Notes on Surviving the Fire: A razor-sharp, darkly funny literary novel about male violence, a woman's vengeance, and whether killing can ever be justified - Hardcover

Murphy, Christine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1035411393 ISBN 13: 9781035411399

Publisher: Wildfire, 2025

Synopsis

'Savage, brilliant, merciless and mad as hell' FINANCIAL TIMES
'A thriller's bones, a satire's glare, and a comeuppance story's anarchic spirit' NEW YORKER
'Lives up to the hype' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE

Nathan says he loves me because I let him see me, and he knows how hard that is. He appreciates that I let him in. I say I love him because he is not a dick, in a world full of dicks.

Sarah Common is a survivor. She survived the brutal Maine winters where she learned to hunt; she survived the petty politics of the university where she teaches; she survived the fact that her attacker escaped justice and still walks free around campus. Or at least that's what she tells herself.

Nathan was the only person who believed what happened to Sarah. And now Nathan is dead. For Sarah to survive once again, she must find out what happened to Nathan - and decide whether, this time, she should seek justice . . . or revenge.

More praise for NOTES ON SURVIVING THE FIRE:

'A seething, fearless story wound so tight I held my breath from page one. Brilliant!' - NATALI SIMMONDS, author of GOOD GIRLS DIE LAST

'Murphy writes with the nimbleness of a hunter: muscularly and with precision, while also propelled by undercurrents of cold, simmering fury and hot, big-hearted empathy.' - AUBE REY LESCURE, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of RIVER EAST RIVER WEST

'Furious, fast-paced, emotionally resonant and memorable. I'll be thinking about this one for a while yet.' - ILANA MASAD, Los Angeles Times

About this title

About the Author

Christine Murphy has lived, worked, and travelled in over 100 countries, including eleven months in a tent across the African continent and a year as a resident in a Buddhist nunnery in the Himalayas. She completed the world's longest for-charity horse ride across Northern Mongolia, during which she broke her back (for the second time). A trained Buddhaologist, Christine has a PhD in Religious Studies.

From the Back Cover

A confronting, blackly funny debut novel about male violence, a woman's vengeance, and the question of whether killing can ever be justified

From the Inside Flap

The ash follows me. The smoke follows me. Everything is cold.

Sarah is a final year PhD student in southern California, caught in a landscape of extreme wealth and raging wildfires. She spends her time worrying about how she will be able to get a permanent academic position, and also doing ketamine and watching 80s movies with her best friend, Nathan.

Nathan was the only person to believe Sarah when she was assaulted by a fellow student during her first year. Sarah reported it to the university and to the police, but nothing happened. 'He's such a good guy.' 'He wouldn't do that.' 'Were you drinking?'

When Nathan is found dead of an alleged heroin overdose, Sarah is convinced it is a murder but, once again, the police don't believe her. As she digs into the case, she stumbles upon a disturbing pattern in the deaths of other young men on campus and begins to piece together a possible link between the victims.

As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts that he would organize for tourists. While these visitors were eager to shoot a buck for a souvenir, Sarah and her father approached each kill with something close to reverence, honouring the sacrifice the animal made and the sustenance it provided through winter. Now, Sarah must confront a different type of killing - and decide if it can be justified.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wildfire
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1035411393
• ISBN 13: 9781035411399
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288