Signal Fires

The family drama is a literary genre that explores the way families deal with conflict. Family dramas often explore the dynamics of power within a family unit, placing certain characters in different roles of influence and power. They are popular because they are relatable, accessible, and often explore universal themes of what it’s like to be within a microcosm of society.

Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 classic Little Women is a formative family drama that popularized the genre. In Little Women, the four March sisters deal with conflicts of poverty, an absent father, and their own hopes and dreams. When the girls are forced to grow up and find their paths in life, the divergence of their sisterhood challenges their identities. Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel The Godfather is another, though different, example of the family drama. In The Godfather, conflicts involve business dealings, loyalty, and survival. The central family is part of the mafia, and the characters’ developments are based on conforming to certain rules.

The contemporary literary landscape has seen an upsurge in family drama novels. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (published in 2003), My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (2004), Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (2014), Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016), The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (2016), and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017) are all best-selling novels that deal with familial relationships and how these dynamics influence individual growth.

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro is a family drama because its conflicts involve two families—the Wilfs and the Shenkmans. Through the novel’s structure, in which every character gets their own chapters, Shapiro outlines how larger family conflicts can influence the wellbeing of individual family members. The novel begins with a family secret: the death of Sarah and Theo Wilf’s friend, Misty, and the siblings’ part in it. Sarah’s lie regarding her part in the death (as Theo was the driver in the car accident that killed Misty), a way to protect her brother, keeps the siblings connected and prevents them from receiving the help they need. This conflict haunts Sarah and Theo, and they struggle with self-harm as the years go on. Their parents, Ben and Mimi, are helpless in preventing their children’s self-destruction because they are also bound by the secret, unable to speak about it. However, the Wilfs eventually comes together after the disappearance and death of Mimi Shenkman.

The Shenkmans also experience their own drama. Waldo is misunderstood by his parents, especially his father Shenkman, who suffers from his own resentment. Shenkman loves Waldo but expresses his concern for Waldo’s perceived differences through anger and punishment. The schism in their family is based on a lack of openness and acceptance. Waldo is forever scarred by his father’s treatment of him, despite Shenkman softening over the years. When Waldo’s mother Alice dies, he feels the distance between him and his father grow. Shenkman ends up alone, while Waldo develops a friendship with Ben and eventually starts a family of his own.

The Wilfs and the Shenkmans share a conflict when Mimi runs away from her nursing home and Waldo runs away from home. Mimi and Waldo find each other, and Waldo helps comfort Mimi as she dies. Years ago, Ben helped Alice give birth to Waldo in her kitchen. There has always been an invisible bond between the Wilfs and the Shenkmans, and their close proximity to each other’s conflicts shows that all families go through problems.