Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Woman Lit By Fireflies

The Woman Lit By Fireflies
reviewed on + 1452 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


Brown Dog is the first novella in this collection. He is the storyteller and his experiences may lead to the unearthing of an ancient Native American grave mound to his friend and lover whose dream is to become a famous anthropologist. He does not know who his father might have been, a fact that haunts him throughout his life. When he discovers the body of an Indian chief he wonders if it could have been him.

The second story, titled Sunset Limited, finds four friends who demonstrated against war, the draft, and other issues together again after making their own lives. Originally, there were five friends and while four of them went on to other lives, Zip continued his unorthodox lifestyle which eventually lands him in a Mexican prison with an impending 50-year sentence and he fears he will be murdered. He writes to Gwen and tells her of his fears. She rounds up the others and they travel to Mexico with the hope of freeing Zip. The story finds one friend who hopes to redeem himself after abandoning zip so long ago.

The Woman lit by Fireflies was my favorite story. She loved fine literature, married, raised children and finds that her husband has turned into a controlling person and she doesn't want to live with him anymore so she runs away. The tale depicts her first night outdoors where she thinks about her life, what it is and what she wants it to be. The wonderful ending finds her in Paris living and reading as she always dreamed she would.