The Hidden Light of Northern Fires

"The Hidden Light of Northern Fires brings a little-known piece of the Civil War to vivid life, enriching readers with its clear-eyed understanding of both history and human nature. Deeply imagined and gorgeously written, the novel's beating heart is Mary Willis, brave, fallible and wholly a product of her time. Wang's debut will stay with you long after you turn the final page, and it's perfect for book clubs; you're going to want to talk about this one." -Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants and At the Water's Edge

"In this fine novel, Daren Wang compellingly depicts the darkness of our country's greatest era of strife, but he also finds courage and love. The Hidden Light of Northern Fires is a wise and timely book." -Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena and Above the Waterfall

"It is rare day when I thank an author for giving me a chance to read his book for a blurb. Daren Wang's The Hidden Light of Northern Fires is such a book for it turns out, he is such an author. He captured the feel, passion and struggle of a host of characters, both good and bad, living in a time I felt I understand. The language, even the cadence of those words, is spot on. It is a powerful book, a worthy story." -Robert Hicks, author of The Widow of the South and The Orphan Mother

"The Hidden Light of Northern Fires is a powerful and important novel about a lost piece of American history." -Natasha Trethewey, United States Poet Laureate, 2012-2014, author of Native Guard, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize

"I will carry this story of love and vengeance, ruin and restoration with me for a long, long time." -Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of gods in Alabama

"An instant classic, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires announces the arrival of a major talent, fully matured." -Da Chen, New York Times b

estselling author of Colors of the Mountain "Daren Wang's first novel is splendid-a distinctive clear-eyed perspective on a fresh corner of the Civil War. The characters are fully alive, wonderfully varied, and the narrative voice is particularly lucid, in sharp contrast with the raving bloody madness of that dark moment in American history." -Charles Frazier, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Mountain, winner of the 1997 National Book Award

"Mary Willis makes Scarlett O'Hara look like a whiney brat. Sure, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires brings to life an astounding lost story of the Civil War, but is also a stay-up-all-night, read-it-in-one-sitting novel that looses the corseted ladies of the era onto the real world." -Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City, American Rose, and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

"This is a vivid study of a corner of Civil War America that feels fresh and unexplored. Like all the best historical fiction, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires opens a window into the present by exploring the past." -Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama and Georgia Bottoms