New Novel Brings Wisconsin Firestorm to Light in Door and Kewaunee Counties

Secrets in the Woods by Susan Levitte Book Cover

WI, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The night of October 8, 1871, changed the Wisconsin forever. While history immortalized the flames that consumed Chicago, another firestorm—fiercer, faster, and far deadlier—swept across the Door and Kewaunee Counties in Wisconsin. By the morning of October 9, 1871, entire communities had vanished, their stories buried beneath ash and silence.

In her debut historical fiction novel, Secrets in the Woods, author Susan Levitte draws from forgotten newspapers and rare family accounts, to tell the stories of that tragic period in Wisconsin history. While other authors have focused on the tragedy in the Peshtigo area, Levitte has focused on the destruction to the settlements in the woods of Door and Kewaunee Counties.

This autumn marks the 154th anniversary of the fires that ravaged, Peshtigo, Door and Kewaunee Counties, Northern Michigan, and Chicago. The author states, “The farmers and woodsmen on the Door Peninsula had to make split-second decisions that fall. Decisions that could mean death or severe injuries to yourself or your family.” The novel strives to cover the aftermath and how it shaped the communities in the burned region.

The official launch of Secrets in the Woods will take place at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN, October 17–18, 2025. The book will be available through major booksellers and as an eBook on Amazon.

HISTORIUM PRESS
Contact: Susan Levitte
Email: 1871fireproject@gmail.com

Phone: 414-699-8789
Website: www.1871fireproject.com | www.historiumpress.com/susan-levitte

Dee Marley
Historium Press
+1 912-577-7407
email us here

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