Signal Fires

A Novel

By: Dani Shapiro

Narrated by: Dani Shapiro

NATIONAL BEST SELLER • From the beloved author of Inheritance: "a haunting, moving, and propulsive exploration of family secrets” (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings)

Two families. One night. A constellation of lives changed forever.

A TIME Best Fiction Book of the Year • A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction • A Real Simple Best Book of the Year

An ancient majestic oak stands beneath the stars on Division Street. And under the tree sits Ben Wilf, a retired doctor, and ten-year-old Waldo Shenkman, a brilliant, lonely boy who is pointing out his favorite constellations. Waldo doesn’t realize it but he and Ben have met before. And they will again, and again. Across time and space, and shared destiny.

Division Street is full of secrets. An impulsive lie begets a secret—one which will forever haunt the Wilf family. And the Shenkmans, who move into the neighborhood many years later, bring secrets of their own.. Spanning fifty kaleidoscopic years, on a street—and in a galaxy—where stars collapse and stories collide, these two families become bound in ways they never could have imagined.

Urgent and compassionate, Signal Fires is a magical story for our times, a literary tour de force by a masterful storyteller at the height of her powers. A luminous meditation on family, memory, and the healing power of interconnectedness.

©2022 Dani Shapiro (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: LitHub, BookPage, Library Journal, The Millions, She Reads

“Signal Fires is an urgent and compassionate meditation on memory, time, and space. Shapiro has created a world that's as wrenching as it is wondrous.”—Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being

“Signal Fires is a haunting, moving, and propulsive exploration of family secrets.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

“Acclaimed novelist/memoirist Shapiro (Inheritance) writes with compassion and a deep understanding of the damage that secrets wreak. Shapiro’s first novel in 15 years was well worth the wait.”—Library Journal

Too much

I really wanted to like this book but I found myself wanting it to be over soon. It had a really good idea for the book and it really wanted to be profound but it felt like it built you up to this great peak to only be let down.

Wonderful story telling

As a fan of Dani Shapiro’s podcast and nonfiction works, I ordered this on audible within minutes of learning its upcoming publication.

I found it difficult to leave the story and looked for any excuse to do chores or errands or extra long walks since I only listen to books while driving or engaging in the above mentioned activities.

I can see how she pulled from her experience gathering ppl’s stories for her podcast, piecing together the myriad of ways secrets haunt us and, potentially, destroy lives.

I imagine this will be a NYTimes best seller. I can’t see a reason it shouldn’t be.

Beautifully written!

If you have ever listened to Dani Shapiro, this novel will NOT disappoint! I could NOT stop listening. Such a beautiful masterpiece, I loved it!

Great story

Didn’t love the staccato style of narration. The narrator’s style lacked the sensitive flow, prosody that the story reflected.

Incredible dive into family dynamics

How do they work in people’s minds? How do family stories take on unspoken, impossible weight? How do siblings assume and keep roles? And how can those systems a broken out of? Master class in storytelling

Loved!

I always enjoy hearing an author, read their book, but I will admit this one could’ve used a little more training in that area lol. Wonderful story, deep, connecting moments, and thoughtful. Certainly sad at times, but just so relatable to real life in that way.

Truly gifted writing

Shapiro has a gift for writing real; real characters, real events, real locations, real life. Every word believable, every family could be yours or mine.

The Truth in Signal Fires

How true is it...as true that secrets one keeps are poison to the soul. This story is filled with the tree of life. Branches that felt relatable to human experiences so broad, that it may be ubiquitous to readers of the world.

Horrible narration

This could have been a much better listen had they hired an actual narrator to read the book. The author does a horrible job and sounds like a robot half the time.

Read the book don’t listen

The story and plot were good but as most books read by the author instead of read by an actor fall short. While an actor can bring the author’s words to life this story struggled. I almost stopped reading on 3 different occasions because the monotone and story line were depressing. But the story and characters were compelling enough to make me continue to forge on. I would read/listen more from this author if she learns to pay true actors to read her works for her.