"In October, 1947, after a summer-long drought, fires began near Bar Harbor and raced along the coast of Maine, ravaging two hundred thousand acres--the largest fire in Maine's history. In the southern part of the state, people were forced into the sea to escape the flames. Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her...

Sam and Jessica Morgan's holiday joy turns to tragedy when they lose their house to a fire just before Christmas, while single mother Julie Newton and her young daughter, in desperate need of a roof over their heads, turn to widower Jack Baxter for help.

Five years after rescuing an orphaned infant from the Great Chicago Fire and raising the child as her own daughter, Lucy Hathaway encounters Randoph Higgins, a prominent banker, who turns out to be the father of her little girl.

"Susan Orlean reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history, and delivers a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution--our libraries"-- "Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative...

Robbed on the train platform as soon as he arrives in the city, eleven-year-old Oscar Starling soon finds himself in the middle of the Great Chicago Fire when he chases after his thief, who is herself in need of rescue.