Home Fires Burning, by Robert Inman is the story of a small southern town in America whose tight knit community is in danger of being unravelled by the impact of World War II. The narrative centres on Jake Tibbetts, who, like his grandfather and father before him, is the editor of the local newspaper. Jake is a forthright man, who takes it upon himself to be the conscience of his community - he believes in honour, duty and responsibility, and always seems to be angry about something. He takes his wife for granted and is disappointed by his alcoholic son, Henry, whose child he is now raising as Henry is no longer on the scene. With the young men of the community fighting overseas, there is a feeling that things are changing, and Jake isn't ready for it. When Henry is reported dead, and his heavily pregnant wife turns up on the doorstep - a wife nobody knew anything about - Jake starts spinning out of control and sinks into a bottle. As his behaviour becomes more erratic, he is in danger of turning all his friends and family against him as he tries to comes to terms with the ever increasing upheavals in this once quiet town. Let me put it out there ... this is a great book. Full of trauma, confusion and angst, but told with heart and humour. Jake is a difficult man to like, but you can't help it. The supporting cast of characters are believable, and the way the story is woven together, with snippets about Jake's forefathers and Henry's escapades, is incredibly smart. This type of small town community may have already vanished, so this may be more of a nostalgic look at how things used to be ... but the sentiments featured, the difficult relationships exposed and the need to adapt to a scary future are very current. Home Fires Burning is a fairly old book so you may have trouble finding it ... but if you spot it in a second hand shop, then snap it up!
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 392 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print; ebook.
