Before Kristy Towson turned thirty-five, she had built a life that looked successful from the outside, as an award-winning entrepreneur and a devoted mother to three teenage daughters. After two of her daughters ran away, the foundation of her identity as a mother crumbled, leaving her questioning her worth, her entire life. Darkness took hold. Months of despair followed until, in a desperate attempt to silence the pain, she set fire to her own home—with herself inside.
 
Arrested and denied bail three times, Towson found herself trapped—not just behind bars, but within the depths of her own mind. Then a prison guard handed her a pen and paper. With nothing left to lose, she began writing. What started as an outlet for raw, unfiltered pain soon became something else entirely, a lifeline. Each word she poured onto the page loosened the grip of trauma, illuminating pieces of herself she thought had been lost forever.
 
Through writing, Towson unearthed the roots of her suffering and discovered a profound truth: healing isn’t about erasing the past—it’s about confronting it, understanding it, and transforming it into something powerful. After the Fire is a raw and courageous memoir about resilience, redemption, motherhood, and the power of storytelling to reclaim one’s voice.