Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro (audiobook)

genre: historical fiction

One night in the suburban town of Avalon, two teenagers make a choice that leads to a desperate secret.  The Wilf family will pivot in this moment, as each of the four members find their own path through the shame and grief of that choice.   The story of the Wilf family goes back and forth in time as we watch the father Ben, the mother Mimi and those two teenagers, Theo and Sara - the ways they process their history, the unusual friends they make and, most importantly, the steel cord that holds them together, no matter how thin its stretched.

In Signal Fires, there is an old oak tree.  An ipad full of constellations.  An unusual birth and a snowy night that brings a family and their neighbors full circle.  It is a book of connections and making peace inside oneself. It is grief and longing and the reality that NOT making a choice IS its own choice.  It about the ways that each generation needs each other in different ways and the most unlikely of friendships.  I actually really enjoyed the way that the lives of the neighbors on Division Street flowed in and out of each other and I was able to believe all the small stories that lived within one grand narrative.  My only complaint is that in going back and forth in time SO much, it was sometimes hard to keep everything straight - but for the most part I was totally fine. While I wouldn't call this a happy story - the writing truly is lovely and poignant and I found a lot of peace and contentment in the ways that people's stories curled up and settled in, I don't know how Shaprio did that so beautifully, but she did.  

I wasn't a huge fan of the audio version - it felt less of a performance and more of just a read aloud - no different voicing or anything, but it was fine.  4 stars for all the feels at the end.