Because a Fire Was in My Head
Kate Riley is not the sort of heroine we meet in most American novels. Self-centered, shape-shifting, driven from one man to another and one city to the next, she is all too real—but not at all the loyal and steady homebody of idealized womanhood. When we first encounter her, Kate (or Katherine, or Kate of the Prairie, or Katrina) is about to undergo exploratory brain surgery for a condition she herself has fabricated. Sobered by the gravity of the procedure, she commences a journey of memory that takes us back to the Saskatchewan village where she grew up and to the singular event that altered her forever and irrevocably set the course of her life.
From her childhood, in which she was held captive to a mother gone mad, through her adult life, which unfolds as a mesmerizing sequence of men, abandoned children, and perpetual movement, Kate’s story is one of desperation and remarkable invention, a strangely American tale brilliantly narrated by one of our most original writers.
Other books in the Flyover Fiction series
“[S]tunning . . . The poetic detail of Stegner's sentences—not to mention her wanton protagonist—is reminiscent of the novels of John Updike. . . . Because a Fire Was in My Head, her most ambitious novel so far, ought to attract for Stegner the wider audience she so richly deserves.”—Julia Scheeres, New York Times Book Review, “Editor's Choice”
“Stegner follows the tragic arc of Kate Riley, whose lifetime of self-destructive behavior takes her from rural Canada to a seaside cottage in northern California with plenty of gloomy pit stops along the way. . . . Kate’s downward spiral is undoubtedly grim, but Stegner punctuates it with muted hints of redemption; the result is uncommonly satisfying.”—Publishers Weekly
“With bracing prose, Stegner turns a potential monster into a character both fascinating and pitiable; you may hate Kate, but you won't want to leave her.”—Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
“Ultimately, Stegner's bold and stunning novel reminds us that for all the transformations of the tactile world, the country of the spirit remains the same, impelling us to sing the song of being human, as Yeats writes, ‘till time and times are done.’”—Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times Book Review
“A strikingly rendered, dark and troubling novel about one woman’s confused journey toward what she believes may very well be herself. With exquisite precision, Lynn Stegner has captured Kate Riley’s life in all its shadows and specters. A harrowing book, beautifully told.”—Bret Lott, author of Jewel
“A brilliant book, more solid than the ground we stand on. This novel does honor to the best in the tradition of storytelling, even though you occasionally want to shove the heroine off the highest possible cliff. In other words, you are drawn into the story, and when you have finished you have added amplitude to your knowledge of the human condition.” —Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall
“Lynn Stegner’s portrait of a lost lady is as authentically compassionate as it is unsparing, a rare feat in fiction—and in life, for that matter. Accomplished from the outset of her career, Stegner has achieved here a level of mastery that places her in an elite group of those writing serious literature in America.”—Frederick Turner, author of Redemption
