Fire Angels
A Novel
Three weeks before Christmas, on December 1, 1958, one of the most horrific fires in American history broke out at Our Lady of the Angels elementary school in Chicago, claiming the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns. Fire Angels is a fictional account of that fire. It’s a story of arson; of bravery by parents, nuns, firefighters, and medical professionals; of a falsely accused janitor; of a cover-up within the Catholic Church; of a judge who, in having to determine the juvenile arsonist’s fate, is torn between loyalty to his church and justice; of a tight-knit community changed forever; and of two survivors who fall in love. Fire itself is also a central character in this story, a cunning observer that comes to life whenever a flame is lit.
Elizabeth Kern is the author of Wanting to Be Jackie Kennedy and Mercy Goodhue, a Puritan Woman’s Story of Betrayal, Witchcraft and Madness. She is a native of Chicago, a former manager of corporate communications at Apple, and a graduate of Stanford University, where she developed her passion for writing historical fiction. She lives in Petaluma, California.
