It's done, it's complete. I have finally read the entire Chicago Fire trilogy, historical romances written by Susan Wiggs. I can compare them all, I can contrast them all, and I can honestly say that the trilogy is a relatively pleasant read.

The Firebrand is the last in the trilogy and tells the story of Lucy Hathaway, another one of the wealthy daughters of reputable families in Chicago, 1871. Her story begins, as the other two do, on the night of the Great Fire.

Lucy Hathaway, for all that she is a wealthy young woman, is also stubborn, opinionated, and a very vocal suffragist. She's got a reputation for being unable to hold her peace. It's that reputation that gets her into trouble with people like Randolph Higgins, a banker newly arrived in Chicago with his wife Diana and infant daughter Christine.

Our girl Lucy goes so far as to proposition Mr. Higgins. Invites him to be her lover, she does, before she meets the Missus. And then the fire breaks out.

In the process, Lucy ends up saving a baby dropped from the window of a burning hotel. A baby who turns out, five years later, to be none other than Randolph Higgins' daughter Christine. A daughter he's presumed dead since the fire. A daughter's loss that helped to facilitate his marriage ending.

It's a fantastic premise. It just takes a while to actually get to the revelation. Once that's done, things move along much more quickly. Lucy, despite gaining a daughter, has lost a father, her fortune, and her home. She's opened the Firebrand, though, a book store named after one of the foremost suffragists. It's this bookstore that catapults her back into Rand's life, in more ways than one.

Lucy is a remarkable character, and will certainly ring true to some contemporary women. Rand is a likewise likeable hero, enough so that his period-accurate opinions about equal rights don't really attract from his appeal. Maggie/Christine sometimes comes across as a bit too eloquent for a child, but then I'm reminded of things my own nieces said when they were five, and I'm willing to let that go.

There are also bits and pieces of Deborah Silver (from the first book, The Hostage) and Kathleen Kennedy (from The Mistress, the second) that tie the entire story together nicely.

All in all, this is a good end to the trilogy, and much stronger, in my opinion, than the second book which was something of a let down. You don't have to read all of the books in the series to get the whole story; this one sums things up nicely.



Recommended: Yes