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The Long Fire
Natalie is propelled through life by pica, a disorder that has her eating a wide variety of inedibles—from pencil shavings to foam peanuts to plastic doll parts. A lowly staff worker for the local news, she follows the inane demands of the station’s senile weatherman and comes home to an empty apartment, unless of course her father uses the spare key.
But Natalie’s past stalks her at every turn. With her mother recently killed in a tragic house fire, and her runaway brother, Eliot, missing for years, Natalie and her father Boris only have each other. When a cryptic voicemail implicates her mother’s gypsy roots in her untimely death, Natalie begins to consider the demons that consumed her mother, and drove her brother away. With increasing suspicion, she traces her mother's mysterious family legacy back to the gypsy neighborhood she left behind.
As a wary Gypsy community tracks her every move, Natalie resolves to confront the dysfunctional and tragic figure at the heart of the mystery: the dead matriarch herself. Smart, elegiac writing, and a page-turning drive, make this a wonderful literary thriller with a hero as intriguing as the mystery.
But Natalie’s past stalks her at every turn. With her mother recently killed in a tragic house fire, and her runaway brother, Eliot, missing for years, Natalie and her father Boris only have each other. When a cryptic voicemail implicates her mother’s gypsy roots in her untimely death, Natalie begins to consider the demons that consumed her mother, and drove her brother away. With increasing suspicion, she traces her mother's mysterious family legacy back to the gypsy neighborhood she left behind.
As a wary Gypsy community tracks her every move, Natalie resolves to confront the dysfunctional and tragic figure at the heart of the mystery: the dead matriarch herself. Smart, elegiac writing, and a page-turning drive, make this a wonderful literary thriller with a hero as intriguing as the mystery.
284 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2015
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August 13, 2015Another slam dunk from Unnamed Press! This intriguing novel stars a most unusual heroine. Natalie suffers from pica - an eating disorder that makes her crave and eat inedible things, like packing peanuts and pencil shavings. When she receives a cryptic message about her mother's tragic death, Natalie investigates her family's roots, where she learns the real story of her mother's life. Crazy-good stuff. I also really enjoyed Tifft's essay in the Atlantic, "An Introverted Writer's Lament," about not touring to support her book.
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November 20, 2019
Went into this expecting a kind of meditation on place and being which I got, along with a detective story and enough dread and violence to keep the pages turning.
October 18, 2024
What a pleasant oddity this turned out to be; delightfully messy in all the right ways.
February 5, 2016
I chose The Long Fire for the third book of our book club mostly because I have been hearing more about Unnamed Press's books lately. I also love the fancy paperback cover that feels strangely like skin (I am sure there is some technical publishing term for this material, but I prefer the skin analogy, somewhat fitting for this book, i.e. another sensory experience). I read the blurbs, which all said this was a mystery: part detective story, part family drama; but somehow I did not believe it would be a mystery. Don't ask me why; I have no clue why I thought, despite the clear descriptions, this could not possibly be a mystery.
Well, it was. And a page-turner kind at that. The reluctant sleuth, Natalie, is an outsider, which makes her the perfect narrator. She is not only an outsider in her her family and her own life, but a definite outsider to the Roma community where her mother comes from and where she has to go to discover the truths about her family's past. Regardless of whatever truths she uncovers, not much changes for her: she remains an outsider, she cannot close the gap between herself and her mother or her brother, and she still tries to take control by putting everything inedible in her mouth. Despite futility of truth-seeking, Nat grows in the short few months between her mother's death in a fire and her mother's death not in a fire. She emerges more in control and perhaps with a better appreciation of her father's unrelenting love.
This is not to say that the novel is happy-go-lucky. Not in the least. The story is mostly the slow and painful doom of Eliot, Nat's brother, who is also an outsider. Unlike Nat, he first drowns himself in substances, then he makes long-term effort to fit in. But even his mother, who has put her son above all else, sees that no matter what Eliot does to fit in, he never will. The story of mother and son is tragic, framed with the greater tragedy of the alienated Roma community, poverty, and crime.
