Ash Wednesday - Paula McLain - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Paula McLain

SERIES: A Point In Time, #2
GENRE: Short Story, Historical Fiction
RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A slow-burn but impactful short story about a real-life fire tragedy in 1908.

Story Synopsis:
Fritz Hirter, a forty-six year old Swiss-German immigrant, has been in the US since twenty years, but is still almost as poor as he was on the day of his arrival. With his wife Eva and their five young children to support, Fritz works hard at his job of being the lone custodian of the school where his children also study. He has his reservation about the fire safety of the school but with its being primarily attended by immigrant children, the school is not high on the priorities of the management.
On Ash Wednesday in 1908, a massive fire breaks out, leaving several children dead, and changing many lives forever, including that of Fritz.
The story is written in the limited third person perspective of Fritz.


When I picked up this story, it was only for the title. (I had wanted to read this on Ash Wednesday, but Good Friday is close enough! 😉) The title plays a nuanced double role here, indicating not just the day of the tragedy but also the type of tragedy – a fire.

The story is a bit on the slower side, but if you keep your patience with it, the experience is definitely worth a read. As I read through the pages, I was stunned by how impactful the writing was, especially during the scenes of the blaze. I couldn’t help wonder what I would do were I in Fritz’s place.

The author’s writing style reminded me a little of Claire Keegan’s approach towards storytelling. Both have a similar habit of delving into character thoughts and playing with the flow of the current narrative.

The character detailing is such that you feel their every emotion. Even within such a short story, you feel like you know every main character’s personality. Other than the fire itself, the story also highlights the systemic discrimination against immigrants, and on a micro level, the guilt with which parents always struggle, and how childhood memories with parents affect our own approach towards being a parent.

What I had not expected was to discover that the story was based on the Collinwood school fire in 1908. Such a tragedy! I can’t imagine how those parents would have felt that Ash Wednesday. Imagine sending your kids to school and not seeing them return alive. 😢

Though this little tale will leave you with bittersweet feelings at the end, it is still a heartfelt work, and I definitely recommend it.

Don’t miss out on the author’s note at the end where she mentions how she came to write this story about the true-life fire and Fritz Hirter.

This story is a part of the ‘A Point in Time’ collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

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