FIRE FLOWERS is the critically acclaimed debut novel by Ben Byrne

August, 1945. Japan has been defeated in the Second World War. The country lies in ruins.

Satsuko Takara and her brother Hiroshi have lost their parents, and each other, in the firestorm  that devastated Tokyo. Hal Lynch, a haunted U.S. reconnaisance photographer, turns photojournalist in Japan, stumbling across a shocking story he is determined to bring to light. And Osamu Maruki, a dissolute writer and Satsuko's former lover, has returned from the South Pacific, a broken and changed man.

As there stories converge and spin out, the war-torn streets of Tokyo come alive in this dazzlingly observed tale of loss, love, and the search for truth. Cinematic, brutal and yet beautiful, FIRE FLOWERS powerfully portrays the shock, the struggles and the choices difficult choices that arise from the destruction of war.

Published in the UK and USA by Europa Editions in 2015 (having previously been published in Canada by House of Anansi in 2013) FIRE FLOWERS has been acclaimed by critics and readers alike:

"Excellent first novel . . . Byrne is very much his own writer — his prose lavish, his characterisation acute. Though he skilfully interweaves the strands of his narrative, he wisely avoids tying them together too neatly. The result is an impressive and nuanced account of a dark moment in history – and a promising literary debut." (The Independent)

"Dense with eye-opening evocations." (The Wall Street Journal)

"A gripping historical story, heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal measure. A remarkable debut – I loved it." (Shiny New Books)