In 1947, a thirty-two-year-old English war hero visiting Hiroshima during the occupation finds himself billeted in a compound overseen by a boorish Australian brigadier and his scheming wife. The fire of the title refers primarily to the atomic bombing of Japan, but also to the possibility of transcendent passion in its aftermath. Hierarchies of feeling, perception, and taste abound in her writing, and this novel-her first in more than twenty years-takes on the very notion of what it means to be civilized.
Hazzard is nothing if not discriminating. At times the narrator follows Peter Exley, an Australian friend of Leith's who is investigating Japanese war crimes, and Helen Driscoll, an Australian teenager with whom Leith falls in love while billeted in Japan. Written in the third-person narrative, the novel principally follows its protagonist, the decorated British war veteran Aldred Leith, who is travelling through post-war Asia to write a book. The novel commences in Japan in 1947, and subsequently takes in Hong Kong, England and New Zealand. The novel was Hazzard's first since The Transit of Venus, published in 1980. National Book Award for Fiction and a Miles Franklin literary award (2004).
One of those books where you hope to have a sequel, to see how things turned out but, in reality, it is better to let your own imagination work those turns without an author's assistance.The Great Fire (2003) is a novel by the Australian author Shirley Hazzard. You are drawn into the frame & truly want to know the outcomes for each of the characters in turn. This is what gives the book so much power. understanding the motivations of the characters & their environment without much third-party explication. The author has a hypnotic writing style that brings the reader into the frame. Out of this the central & surprisingly believable love story between decorated war veteran of 32, and an 18 year-old girl, much older than her years in some respects & an 18 year-old in others, emerges. All are seeking a way out of their wounds by helping others, in official capacities (bomb survey, postwar trials, nursing relatives) and in their personal lives. It should appeal to those who enjoy traditional romance novels, but also to readers who prefer historical fiction & literature, with some romance thrown in to drive the action All of the principal characters might be considered as members of the walking wounded. The "Great Fire" is a high-class romance novel that contains a mixture of historical fiction, psychological portraiture, political commentary on WWII and its aftermath (particularly in east Asia, but also with some focus on England & Australia & New Zealand).
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