The Firebrand

February 19, 2001

The great Chicago fire of 1871 is the catalyst for a story that deftly portrays a romance against the backdrop of the budding suffrage movement. Despite Lucy Hathaway's aristocratic background, her fiery political views and unconventional attitudes make her a social outsider. Nevertheless, she feels unexpectedly drawn to handsome banker Rand Higgins until she discovers that he's married to a dainty china doll of a woman. The fire changes everything, however, badly injuring Rand, estranging his wife and depriving Lucy of her father and her wealth. In the strangest twist of all, Rand's infant daughter, presumed dead in the fire, lands in Lucy's arms and is raised as an orphan. Although fate brings Lucy and Rand together again, the obstacles to their growing passion seem almost insurmountable. Both attempt to obtain custody of the child, and Lucy's association with the suffragists enrages Rand's banking colleagues. With this final installment of Wiggs's Chicago Fire trilogy (which also includes The Mistress), she has created a quiet page-turner that will hold readers spellbound as the relationships, characters and story unfold. Fans of historical romances will naturally flock to this skillfully executed trilogy, and general women's fiction readers should find this story enchanting as well.