hot coal

For locals, the major source of heat is the kanger, a pot filled with hot coal embers tucked inside their pheran, a traditional knee-length cloak.

There was no immediate word on why people at the event walked over hot coal.

Soon enough, it was time for bed and Ophie’s questions were still a hot coal, burning quietly in her brain.

The woman, Maria, described as a servant — often a euphemism for an enslaved person at the time ― of Joshua Lambe, was convicted of arson for using a hot coal to set fire to the house of a local doctor and Lambe’s home.

Choi leaves the reader with moments that are equal parts jewel and hot coal: A girl looks on as a Japanese exchange student charms the grandfather who has always rejected her, grieving parents who have kept the death of their daughter from her ailing grandmother cannot keep up the act, a child watches longingly as the one friend who has been kind to her walks away forever.