How to Start a Fire - Hardcover

Lutz, Lisa

3.56

8,149 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544411633 ISBN 13: 9780544411630

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

“How to Start a Fire will keep you captivated from beginning to end.”—Town & Country

“Excellent . . . Over the course of the novel we come to know intimately these three complicated women.”—Chicago Tribune

“Whip smart and cunning, deeply funny and profoundly moving . . . A knockout.”—Megan Abbott, author of The Fever

When college roommates Anna and Kate find Georgiana Leoni passed out on a lawn, they wheel her to their dorm in a shopping cart. Twenty years later, they gather around a campfire at a New England mansion. What came between—the wild adventures, unspoken jealousies, and one night that changed everything—is the witty, poignant story of our strongest friendships, the people who know us better than we know ourselves. Anna is the de facto leader, as fearless as she is reckless. Quirky Kate is the loyal sidekick, until she’s pushed too far. And stunning George is always desired, but just as frequently dumped. Alive with Lutz’s crackling dialogue and propulsive storytelling, How to Start a Fire pulls us into the tangled bond shared by three intelligent, distinctive, and deeply real women and pays homage to the abiding, irrational love we have for the family we choose.

“Lutz joins the ranks of authors who write deeply and sensitively about the shadowy yet life-affirming terrain of female friendship.”—Globe & Mail

“Lutz hits a home run in this glorious exploration of friendship . . . [she] portrays three fully drawn, flawed, and compelling women with fresh insight into the mysterious terrain of female friendships—a mix of shared experiences, affection, empathy, jealousy, anger, and love.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap:

From the best-selling author of The Spellman Files, a story of unexpected friendship—three women thrown together in college who grow to adulthood united and divided by secrets, lies, and a single night that shaped all of them

When UC Santa Cruz roommates Anna and Kate find passed-out Georgiana Leoni on a lawn one night, they wheel her to their dorm in a shopping cart. Twenty years later, they gather around a campfire on the lawn of a New England mansion. What happens in between—the web of wild adventures, unspoken jealousies, and sudden tragedies that alter the course of their lives—is charted with sharp wit and aching sadness in this absorbing, meticulously constructed novel.

Anna, the de facto leader, is fearless and restless—moving fast to stay one step ahead of her demons. Quirky, contemplative Kate is a natural sidekick but a terrible wingman (“If you go home with him, might I suggest breathing through your mouth”). And then there’s George: the most desired woman in any room, and the one most likely to leave with the worst man.

Shot through with the crackling dialogue, irresistible characters, and propulsive narrative drive that make Lutz’s books so beloved, How to Start a Fire pulls us deep into Anna, Kate, and George’s complicated bond and pays homage to the abiding, irrational love we share with the family we choose.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for How to Start a Fire:

"Few books have so expertly captured the intricacies and complexities of female friendship. Whip-smart and cunning, deeply funny and profoundly moving, Lisa Lutz’s How to Start A Fire is a knockout." —Megan Abbott, author of The Fever

"The characters are marvelous, and...Lutz’s offbeat wit is on display...An absorbing tale that will satisfy Spellman fans as well as women’s fiction readers who like a good ensemble story."
—Booklist, starred review

Praise for Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Files Series

“Lutz’s Spellman books are always hilarious...tender and melancholy and full of hard-won wisdom.”
—Laura Lippman

“Fast-paced, irreverent, and very funny, The Spellman Files is like Harriet the Spy for
grown-ups.”
—Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and The Man of My Dreams

“It’s not the mystery of how these cases ultimately resolve that will pull readers through, but the whip-smart sass of the story’s heroine, ace detective of her own heart.”
—People

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.