American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land (Monica Hesse, 2017)

How I stumbled upon it: I’ve been wanting to read this one since it debuted!

What it's about: In Accomack County, Virginia, a string of arsons (lasting months!) begin to crop up. There seems to be no motive and no one’s property (especially older, vacant buildings) is safe. The arsonists turned out to be Charlie, a likeable drug addict, and his equally unstable girlfriend Tonya, who have been setting structures on fire as their relationship slowly deteriorates. It’s part true crime, part economics of rural Virginia, and part crumbling romance.

What I thought: You will find yourself totally enthralled by this (true!) story. I kept having to stop reading to Google the actual details of the cases so that I could reference photos, etc. (Isn’t that the beauty of nonfiction?!) The arsons put a county on the map that had been slowly declining for years, and it’s a great picture into a part of the US (the Eastern Shore) that is rarely mentioned. The entire county took part in stopping these arsons (from vigilante groups to volunteers to crime bloggers, etc.) and Hesse does a great job of diving into the economic and social factors that played into these crimes.

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