2003NBA 2003
The Great Fire
Shirley Hazzard · 1931–2016 · Australia
Why it matters
A decorated British officer surveys occupied postwar Japan's wreckage and falls, slowly and formally, for a young Australian woman living in Hiroshima's long shadow. Hazzard's National Book Award winner is devastation and restraint held in the same exact sentence.
At a glance
war novelromancepsychological novel
Difficulty 6/10slow pace278 pagesFormal, exacting prose and understated emotion ask for close, patient reading.
