As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
Mary Newcombe is adopted, but her family has been in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, for generations. Her father used to perform illegal abortions in the 60s with the help of his then-young assistant, Nurse Barbara Haskins–a practice that was more lucrative than altruistic, especially as there are more than a few youngsters in town with the doctor’s distinctive ears. Her mother, Birdie, is a woman who keeps her secrets. Mary and her son Danny have come back to town from their home in Brooklyn for Christmas, and to dig out clay from under the sands for Mary’s pottery business.
But on Christmas night, a huge fire consumes her father’s old clinic. Nurse Barbara was inside at the time, grabbing handfuls of drugs to pass on to small-time local drug dealers. She survives but with a nasty head wound, and refuses to talk to the police.
Lisa’s boyfriend Patrick is good friends and erstwhile business partners with Mary’s cousin Jimmy, but their “business” has evolved from unreliable oyster beds to plastic lobsters stuffed with drugs and mixed with live catch. Lisa is a waitress and housecleaner, desperately trying to keep her boyfriend alive by finding the missing money he owns the next dealer up the chain. She’s all too aware of Dr. Newcombe’s old business, and of the fact that he and Nurse Barbara called her mother a “frequent flier” because of her many trips to them.
Everyone has secrets they are keeping, not least the one about whether or not Mary herself was present outside that burning clinic, or at her mother’s home, passed out on the sofa, as she claims. Mary’s on a quest to discover her family of origin, and her complicated feelings for Jimmy don’t help–he was her constant childhood companion and they were kissing cousins, but now he’s making bad choices that involve her child.
Moving back and forth between Mary, Lisa, and Barbara’s viewpoints, Hush Little Fire takes us deep into small town New England life, where people struggle to survive the off-season and everyone is just doing whatever it takes. It’s a gripping read filled with very flawed characters you’ll nonetheless care about and be rooting for. Highly recommended.
