Burning Bright: Amazon.co.uk: Tracy Chevalier: Books

Review

Praise for ‘Burning Bright’:

'A visual delight. Chevalier's meticulous brushstrokes allow us to hear the "youthful harlot's curse" and feel "the damp souls of housemaids"'
The Times

'Burning Bright is an ambitious, impressively-researched novel…You can almost smell the smoke and mildewed clothes, see the gaunt, pock-marked faces of people struggling to survive and sense Jem's wonder as he gazes across the murky Thames to a perplexing world'
Daily Express

'A subtle clarity of style, quirky but seldom over-drawn characters, engaging touches of domestic detail and a splendidly vital recreation of Georgian London'
Sunday Times

'Vivid, romantic and pacey'
Daily Mail

'Those who admired Chevalier's atmospheric evocation of 17th-century Delft will find much to enjoy in her vivid reconstruction of late 18th-century London'
Guardian

‘Passionate and compelling it provides a fascinating historical insight.’
InStyle

More praise for ‘Burning Bright’:

‘Marvellously plotted…Chevalier masterfully works the themes and images of Blake's poetry into a tale of pure souls "burning bright" in a tarnished, slippery world'
Susan Vreeland, Waterstone's Books Quarterly

'Her pen-sketches of the squalor, smells and sounds of low-life London flesh out the history into immediacy'
Financial Times

'Entertaining and involving'
Literary Review

'Chevalier's characteristic love of detail - from the smells of the cattle market to a grotesque description of a man eating a pie - brings Georgian London vividly to life, while meticulous research allows her to weave fact and fiction into a convincing and persuasive narrative'
Irish Times

'Great pleasure is derived from Chevalier's vivid sense of place. In her hands, late 18th-century London and Lambeth in particular spring to life, and you see a city teetering on the brink of the rapid expansion and industrialisation that is about to change it forever'
Historical Novels Review

‘great pleasure is derived from Chevalier’s sense of place. In her hands late 18th century London and Lambeth in particular spring to life.’ Historical Novels Review

‘this is an engaging novel of families and friendship’ Choice Magazine

‘Chevalier’s characteristic love of detail…brings Georgian London vividly to life while meticulous research allows her to weave fact and fiction into a convincing and persuasive narrative. Indeed her vivid portrayal of the soico political realities of the day …serves ultimately to vindicate Blake’s warning that “fear of originality will stifle those who speak with original voices.” In Burning Bright, Chevalier gives these people their voice.’ Irish Times

‘This is a book that sets out to paint an absorbing picture of a time, a place and a people – and it does the job wonderfully.’ Irish Examiner

Review

Praise for 'Burning Bright': 'Eagerly awaited.' Bookseller 'If this is anywhere near as luminescent as 'Girl With a Pearl Earring', this will be one of 2007's must-read treasures.' The Works Praise for 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'; 'This is a wonderful novel, mysterious, steeped in atmosphere. It is deeply revealing about the process of painting!a truly magical experience.' Guardian 'It has a slow, magical current of its own that picks you up and carries you stealthily along!a beautiful story, lovingly told by a very talented writer.' Daily Mail 'Life in 17th century Delft is evoked with a sharp eye for historical detail and the descriptions of Vermeer at work are superbly drawn. A sensuous and vividly crafted work of fiction from a highly talented young novelist.' Mail on Sunday Praise for Girl with a Pearl Earring 'Chevalier's writing skill and her knowledge of seventeenth-century Delft are such that she creates a world reminiscent of a Vermeer interior: suspended in a particular moment, it transcends its time and place' New Yorker 'This is a novel which deserves, and I am sure will win, a prize -- or two.' Times 'A portrait of radiance!Tracy Chevalier brings the real artist Vermeer and a fictional muse to life in a jewel of a novel.' Time Praise for 'The Lady and the Unicorn': 'A beautifully written tale, I could not put it down!an exquisite, moving and convincing story, drawing realistic and rounded characters who each tell their aspect of the tale. The theme of the five senses is woven into the plot so cleverly that our perception of the novel is sharpened!This is not just a novel about the creation of a work of art, but a tale of ambition, lust, betrayal and heartbreak!a compelling and enormously enjoyable work.' Evening Standard 'The Lady and the Unicorn will perhaps eclipse Pearl Earring.' Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

