Name: Fire Sermon
ISBN: 9780802127044

Jamie Quatro

"The highly-anticipated, provocative debut novel from the "fearless" (New Yorker) and "distinctive" (San Francisco Chronicle) Jamie Quatro, Fire Sermon charts with bold intimacy and immersive sensuality the life of a married woman in the grip of a magnetic affair"--

A Novel

Fire Sermon

From the critically acclaimed author of I Want to Show You More comes an unflinching and profound portrait of Maggie and Thomas, and their disintegrating marriage. Married twenty years to Thomas and living in Nashville with their two children, Maggie is drawn ineluctably into a passionate affair while still fiercely committed to her husband and family. What begins as a platonic intellectual and spiritual exchange between writer Maggie and poet James gradually transforms into an emotional and erotically-charged bond that challenges Maggie's sense of loyalty and morality, drawing her deeper into the darkness of desire. Using an array of narrative techniques and written in spare, elegant prose, Jamie Quatro gives us a compelling account of one woman's emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual yearnings -- unveiling the impulses and contradictions that reside in us all. Fire Sermon is an unflinchingly honest and formally daring debut novel from a writer of enormous talent.

Briar's Reviews

This book was my best surprise of the year. To be honest, I just picked up a random book from my shelf. I decided that I would just take a very un-calculated risk and pick up whatever book my eyes went to - and this book was it.

Fire Sermon is an incredible novel following the journey of a religious woman who begins to have an affair on her husband. The narrative is not your typical romance novel, it's truly a dramatic unfolding of the character. I loved this character study and how beautifully Jamie Quatro could write out this woman's feelings and experiences. Seriously, it blew me out of the water. I truly did not expect this book to be half as good as it was.

Jamie Quatro has a beautiful writing style, full of metaphors and truly engaging descriptions. This book could have been a real flop because of the subject matter, but it had me hooked at every single word. There isn't one thing I would change about this book because it truly was just mesmerizing. I highly recommend it! I'm almost frustrated that I didn't read it sooner! This is one incredible, lovely and amazing piece of literature that I think anyone who loves drama and riveting reads should pick up.

Maggie has a 'romantic' relationship with her husband, but begins to fall in love with an intellectual poet. She's cheating on her husband, but doesn't know how to deal with it. The sex with her husband isn't all that great and it hurts, but she feels like she owes him his pleasure. The more she engages in infidelity, the more she questions herself. Can someone truly fall out of love or change their feelings about someone? Will God understand what she has done?

Even if you're not religious, I think this book is an excellent view into one woman's perspective. Yes, it's fiction but it does really open your eyes to another world. The struggles and changes in a woman's life can be more troublesome than one thinks and I loved that Jamie opened us into Maggie's world. The story is absolutely breathtaking.

Five out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

This book was my best surprise of the year. To be honest, I just picked up a random book from my shelf. I decided that I would just take a very un-calculated risk and pick up whatever book my eyes went to - and this book was it.

Fire Sermon is an incredible novel following the journey of a religious woman who begins to have an affair on her husband. The narrative is not your typical romance novel, it's truly a dramatic unfolding of the character. I loved this character study and how beautifully Jamie Quatro could write out this woman's feelings and experiences. Seriously, it blew me out of the water. I truly did not expect this book to be half as good as it was.

Jamie Quatro has a beautiful writing style, full of metaphors and truly engaging descriptions. This book could have been a real flop because of the subject matter, but it had me hooked at every single word. There isn't one thing I would change about this book because it truly was just mesmerizing. I highly recommend it! I'm almost frustrated that I didn't read it sooner! This is one incredible, lovely and amazing piece of literature that I think anyone who loves drama and riveting reads should pick up.

Maggie has a 'romantic' relationship with her husband, but begins to fall in love with an intellectual poet. She's cheating on her husband, but doesn't know how to deal with it. The sex with her husband isn't all that great and it hurts, but she feels like she owes him his pleasure. The more she engages in infidelity, the more she questions herself. Can someone truly fall out of love or change their feelings about someone? Will God understand what she has done? 

Even if you're not religious, I think this book is an excellent view into one woman's perspective. Yes, it's fiction but it does really open your eyes to another world. The struggles and changes in a woman's life can be more troublesome than one thinks and I loved that Jamie opened us into Maggie's world. The story is absolutely breathtaking. 

Five out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Luca Conti

I read it in one day after watching two booktubers talking about it. Very original storytelling. Not always compelling but I felt invested in the main characters. Recommended

Fire Sermon A Novel

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