Along with the intrigue and mystery that unfolds slowly and patiently, Meghan Tifft takes her time to go back to those childhood days on the beach and at home, playing hide and seek with books to be read and devoured, brother and sister reveling in invented games in the backseat of the car. The writing is often beautiful and insightful, with a good balance between the inside and outside worlds, between action and thought.
In the end, most of the mystery is solved, and from the burning ashes of Eliot's tragedy rises a slightly stronger Natalie. Some questions still remain. I personally could not exactly figure out just who was Alepa calling from the hotel (if she was at all calling form the hotel), why she was calling on the day of the fire, and why her message was re-played for Boris's answering machine. On the one hand, since Alepa was in touch with her sister and since her sister is the one who gave the phone number and PIN for Nat to hear the message, one can conclude that the message was for Alepa's sister. But why would someone also leave the message on Boris's machine almost two months after the original message date (the day of the fire that "killed" Alepa). So then one thinks, maybe Alepa's father used the message to draw out Boris, to see what Boris could get out of Eliot, since by then Eliot was being watched by the whole kumpania, as they were trying to find out where Emilain's money was. Perhaps. Or perhaps, I missed something. But in the end, it doesn't really matter, because even the truths that one believes may in fact be lies, every person having a different angle in the whole game.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Fire, from the plot line to the writing style to the historical backdrop all the way to the Romany language. I'll be looking forward to Meghan Tifft's next novel.
Well, it was. And a page-turner kind at that. The reluctant sleuth, Natalie, is an outsider, which makes her the perfect narrator. She is not only an outsider in her her family and her own life, but a definite outsider to the Roma community where her mother comes from and where she has to go to discover the truths about her family's past. Regardless of whatever truths she uncovers, not much changes for her: she remains an outsider, she cannot close the gap between herself and her mother or her brother, and she still tries to take control by putting everything inedible in her mouth. Despite futility of truth-seeking, Nat grows in the short few months between her mother's death in a fire and her mother's death not in a fire. She emerges more in control and perhaps with a better appreciation of her father's unrelenting love.
This is not to say that the novel is happy-go-lucky. Not in the least. The story is mostly the slow and painful doom of Eliot, Nat's brother, who is also an outsider. Unlike Nat, he first drowns himself in substances, then he makes long-term effort to fit in. But even his mother, who has put her son above all else, sees that no matter what Eliot does to fit in, he never will. The story of mother and son is tragic, framed with the greater tragedy of the alienated Roma community, poverty, and crime.
Along with the intrigue and mystery that unfolds slowly and patiently, Meghan Tifft takes her time to go back to those childhood days on the beach and at home, playing hide and seek with books to be read and devoured, brother and sister reveling in invented games in the backseat of the car. The writing is often beautiful and insightful, with a good balance between the inside and outside worlds, between action and thought.
In the end, most of the mystery is solved, and from the burning ashes of Eliot's tragedy rises a slightly stronger Natalie. Some questions still remain. I personally could not exactly figure out just who was Alepa calling from the hotel (if she was at all calling form the hotel), why she was calling on the day of the fire, and why her message was re-played for Boris's answering machine. On the one hand, since Alepa was in touch with her sister and since her sister is the one who gave the phone number and PIN for Nat to hear the message, one can conclude that the message was for Alepa's sister. But why would someone also leave the message on Boris's machine almost two months after the original message date (the day of the fire that "killed" Alepa). So then one thinks, maybe Alepa's father used the message to draw out Boris, to see what Boris could get out of Eliot, since by then Eliot was being watched by the whole kumpania, as they were trying to find out where Emilain's money was. Perhaps. Or perhaps, I missed something. But in the end, it doesn't really matter, because even the truths that one believes may in fact be lies, every person having a different angle in the whole game.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Fire, from the plot line to the writing style to the historical backdrop all the way to the Romany language. I'll be looking forward to Meghan Tifft's next novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2015
This sparkling debut mystery is narrated by the book’s protagonist, Natalie Krupin, a 27-year-old woman adrift in a hazy, smoke-obscured world. Her mysteries revolve around her gypsy mother, dead in a fire that destroyed her parents’ home, her unkempt father, one cheap apartment away from homelessness, and her older brother, a social outcast among his peers, a drug addict and runaway, lost and presumed dead. To a person, members of this family do not live by the ordinary conventions, and, over the generations, suspicious fires have stalked them (“wherever gypsies go, fire follows,” Natalie’s mother says). They pursue Natalie throughout.
