Fireweather

Winona Dalloway is living in a city under siege by fires. Black ash drifts down like snow, and the songbirds sound like dinosaurs. Her husband is no longer her husband, and her children are no longer at home with her.

The doctors have decided she is mad. Winona has to convince them otherwise, and prove she is a sane, rational person in a world that seems turned inside out. The more firmly the professionals pronounce on her condition, the louder the voices inside her own head become.

She finds comfort among plants and animals. Through them she starts to picture a different way of being, one that might mend her broken heart.

This is a strange, unsettling novel with a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere. The setting is hostile, the mood is tense and uneasy, and the reader is kept close to Winona's mind as it comes under pressure. Its tone is dark, though the pull toward the natural world offers a thread of tenderness.