Burning Bright
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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 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
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The new top ten bestselling novel from the much loved author of Girl with a Pearl Earring Flames and funerals, circus feats and seduction, neighbours and nakedness: Tracy Chevalier's new novel 'Burning Bright' sparkles with drama. London 1792. The Kellaways move from familiar rural Dorset to the tumult of a cramped, unforgiving city. They are leaving behind a terrible loss, a blow that only a completely new life may soften. Against the backdrop of a city jittery over the increasingly bloody French Revolution, a surprising bond forms between Jem, the youngest Kellaway boy, and streetwise Londoner Maggie Butterfield. Their friendship takes a dramatic turn when they become entangled in the life of their neighbour, the printer, poet and radical, William Blake. He is a guiding spirit as Jem and Maggie navigate the unpredictable, exhilarating passage from innocence to experience. Their journey inspires one of Blake's most entrancing works. Georgian London is recreated as vividly in Burning Bright as 17th-century Delft was in Tracy Chevalier's bestselling masterpiece, Girl with a Pearl Earring.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Nice Book,
By Victoria Smith "Victoria" (North Yorkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Burning Bright (Hardcover)
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.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting historically, but not the most gripping story.,
By
This review is from: Burning Bright (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.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly, not her best.,
By Elizabeth Bennett "loralaughs500" (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Burning Bright (Paperback)
I have been a huge fan of Chevalier for a number of years now and absolutely love "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "Falling Angels". (I'd recommend them in an instant!) When I heard that she was writing a new book (after about four years of no new publications) I couldn't wait to get hold of it, let alone read it.
To summise, the novel revolves arounds the Kellaway family, who move from rural Dorset to late 18th-century London, where they happen to become neighbours with William Blake. The son, Jem Kellaway starts work at a circus and makes friends with Maggie Butterfield. It is very much a tale of their friendship and their relationship with the Blakes. On the surface, there isn't anything wrong with plot and it's not badly written. However, for me, it was missing something; I think it lacked passion - in her others novels, I have always felt that she enjoyed writing the books and developing the characters/plotlines. In this one, it didn't feel like Chevalier. In addition, one of the reasons why I like Chevalier is that her work doesn't come across as predictable, but in 'Burning Bright' there were one or two subplots (a pregnancy, for example) that were completely unnecessary. When that pregnancy occurred, I was almost screaming 'No!' because I just hoped it wasn't going to be that predictable. If anything, these episodes felt very contrived in order to take the reader from one phase to the next. I am going to make a large presumption here but it crossed my mind that Chevalier had written the book simply because she hadn't had anything published in a while; almost as if to bring her back on the scene. Would I recommend it? To be honest, I'd hesitate. If you like Chevalier, then at least read it, but have no expectations. If you have never read Chevalier before, DON'T start with this one.
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