Natalie herself is aggressively unconventional. She wears thrift-shop clothing assembled into bizarre costumes; she has furnished her apartment with child-sized furniture. Most unusually, she suffers from pica, though “suffer” is not an accurate verb, since she often revels in it, literally devouring her world. She’s as likely to eat a book as to read it. This odd character plunges into the deep family mystery when her father receives a phone message from someone whose voice sounds like her dead mother’s rasp, followed by the discovery of cryptic notes hidden in a flame-scarred cigarette case and written on the paper of a hand-rolled cigarette. Propelled by the phone message, Natalie resolves to unravel her family’s past.
This set-up for the plot cannot capture the terrific voice Tifft has created for Natalie—quirky, funny, observant, and understandably confused. For example, I particularly enjoyed a scene in which Natalie interprets her life through the koan-like platitudes found in a bag of fortune cookies: “The truth hides in small places. You must search to find it.” Truly.
Tifft never fails to surprise as Natalie sets out to discover what really happened to her mother, and whether she can find the answers in the closed-mouthed gypsy community. The more she investigates, the more secrets she encounters, involving not just her mother, but her missing brother too. Their present absences have roots in the past, and the narrative delves into the childhood of the siblings, as idiosyncratic and fraught as you’d expect, given the adult products. They were both, as Natalie says about her brother “fashioned too near the fire.”
Readers will find Natalie an engaging, unforgettable character, courageous in confronting the uncertainties of her life, wry and compassionate. Like so many novels in which characters embark on a quest, they are really searching for and most likely to find themselves. This is a literary mystery, not bound by the typical mystery/thriller conventions and, paradoxically, therefore, more revealing.
Natalie herself is aggressively unconventional. She wears thrift-shop clothing assembled into bizarre costumes; she has furnished her apartment with child-sized furniture. Most unusually, she suffers from pica, though “suffer” is not an accurate verb, since she often revels in it, literally devouring her world. She’s as likely to eat a book as to read it. This odd character plunges into the deep family mystery when her father receives a phone message from someone whose voice sounds like her dead mother’s rasp, followed by the discovery of cryptic notes hidden in a flame-scarred cigarette case and written on the paper of a hand-rolled cigarette. Propelled by the phone message, Natalie resolves to unravel her family’s past.
This set-up for the plot cannot capture the terrific voice Tifft has created for Natalie—quirky, funny, observant, and understandably confused. For example, I particularly enjoyed a scene in which Natalie interprets her life through the koan-like platitudes found in a bag of fortune cookies: “The truth hides in small places. You must search to find it.” Truly.
Tifft never fails to surprise as Natalie sets out to discover what really happened to her mother, and whether she can find the answers in the closed-mouthed gypsy community. The more she investigates, the more secrets she encounters, involving not just her mother, but her missing brother too. Their present absences have roots in the past, and the narrative delves into the childhood of the siblings, as idiosyncratic and fraught as you’d expect, given the adult products. They were both, as Natalie says about her brother “fashioned too near the fire.”
Readers will find Natalie an engaging, unforgettable character, courageous in confronting the uncertainties of her life, wry and compassionate. Like so many novels in which characters embark on a quest, they are really searching for and most likely to find themselves. This is a literary mystery, not bound by the typical mystery/thriller conventions and, paradoxically, therefore, more revealing.
