When the Sky Burned

Title: When the Sky Burned: October 8, 1871
Author: Liz Tolsma
Series: A Day to Remember, book 6
Major Themes: Fire, Disaster, Wisconsin
Synopsis: At the same time that Jay found discrepancies in Hollis’s ledgers, they and Mariah, Hollis’s fiancee, found themselves fighting for their lives in the fire that wiped out Peshtigo, Wisconsin.

I have enjoyed all of the books in the A Day to Remember series. Though no one likes disasters, it is very interesting to read about them and how people survived and learned. Some of these books have been about disasters I knew about; some I had never heard of before. I have heard of the fire that destroyed Peshtigo, Wisconsin, but didn’t know much about it until I read When the Sky Burned.

Publisher’s description:

My thoughts:

Two main threads run through When the Sky Burned—the story about the fire, and Hollis’s theft from his company. Having both threads intertwined kept the action moving and kept my attention on the story; I had a hard time putting it down! 

The part of the story that described the fire was the most interesting to me, because I always enjoy learning about historical events and how they impacted people’s lives. I could hardly believe that fires were springing up around Peshtigo, threatening the town, for weeks, and the people just stayed there and kept going about their daily lives! Rather different than the way things are done today. The fire which destroyed the town was described in some detail. Parts of that were rather horrific, although the author was careful about how graphic she got.

I figured out the outcome of the romance from the second chapter—but Liz Tolsma did well at keeping my interest in how it would work out. Adding a child into the story was a great touch; she was pretty cute! I had a lot of sympathy for Mariah in her blindness and questioning God about why she lost everything—what good could come out of such a horrible experience? I loved the scene, a while after the fire, where Mariah realized that she could still trust God. The question is raised, “Why would God allow such a thing to happen?” While that question is not answered as well here as it was in When the Flames Ravaged, Mariah did come to peace with her loss. 

My favorite book in the series is still When the Flames Ravaged. I have enjoyed, and recommend, all of them, though. I really like the way this series brings little-known events to life, and how each of the various authors has pointed people to Jesus through the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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Related posts:

When the Flames Ravaged When the Waters Came When the Avalanche Roared All Things New