What happens when a town is destroyed by the deadliest industrial accident in US history? The 1947 Texas City Disaster, in which 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded, was also--until 9/11--the deadliest loss of firefighter lives in American history. Thirty-three years later in a diner risen from the ashes, townspeople are still grappling with the catastrophe. A tender and heartbreaking novel of grief, shame, and resilience, I WILL READ ASHES FOR YOU, is a tapestry of love stories, past and present among the heirs and survivors of the Texas City Disaster.
Titled after Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fire Pages,” the novel unfolds chronologically, following several townspeople, including narrator Keller’s 22-year-old son, Ballard Jackson, as he struggles to resurrect a life for himself while caring for his neurodivergent younger brother, Willis.