By Kaylie Seed
Sophie Jai’s debut novel Wild Fires takes a look at intergenerational trauma through the Rampersad family, who emigrated to Canada in the early 1990s from Trinidad. Jai takes the reader through a family saga spanning decades, countries, and cultures, while also focusing on Cassandra, who wants nothing more than to discover the secrets buried in her family's past so that she may better understand the impact they have on the present.
Readers anticipating a traditional plot with Wild Fires will be surprised as this novel does not conform to one. Instead, this novel as a whole is more of an exploration of loss, grief, and family dynamics. There are various timelines that jump around and the pacing of this novel is slow. Since there is a lot going on readers are going to want to give this book their undivided attention as they make sense of what is happening throughout the novel and with each of the characters. Jai includes a family tree at the beginning of Wild Fires which is helpful; the number of characters and subplots can seem daunting at times but Jai’s prose will capture the reader's attention.
Cassandra was not a main character in the way most readers would expect. She is passive and very much on the outside looking in. I believe that Jai did this so that the reader can see how Cassandra deals with grief around herself rather than what is being internalized. Something else to note is that Jai looks at how grief is expressed across different cultures, which may also have played a part in the creation of Cassandra’s personality. There are a lot of strong women throughout Jai’s debut and each of them have a unique voice that stayed true to their character as the book described different times in their family’s history. Those who enjoy stories that explore family dynamics, epic family sagas, and intergenerational trauma will want to pick Wild Fires up.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.