Conflagration

On a warm spring day in April 1734, a fire raged through Montreal's merchant quarters. When the flames finally died, 46 buildings – including the Htel-Dieu convent and hospital – had been destroyed. Within hours, rumors ran rampant that Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved Black woman fighting for her freedom, had started the fire with her white lover, Claude Thibault. Less than 24 hours later, Angelique was sitting in a prison cell. Her lover was nowhere to be found. More than 20 witnesses appeared before the judge, all claiming Angélique was the arsonist. But no one saw her set the fire. On a warm spring day in April 1734, a fire raged through Montreal's merchant quarters. When the flames finally died, 46 buildings – including the Htel-Dieu convent and hospital – had been destroyed. Within hours, rumors ran rampant that Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved Black woman fighting for her freedom, had started the fire with her white lover, Claude Thibault. Less than 24 hours later, Angelique was sitting in a prison cell. Her lover was nowhere to be found. More than 20 witnesses appeared before the judge, all claiming Angélique was the arsonist. But no one saw her set the fire. Conflagration! is an interesting read. Not only did I enjoy being transported back in time to the Montreal of 1734, albeit to a harsher reality, it was a story well told about the plight of suspected arsonist Marie-Joseph Angelique. Impeccably researched and presented, it is a journey of unsettling revelations. On a warm spring day in April 1734, a fire raged through Montreal's merchant quarters. When the flames finally died, 46 buildings – including the Htel-Dieu convent and hospital – had been destroyed. Within hours, rumors ran rampant that Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved Black woman fighting for her freedom, had started the fire with her white lover, Claude Thibault. Less than 24 hours later, Angelique was sitting in a prison cell. Her lover was nowhere to be found. More than 20 witnesses appeared before the judge, all claiming Angélique was the arsonist. But no one saw her set the fire.