Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022--San Antonio

Signal Fires, by Dani Shapiro is a book I didn't want to put down.  I cared for every character wanting things to go well for them--even including the abusive father who just didn't know how to deal with a son who was not what he expected a son to be and didn't realize the problem was within him instead of within his son.  The book jumps back and forth over several decades following the lives of the members of two different families who live across the street from each other but do not have social interactions with each other.  It addresses connections that occur between people by accident that can have long term affects (both good and bad) on the lives of family members who become involved both directly and directly.  It deals with the affects of hiding secrets and never discussing them even among family members who know the secret.  It deals with lives that are not as fulfilling as one had hoped.  It's main theme, however, is connectedness to each other in various ways.  I felt intimately involved in all the lives and just kept reading and reading until I finished the book within hours.  I rated the book at 4 1/2 stars out of 5, but I would have given it 5 out of 5 if the author had just ended the story without trying to analyze and justify her theme of everyone being connected to everyone else in the last 2-3 pages.