Summary

Like a House on Fire begins in the San Francisco area, where a mid-thirties woman named Merit decides to go on a job interview at an architectural firm called Jager + Brandt after devoting several years to an unsuccessful painting career and the labor of mothering two children, Nash and Jude. The interview goes very well; Merit makes a quick connection with her immediate superior, a dynamic and intimidating woman named Jane, then returns home to tell her husband, Cory, the news about her hiring. Although Cory is excited to hear that Merit is heading back to work—and immediately moves to have rather uninteresting sex with her—Merit finds herself put off by his encouragement. She is relieved to leave the house and her children the next day in order to spend time going over briefs with Jane.

As a celebration of Merit...