Chicago Fire Trilogy

Largely focusing on romance literature, the award winning American author Susan Wiggs is world renowned, all due to her bestselling and accessible stories. These have been attracting readers from far and wide, drawing in an international audience, as people are enjoying her books regardless of where they’re from. Using elements of the historical novel as well, she’s no stranger to setting her books in the past, whilst retaining a grounded quality that readers can easily relate to. Writing with a high degree of accuracy, she manages to produce novels that are authentic, all thanks to the vast amount of research she does prior to writing each of her novels. Taking her readers on a journey, she transports them with her clear sense of fun and escapism, whilst simultaneously putting forwards a message and clear point-of-view. Articulating herself clearly, she writes in a direct almost matter-of-fact style that speaks to the reader on a personal, almost intimate level. It is her characters that also convey this sense of realism and intimacy, as they come alive almost, leaping off the page and staying with the reader long after they’ve finished the novel. Whilst she writes characters and protagonists from all periods in history, she still manages to keep it grounded, in that she makes them feel altogether human and, therefore, believable. This also allows them to easily resonate with her loyal following of fans, as she gives them a distinctive voice that really stands out from other similar characters. Iconic in a sense, she has created many series to, each one following a set of thematic lines, providing a clear premise for her audience. One such series that many people have come to appreciate over the years is her ‘Chicago Fire Trilogy’ series of books. Based around the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, it aims to tell stories from both in and around that particular event, relaying them from the moment the fire started. Using different theories from the moment the spark itself ignited, she incorporates stories of romance and drama, all using that single spark as the singular focal point. This sees a collection of stories that examines how the fire affected the residents of Chicago at that time, fictionalizing them in order to gain a greater level of insight into what it was actually like. Not only that, but the series is also highly entertaining, transporting the reader to a different time, making the series itself completely timeless in essence.