The Book of Fire - a timely tale, perhaps, given the recent blazes that have taken place in Greece - begins with a thought-provoking set of sentences which immediately gets the reader wondering why the man in question started the fire? Was it deliberate? And when the narrator says that she has left him, is she referring to literally leaving him to burn to death or is she walking away from some sort of relationship with him?
We soon learn that the man is a property developer that the narrator Irini has taken against and the author goes on to write vividly about the impact the fire has had on Irini's household e.g. describing the burns on her husband Tasso's hands and the scars on their daughter Chara's back, while the use of repetition as a literary device (particularly "Once upon a time") is indicative of the difficulty Irini has in recalling the devastation of the fire as well as the guilt she feels about her part in these events.
We soon learn that the man is a property developer that the narrator Irini has taken against and the author goes on to write vividly about the impact the fire has had on Irini's household e.g. describing the burns on her husband Tasso's hands and the scars on their daughter Chara's back, while the use of repetition as a literary device (particularly "Once upon a time") is indicative of the difficulty Irini has in recalling the devastation of the fire as well as the guilt she feels about her part in these events.