The Fires: A Novel | Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir
A volcanologist discovers herself in the face of nature's fury in this heartrending thriller. Anna Arnardóttir has fire in her blood. A second-generation volcanologist, she's Iceland's leading expert on the fire-breathing giants that could, without warning, reduce a country to ash. Her work regularly puts her in harm's way, but Anna never takes unnecessary risks, living an orderly, suburban life with her tax-lawyer husband and children. Then a series of earthquakes rocks Reykjavík, and Anna's stable life is suddenly on shaky ground when she falls for Tómas Adler, a bohemian photographer. As Anna tumbles into a passionate affair, the earthquakes take a violent turn. Small volcanic eruptions herald disaster to come, but will she trust what she knows in her heart is about to happen? Or listen to her head and risk the safety of the entire nation? Having so much of her world and what she knows about herself upended, can she trust her instincts? The Fires is a lyrical, heart-stopping tale of survival and self-discovery about one woman's reckoning with all she holds sacred--though it will take every fiber of her being.