August 21, 2015
Won a finished copy of this book from GoodReads for an honest review!
What caught my attention first was the gorgeous cover. I mean, its kind of plain, but had me staring at it since I got it in the mail. Simply stunning.
Once I read that she has Pica, I didn't need to read anymore as I was all in. For you who don't know, Pica is an eating disorder where they eat nonfood items to maybe help with coping.
Natalie is a vibrant young woman who is dealing with a lot of stressful issues. Her dad is hiding secrets and she needs to know, at a young age her brother ran away and she hasn't seen him since, her mum passed away from an apparent suicide and she knows something is fishy, her ex-bf Mitch is dating a woman who lives underneath her apartment and now she thinks he cheated on her and she works as a jockey for the local tv station. Whew, that was a lot.
She really can't keep her nose out of things, and becomes quite the little detective in search of the right answers. Things become overwhelming and she gets shot in the line of "duty".
Can you imagine being told that your mum and brother are gone and then come to find out that that might not be the case at all? All that lost time and they were just right under her nose.
It was a slow read for me at first, even though I was very truly interested. Once she started scooping, it picked up a lot and I didn't want to put it down. But alas, we must be adults and go to bed.
Loved the story and everything in between. Was way different than what I was picturing in my mind. Takes you down a lot of windy roads that lead to shocking twists and heartbreak.
What caught my attention first was the gorgeous cover. I mean, its kind of plain, but had me staring at it since I got it in the mail. Simply stunning.
Once I read that she has Pica, I didn't need to read anymore as I was all in. For you who don't know, Pica is an eating disorder where they eat nonfood items to maybe help with coping.
Natalie is a vibrant young woman who is dealing with a lot of stressful issues. Her dad is hiding secrets and she needs to know, at a young age her brother ran away and she hasn't seen him since, her mum passed away from an apparent suicide and she knows something is fishy, her ex-bf Mitch is dating a woman who lives underneath her apartment and now she thinks he cheated on her and she works as a jockey for the local tv station. Whew, that was a lot.
She really can't keep her nose out of things, and becomes quite the little detective in search of the right answers. Things become overwhelming and she gets shot in the line of "duty".
Can you imagine being told that your mum and brother are gone and then come to find out that that might not be the case at all? All that lost time and they were just right under her nose.
It was a slow read for me at first, even though I was very truly interested. Once she started scooping, it picked up a lot and I didn't want to put it down. But alas, we must be adults and go to bed.
Loved the story and everything in between. Was way different than what I was picturing in my mind. Takes you down a lot of windy roads that lead to shocking twists and heartbreak.
November 30, 2015
The narrator is fascinating, and her compulsion to put inedible things in her mouth lends this book a weird poetic quality that I just loved. I would love to read more about pica, and the author treats the subject deftly. But the mystery portion of the book - I just didn't care. It's not my genre to be sure, but the writing lost all of its beauty when the gypsies got involved. Too much plot, not enough character.
August 3, 2015
Completely original, with perhaps the most compelling and unusual "amateur sleuth" protagonist since Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn and just as good. I really, really like this book.
December 5, 2015
Well written mystery with intriguing characters and a complex plot. Well worth reading.
April 15, 2017
When I first heard about this unique book and the main character's pica disorder, I knew I had to read it. It didn't disappoint. I thought the story itself was beautiful and strange and the writing was fabulous.
More people need to know about this book. This was a debut and is the only novel by this author so far, but the book world needs more from her.
More people need to know about this book. This was a debut and is the only novel by this author so far, but the book world needs more from her.
May 26, 2018
I received this book for free from the author/publisher in response for an honest review of the book. This lady had a lot going on in her life. I feel that this book represents mental disorder like pica in good details and how life does not stop no matter what and who you are. I liked this book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews