~ Review: Throught The Fire ~

Fans of Ms. Hill, who’ve read A PRIVATE AFFAIR and PIECES OF DREAM, will be more than satisfied with Ms. Hill’s June release, THROUGH THE FIRE.  Most readers where disappointed when Nikita Harrell, the heroine of A PRIVATE AFFAIR was killed off in PIECES OF DREAMS.  This was indeed the strangest thing.  Strange because readers have grown to expect closure in a romance novel.  Yes, we expect to see cameos of old heroes and heroines in sequels, but to kill a heroine or hero off is really a no-no in romance.  But that’s what Ms. Hill does to Quinn’s wife in PIECES OF DREAMS.  Inevitable, this unorthodox move angered some of Ms. Hill’s fans and disappointed many.  But readers can put their minds at ease.  THROUGH THE FIRE, Quinn’s story, is a fitting conclusion to a series that has wooed us with its originality, and given us some of Ms. Hill’s most memorable characters.

THROUGH THE FIRE begins some time after PIECES OF DREAMS.  This Quinn we meet here is a broken man.  He has suffered, and the reader is made to see this suffering.  This Quinn is still grieving for his sister and wife.  And it’s this Quinn who meets Rae Lindsay.  When he finds himself attracted to her he hates the feelings that she is slowly awakening in him.  Little does he realise that he’s learning to live again. 

Quinn is no ordinary romance hero, and fails to fit into the mold of any hero I’m met before.  He possesses qualities that are heroic, but he’s no superhero.  He’s human—a sensitive, caring, vulnerable man.  And a man who’s not afraid to cry.   A musician, Quinn, is unable to create the music that was so much a part of who he is.  Rae, a poet and song writer, realizes that something important is missing.

    “Your eyes,” she said simply, unafraid of his unwarranted rant.  “It’s all there.  The windows to the soul.”  She smiled softly and crossed the room, sat down on a pillow and continued.  “If you ever decide to play again, it would be there as well.  And that’s not a bad thing.  Listen to the blues.  It’s the ache and loss that gives it the richness and depth, which makes it touch something inside us.

Like Quinn, Rae has had her own tragedy.   Her husband and daughter were killed in a shootout, so she is able to understand Quinn’s anguish and unwillingness to live to the fullest.  Unlike Quinn, she tries to face her situation full on.  She continues to work, creating the music and poetry that controls her every breath.  But like Quinn, she knows something is missing.  Her music lacks soul.

THROUGH THE FIRE is an appropriate title for this story, and bears illusion to the Biblical interpretation of the phrase.  That it is only through the trials that we face in life that our true characters are defined. 

This is made clear in a scene shortly after Quinn and Rae meet.

What are we going to do about it?”

            She looked up at him. “Maybe stop being afraid.”  She trembled beneath his touch.

“How? he asked, his soul desperately needing to hear the answer.

“Through the fire—to the safety on the other side.”

His own thoughts again, he realized.  “I don’t know if I can.”

Rae took his hand in hers, and smiled tenderly.  “Neither do I, Quinten Parker.  Neither do I.”

And in that instant they found themselves in an unfamiliar place, a place long forgotten—filled with promises and truths unspoken—the future.

In the book, not only does Quinn have to come to terms with his music and the death of Nikita, but he must face a mother who has abandoned him.  This secondary plot is as compelling and moving as anything that Ms. Hill has ever written.  One of the most moving scenes in the book takes place when Quinn, unable to hate his mother anymore, finally reaches out to her.

Tentatively, she reached for him, then stopped halfway.  And then she felt something she hadn’t in longer than she could remember—the touch of her son’s hand slipping into hers.

These short quotes are only examples of what makes Ms. Hill the talented writer she is.  There are so many levels to THROUGH THE FIRE, and this is what makes the book so profound.  THROUGH THE FIRE is a complex character study of two very troubled characters, and is at time painful to read.  Despite its sadness, the book is foremost a love story, and does show the impact of love on the lives of individuals.   The love scenes are so intense emotionally, that readers will be moved by the beauty of Ms. Hill’s prose.

THROUGH THE FIRE is not only a story, it’s an experience, and one that will leave readers discussing its merits for years.  It’s another of Ms. Hill’s book to be added to my shelf of keepers, and is to sure to be on everyone’s Best of 2001 List.  It’s already on mine!

12th May 2001