as a forest firefighter on an elite, Type 1 “Hotshot” crew, traveling across the American West from Idaho to Southern California battling wildfires.
 
The only woman on the twenty-person crew, Julie struggles both to prove her worth and to find a place of belonging in this dangerous, insular, and very masculine world. As her season “on the line” progresses, so do her relationships with the strange and varied cast of characters that make up her hotshot team, as well as her relationship with nature and her own tragic past—causing Julie to learn what it means to put your life on the line for someone else.
 
From the author of The Earthquake Machine, Wildfire is a “high-octane” novel (Joy Williams) from “an original and special voice” (Anthony Swofford).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781632201928

Mary Pauline Lowry

Mary Pauline Lowry is a native of Austin, Texas. She received her MFA from Boise State University. The author of the novels The Roxy Letters and Wildfire, she’s also a regular contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Millions, and other publications.

Reviews for Wildfire

[mshooker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

[Wildfire] is a story of a young woman trying to escape her past and what is expected of her and finding where she belongs. It is a true coming of age novel of love, loss and discovery. [Mary Pauline Lowry] catches the true feeling of rebellion of the main character Julie as she tries to overcome the pain of her past with the Pikers, a hot shot crew, forest fire fighters who often hike or fly into the heart of fires all through fire season. This book kept me reading and was finished off in a day. It was a very well told story.