Scan barcode
A review by lissan
Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier
3.0
Burning Bright is a book for which I have both good and bad feelings. I loved Chevalier's "The Girl With the Pearl Earring", but was not so fond of "The Lady and the Unicorn", although I liked it more than this one. I find that the writing is very good, very visible and you see clearly everything from the story in front of you. What does not manage to attract me is the story, or the lack of action in the story. Here we meet Jem who comes with his family to London from Dorsetshire. We see the difficulties they have to survive in the new environment and how they slowly adapt. Maggie is a local girl who has grown up in the vicinity and she takes care of showing Jem and his sister how to survive.
There is an involvement of William Blake in the story. I don't know so much about him, so have to read up. He was a British poet, painter and printmaker and was considered slightly mad during his life-time, but is now considered as one of the 100 Greatest Britons (place 38). How times change! In the novel he becomes a friend of Maggie, Jem and his sister, and Chevalier, through him, introduces some philosophical discussions in the novel.
We follow these characters and others around them for about a year. It highlights the time during the French revolution and how it might effect England and a possible war between the two countries. The story seems very realistic in terms of how people lived and the harsh times faced by poor people. This is very well written and visualised. I just waited for something to happen. Maybe, we are all spoiled that there should be a good 'action' story within. I could see this book being more interesting as a non-fiction story of the times.
There is an involvement of William Blake in the story. I don't know so much about him, so have to read up. He was a British poet, painter and printmaker and was considered slightly mad during his life-time, but is now considered as one of the 100 Greatest Britons (place 38). How times change! In the novel he becomes a friend of Maggie, Jem and his sister, and Chevalier, through him, introduces some philosophical discussions in the novel.
We follow these characters and others around them for about a year. It highlights the time during the French revolution and how it might effect England and a possible war between the two countries. The story seems very realistic in terms of how people lived and the harsh times faced by poor people. This is very well written and visualised. I just waited for something to happen. Maybe, we are all spoiled that there should be a good 'action' story within. I could see this book being more interesting as a non-fiction story of the times.