What would you choose if you had one hour to pack and flee from an approaching wildfire?

Those who have lived through or witnessed the devastating impact of wildfires will find solace and inspiration in Judith Lepore’s extraordinary new memoir, Finding the Phoenix. This true-life account chronicles Judith Lepore’s harrowing experience of the McDougall Creek fire of August 2023, the most devastating wildfire in West Kelowna’s history.

Powerfully recalling her emotions during the one month she and her husband were evacuated—living nomadically while enduring the anguish of not knowing whether their home had survived–Judith’s deft, compassionate writing also conveys the trauma and resilience of her fellow wildfire evacuees (Are my son’s goldfish still alive? What will I tell him if they aren’t?) The memoir is accompanied by dozens of impactful photos of the region, both before and after the fire, including haunting images of burned-out neighborhoods.

Early readers have described it:

“This memoir is poignant, emotional, matter of fact, generous, and genuine. I am really moved by it—and changed by a greater understanding of what before I could only imagine…”