This author takes a volatile subject and turns it into a powerful message. Sensing that her life has spun out of control, the promiscious Ella finds her fragile sense of self defined by the unpredictable and dangerous rush of setting fires. As a child, Ella found herself helpless, powerless, drawn into the roar of cleansing flames. As a young woman, Ella's personal disintegration has led to drunken laisons with strangers, further shredding her minimal self-worth. Surrounded by family secrets, covered with burn scars, Ella could be a pathetic creature in lesser hands. But this Ella is a survivor, and Steinke gives her the courage to confront her life. The inner scars are what drive Ella; she can live with those that map her flesh.

It takes consummate skill to propel a story through the stages of renewal and redemption, without resorting to facile techniques. This writer, in lyrical and visual prose, creates a heroine worthy of notice, deserving of respect.

This novel is my great new find!!! I almost wish I could keep this book to myself because I loved it so much. To use an old cliche', you cannot put it down. That being said, I wish Oprah would put it on her show so others can feel what I felt for Ella the main character. This story is heartwarming and sad at the same time. Not since I read ORDINARY PEOPLE or CATCHER IN THE RYE have I felt so connected to a character.

René Steinke's The Fires is the story of a young women in herearly twenty's who not only suffers from pyromania but also frompromiscuity. Ella lives in a small town of Indiana. She dropped out of college and abandoned her teaching career because she felt that all she could teach her students was how to wait. She now works at the Porter local hotel. The novel starts off with Ella's grnadfather's death. She is torn by his death, and the fact that he committed suicide. Ella decides to go out and find her aunt Hanna, although nobody knows where she is. Ella feels she has the right to know about the death of her father. Ella slowly begins to realize that there are many loose ends and secrets surrounding her family. Ella's passion for fire can be compared with the passion one feels when in love. Whenever she feels depressed or angry. She has the need to set a fire and soothe her own inner fire and anger. She started off by burning little things, but with time the fires grew bigger and more dangerous. She blames her promiscuity on her scars. She seduces men in order to test her femininity and physical beauty. She wants to see if men will still want her if they see her scars. Although Ella is a fictional character she seems entirely real, and her tormenting yet captivating story entangles the reader's interest.