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-- Love, arson, and life in a vanishing landÃ2017., General, Liveright Publishing Corporation Call No: 364.16 H587a Edition: First edition. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate - there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning. The culprit, and the path that led to these crimes, is a story of twenty-first century America. Though it's hard to believe today, one hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly it's been drained of its industry - agriculture - as well as its wealth and population. In an already remote region, limited employment options offer little in the way of opportunity. American Fire asks what happens when a community gets left behind. Hesse brings to life the Eastern Shore and its inhabitants, battling a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. The result evokes the soul of rural America - a land half gutted before the fires even began. Monica Hesse is the author of the young adult historical mystery novel Girl in the Blue Coat. She is a feature writer for the Washington Post, where she has covered royal weddings, dog shows, political campaigns, Academy Awards ceremonies, White House state dinners, and some events that felt like a mixture of all of the above. She lives in Maryland"--Provided by publisher.
