A wicked Richleresque satire about a charismatic advertising executive and the three beautiful women who turn his life upside down.

Julius Roebuck is the creative director of a successful ad agency, husband to the headstrong Anne, and father to three lively children. He is also the attentive lover of a poet named Lily.

When his wife’s beautiful friend Yasmin announces her plan to get pregnant and describes him as the perfect sperm donor, Julius is startled at first. Then he decides that if she wants his DNA, she must also want him. Julius would have no trouble hopping into bed with Yasmin, but more children are out of the question. When he has a secret vasectomy to ensure there are no mistakes, his already-complicated life spirals out of control …

Fire in the Firefly is a wickedly funny satire about love, relationships, and the perennial war between the sexes.

Scott Gardiner is a journalist who has written for Maclean’s, Toronto Life, and National Geographic. He is also the author of two novels. The first, The Dominion of Wyley McFadden, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in the Best First Book category and the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award and declared one of the Globe and Mail’s Best Books of the Year. He lives in Toronto.

Scott Gardiner's profile page

• Dewey Diva Picks

Farce isn't the kindest or most compassionate of genres and Fire in the Firefly stays true to that rule. No one in it deserves Brownie badges (unless there's a new one for juggling lies). And that's the idea. Saints acting with kindness and generosity is beside the point.

Toronto Star

Marvelous and wickedly satirical.

Ottawa Citizen, for King John of Canada

A Richlerian skewering...hugely entertaining.

Toronto Star, for King John of Canada

A brilliant storyteller, Scott Gardiner clearly knows his way around men and women and the bonds they make and break. By turns, funny and melancholy, but always thought-provoking, Fire in the Firefly will stay with you for a very long time.

Terry Fallis, bestselling author of The Best Laid Plains

A rich, dark and highly accomplished debut.

Ottawa Citizen, for The Dominion of Wyley McFadden

Brilliant.

This Magazine, for King John of Canada