I have a history here. I am part of this landscape. I have forged it, shaped it, and renewed it time and again. At times, I have been a mishap. Once or twice, I was brought forth at the hands of mischief. This time, I was sparked to life. I awoke from the elements, timid and trembling.
In the basement of a residence at a small liberal arts university in rural New Brunswick, while war rages overseas, a fire breaks out in the middle of the night. The town is sleeping.
A novel of devastating beauty, based on the true story of the December 1941 fire that destroyed the men’s residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, killing four students, and bringing the horrors of war startlingly close to home. Told at a blistering pace and in multiple points of view, this stunning work of historical fiction explores themes of trauma, love, and humanity in the face of tragedy.
Praise
Shortlisted for the 2022 ReLit Novel Award
Named one of Quill and Quire’s 2021 Books of the Year and the Miramichi Reader’s Best Fiction Titles of 2021
“Belliveau has constructed her novel around two central pillars: a vividly imagined historical setting and a solid core of diverse human emotion … The Sound of Fire moves briskly but leaves a deep and lasting impression. It is a polished work of great empathy and a remarkable feat of imaginative reconstruction. With this, her first novel, Renée Belliveau shows she is a writer to watch.”
–Ian Colford, The Miramichi Reader
“Belliveau has created an immersive sensory experience, using vivid snapshots of the many lives affected by a devastating fire. But against this backdrop of death and destruction, there is an enduring gentleness. Somehow, she has managed to capture the fear and the darkness while also illuminating the beauty of human connection. A heart-wrenching and gripping story, incredibly told.”
–Nicole Lundrigan, bestselling author of Hideaway
“Both riveting and tender … Belliveau’s clean yet emotive prose paints a captivating portrait of a tragic fire in a small community told from multiple perspectives, including, most strikingly, from the fire itself.”
–Deborah Hemming, author of the Re-Lit shortlisted Throw Down Your Shadows
“Using a kind of personalized-archive technique to piece vivid shards of historical and imagined detail into an intricate mosaic … The Sound of Fire sets a very local tragedy against the larger contexts of the still-lively memories of one world war and the ongoing carnage of another.”
–Mark Blagrave, author of Lay Figures
Press & Interviews
Podcast interview (When Ducks Leave the Pond)
Archivist Authors: The Sound of Fire by Renée Belliveau (Association of Canadian Archivists)
Q&A: Renée Belliveau (Girls to the Front! newsletter)
Interview: Renée Belliveau (The Secret Library Podcast)
Books of the Year (Quill and Quire)
Best Fiction of 2021 (The Miramichi Reader)
A new look at ‘Mount Allison’s Darkest Night’ (Mount Allison Record)
Chapter & Verse interview (CBC – The Shift NB)
Renée Belliveau brings alive voices of tragic Mount A fire (CHMA)
Archivist’s novel captures Mount Allison fire of 1941 (The Newsstand)
Renée Belliveau 