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A powerful and evocative debut novel about two American military nurses during World War II that illuminates the unsung heroism of women who risked their lives in the fight - a riveting saga of friendship, valor, sacrifice, and survival combining the grit and selflessness of Band of Brothers with the emotional resonance of The Nightingale.
In war-torn France, Jo McMahon, an Italian-Irish girl from the tenements of Brooklyn, tends to six seriously wounded soldiers in a makeshift medical unit. Enemy bombs have destroyed her hospital convoy, and now Jo single-handedly struggles to keep her patients and herself alive in a cramped and freezing tent close to German troops. There is a growing tenderness between her and one of her patients, a Scottish officer, but Jo's heart is seared by the pain of all she has lost and seen. Nearing her breaking point, she fights to hold on to joyful memories of the past, to the times she shared with her best friend, Kay, whom she met in nursing school.
Half a world away in the Pacific, Kay is trapped in a squalid Japanese POW camp in Manila, one of thousands of Allied men, women, and children whose fates rest in the hands of a sadistic enemy. Far from the familiar safety of the small Pennsylvania coal town of her childhood, Kay clings to memories of her happy days posted in Hawaii, and the handsome flyer who swept her off her feet in the weeks before Pearl Harbor. Surrounded by cruelty and death, Kay battles to maintain her sanity and save lives as best she can ... and live to see her beloved friend Jo once more.
When the conflict at last comes to an end, Jo and Kay discover that to achieve their own peace, they must find their place - and the hope of love - in a world that's forever changed. With rich, superbly researched detail, Teresa Messineo's thrilling novel brings to life the pain and uncertainty of war and the sustaining power of love and friendship, and illuminates the lives of the women who risked everything to save others during a horrifying time.
"The novel's strength lies in how well it conveys - mostly without sentimentality - the selflessness and bravery of nurses during the darkest hours. The narrative remains engaging throughout, though the plot ultimately feels like it stops mid-sentence." - Publishers Weekly
"Despite an underdeveloped prose style, Messineo has an eye for accurate historical detail and skillfully portrays her characters' inner emotions; this story will stay with readers long after they have finished the book." - Library Journal
"A vibrant telling of the nurses' nightmares during a brutal war." - Kirkus
"A luminous once-in-a-lifetime story of war, love, loss and the enduring grace of the human spirit. I can't remember the last time I was so deeply moved by a novel. You must read this book!" - Lauren Willig, author of the Pink Carnation series and The Other Daughter
"An epic story of love, loss and survival that weaves meticulous research together with the complexities of the human heart. This novel is not to be missed." - Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of Flight Patterns
"The Fire by Night is quite simply historical fiction at its best: a genuine page-turner, with vivid language and rich, unforgettable characters. But more than that, it's a startling anthem to the service and sacrifice of women in World War II." - David Gilham, author of The City of Women
"With strong, sharp characters, explosive situations, marvelous detail, epic sweep, this fine first novel of war and friendship has it all." - Laird Hunt, author of Neverhome
This information about The Fire by Night was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Teresa Messineo is an outspoken woman whose passionate social interest and positions have been featured in a special documentary, a World War II photo shoot and photographic notice in the New York Times.
Teresa was alternatively schooled until her Freshman year, after which she transferred to a conventional high school. An honor student there, she earned a full scholarship to DeSales University where she ultimately won the Ross Baker Award for Excellence in Writing, that university's highest honor for writing. She graduated with a BA in English in 1994, with minors in Biology and Theology, and earned her ICCE and LIBSS while teaching at Pennsylvania's premier birthing center. Teresa passes on her love of learning through home schooling, even as she keeps an eye on medical missionary work for herself after she finishes educating her own kids. Teresa combines her love of medicine and writing in The Fire by Night.
Teresa is highly motivated about social justice and sticking up for the underdog. She volunteers at a food bank and is a 'volunteer actor' at her local hospital during disaster drills. She is the mother of four children, whom she has exclusively home schooled (her eldest son earned a scholarship to her own alma mater). Teresa's other interests include swing dancing, travel, studying Italian, performing in a Philippine dance troupe, playing Irish Tenor Banjo in a Celtic band, and personal fitness - she swims in her YMCA's 100 Mile Club (2014 marked her first year swimming the IronMan distance), takes Tabata class and competes in several obstacle mud runs each year. A voracious reader (she has read 2,397 books since completing college) and lifetime learner, Teresa's motto is, 'We learn from our mistakes.'
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