Signal Fires

Signal Fires (2022) is a contemporary literary novel by Dani Shapiro. It is a metaphysical exploration of time, space, and family. In Signal Fires, the characters learn they are interconnected in profound ways. The novel shifts between different perspectives, making every character a protagonist. It is divided into 11 parts that are set in seven different time periods, from 1970 to 2020. Shapiro’s use of multiple perspectives gives the reader an intimate look into how the past, present, and future combine into one never-ending story.

Dani Shapiro is the author of six novels and four memoirs. Signal Fires is a New York Times bestseller and the winner of the National Jewish Book Award. As of 2022, it is being adapted for television.

Plot Summary

Signal Fires follows two families throughout the years, shifting between past and future present tense. The novel begins in 1985. Siblings Sarah and Theo Wilf are teenagers. Theo struggles through adolescence, but Sarah thrives as an athlete and student with high grades. She encourages her brother to sneak out of the house with her, taking their mother’s car and going on a joy ride with Theo’s crush Misty. Sarah wants Theo to live a little but underestimates his nerves. Theo crashes the car into an oak tree outside their parents’ house, killing Misty. Sarah takes the blame for the accident, claiming she was the one driving.

The novel flashes forward to the year 2010. Sarah and Theo’s mother Mimi is in a nursing home, while the siblings’ father Benjamin, a former doctor, prepares to move out of the family home. Sarah is married with twin girls and a successful career, but has affairs and struggles with drinking. She returns home to help her father with his move. She receives a call from Mimi’s nursing home, informing her that Mimi has gone missing. Sarah calls Theo at his job as a chef at a trendy New York City restaurant. Meanwhile, Ben’s neighbor Shenkman is a 40-year-old man dissatisfied with his life. He mostly spends time on his rowing machine, competing with rowers from his college days through an app. Shenkman’s son Waldo is 10 years old and an oddity to him. Waldo is passionate about the stars. He has an app called Star Walk on his iPad that he’s obsessed with; Waldo often sneaks out of the house at night to use the app to identify the constellations in the sky. Waldo is extremely smart but ostracized at school for his fixation. Shenkman is worried about Waldo but doesn’t know how to express his concerns. Instead, he yells at Waldo and punishes him for being who he is. One night, he grounds Waldo and takes away his iPad. Waldo overhears his parents talk about what’s wrong with him, so he packs a backpack, retrieves his iPad, and runs away from home. He walks to a mall where he finds a storefront at which to rest for the night. Meanwhile, Mimi has escaped from her nursery home, confused and in search of her lost children. She finds herself at the same storefront as Waldo, whom she confuses for Theo. Waldo comforts her by showing her the constellations.

The novel flashes back to New Year’s Eve in 1999. Sarah’s career as a film producer in Los Angeles has taken off, but her husband Peter’s screenwriting career has failed. She juggles being a wife, mother, and successful producer, and worries about her brother Theo. A few years ago, Theo dropped out of college and moved back in with his parents, suffering from poor mental health. He ran away without a word and has been out of communication in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sarah is delighted when Theo turns up at her door unexpectedly. Meanwhile, in Avalon, Ben helps his neighbor, Shenkman’s wife Alice, give birth to Waldo in her kitchen; her delivery came so quickly that she couldn’t reach the hospital. Though the birth goes smoothly and the baby is healthy, Ben is shaken by the event and the possibilities of how badly it could have ended. Shenkman is worried about becoming a father because he has a fraught relationship with his own father. Mimi is shocked and overjoyed when Theo calls her from Los Angeles to tell her that he’s returned to the United States.

The novel returns to 2010. Theo returns to Avalon to help Sarah look for their mother Mimi. They wait until their father Ben wakes up in the morning to tell him about Mimi’s disappearance. They drive around town looking for her. Meanwhile, Shenkman goes to check on his son but discovers that Waldo is missing. He and his wife Alice begin their search for Waldo. Waldo and Mimi have stayed together at the mall, agonized by the winter cold. Waldo does everything he can for Mimi, who keeps calling him Theo. He gives her a hat, gloves, and socks, and comforts her by showing her the constellations in the sky through his iPad.

The novel flashes forward to 2020. Waldo’s fixation with constellations is now celebrated as genius. He is a college student at Berkely but has already been recruited by graduate schools to continue studying the stars. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s back in Avalon at his father’s house, doing his courses online. Shenkman has changed in recent years. Alice died of cancer a few years ago, and he and Waldo still mourn her loss. Shenkman needs to sell the house and decides to move to Florida. Waldo is surprised by his father’s newfound sensitivity and softness. Over the years, Waldo has been in correspondence with Ben Wilf. Waldo texts to ask him if he can visit despite the pandemic.

The novel flashes back to 2010. As the Wilfs searches for Mimi, they get a call from her nursing home. The nursing home picked up Mimi’s last known location at the freeway by the mall via her tracking bracelet, which Mimi removed at some point. Waldo has become frightened because he can tell Mimi is dead. He uses his iPad to log into his father’s email, send a message to the last person his father emailed, and ask that person to call his father and tell him to go to Play Heaven at the mall. Shenkman gets a call in a tense moment with his wife. While driving and searching for Waldo, Alice says she wants a divorce. Both Shenkman and Alice blame Shenkman for Waldo running away.

The Wilfs gets to Play Heaven first, where they find Mimi dead. Shenkman and Alice arrive shortly after. Waldo explains to Ben that he tried to help Mimi by using his stargazing app. Ben assures Waldo that he did help Mimi. On the drive back home, Alice regrets declaring her desire for a divorce. She vows to quit her job as a lawyer, so she can bring Waldo to therapy. Shenkman, softened by the near-loss of his son, tells Waldo the story of Ben delivering Waldo in their kitchen.

In 2014, four years after Mimi’s death, much has changed. Ben lives with Sarah in Los Angeles. Sarah goes to rehab for alcoholism and is now sober. Theo owns two successful restaurants in New York City and is a devoted uncle to his nieces. Waldo’s mother Alice is sick with cancer. Although he doesn’t want her to die, his experience with Mimi’s death taught him that no one ever dies completely.

The novel flashes forward to 2020. Shenkman moves to Sarasota, where he comes to terms with his past and grief. Theo finds a new sense of purpose in having his restaurants provide food for people suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Waldo drives to California to be with Ben. He tells Ben that he still sees Mimi, but not just as an old woman, but at every stage of her life.

The novel flashes back to 1970, when Ben and Mimi first move into their house in Avalon. Sarah is two years old, and Mimi is pregnant with Theo. On this day, June 5, 1970, life is idyllic.