2.4 out of 5 stars

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

Interesting historically, but not the most gripping story. 17 Aug 2007

By Helen Simpson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

An interesting and detailed picture of London in the late eighteenth century. The people and the industries of the time, along with the feeling of unrest as King George worries that his citizens will revolt like the French.

It took me a little while to get into the story, possibly because I wasn't particularly interested in the circus or the Astleys who owned it. I found it a little poor but it did improve and as the story developed I did grow to like Jem and Maggie, the main characters.

I would disagree with the synopsis that states, "Their friendship takes a dramatic turn when they become entangled in the life of their neighbour...William Blake." They hardly become entangled. He's a printer, a radical and poet who just happens to be a neighbour and features briefly from time to time to give them a little food for thought.

Pleasant, but not gripping.

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

A Nice Book 18 Jun 2007

By Victoria Smith

This was a good read, a good tale, but nothing exciting. It told you little bits about William Blake, but I do not feel like a Blake connoisseur having read this! The book tells of a family moving from Dorsetshire to London in 1792, which would probably ring true with anyone making a similar move today. The family live next door to William Blake, and occasionally their paths cross. I loved 'Girl with a Pearl Earring,' it made me seek out Vermeer's work, and look with renewed vigour at Dutch painting. This book simply does not enthuse you with any similar passion.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

The Underbelly of London with William Blake in the Background 3 May 2007

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

I suspect that if you have never read any of Tracy Chevalier's work, you'll like this book better than if you are a fan. Burning Bright intensely develops London with a sense of place that you won't find exceeded in too many novels based in the 1790s. But with London being such a big part of the book, you may find the plot and the characters pale by comparison. That's why I rated the book at three stars.

If you loved Girl with a Pearl Earring and carry with you the joy that you gained from learning about Vermeer and painting, I suspect you'll think that Burning Bright is more like a two-star book. Other than his sympathies for the French Revolution, you won't know much more about Blake when the book ends than when it began (except for a few glimpses of his personal quirks).

Those who will love this book best will be those who want to know about Philip Astley and Astley's Circus. Astley was the founder of the modern circus and cut quite a colorful figure in English society at the time. Ms. Chevalier's fictional characters are intimately tied to Astley, his son, and the circus.

You'll spend most of your time following the Kellaway family (father, Thomas, a maker of fine chairs; mother, Anne, a button maker and homemaker; daughter, Maisie, apprentice button maker; and Jem, son, apprenticed to his father) as they leave rural Dorset to follow up on Astley's promise of sponsorship for their chair making if they come to London. Astley, with prodding, makes good and the Kellaways are soon tenants in an Astley building. We see London through their fresh eyes.

To draw the contrast between rural people and Londoners, Ms. Chevalier develops another fictional family, the Butterfields, whose father, Dick, runs scams, whose son, Charlie, is an unenthusiastic scamster in training, whose mother, Bet, is a washerwoman, and whose daughter, Maggie, works in factory jobs and as a washerwoman, too. The families are mainly connected through Jem and Maggie who become friends.

William Blake and his wife are neighbors of the Kellaways. The two mostly make cameo appearances except for a few occasions where Blake discusses philosophy with Jem and Maggie. As the book ends, Blake has become attached to the two and provides a valuable gift for each.

William Blake is the poet I most often quote in my books. He has a timeless ability to capture the essence of modern ironies . . . especially the way that our perspective captures our ability to perceive and enjoy. Knowing his poetic works quite well, I looked forward to gaining a deeper appreciation. Just the opposite happened; there was so little Blake, the poet, in the book that I felt him disappearing from my perception.

This tyger needed to burn a lot brighter than it did.