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Burning Bright
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Burning Bright
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Burning Bright
Audiobook9 hours

Burning Bright

Written by Tracy Chevalier

Narrated by Cornelius Garrett

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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About this audiobook

‘Tell me, then: would you say you are innocent or experienced?'

1792. Uprooted from their quiet Dorset village to the riotous streets of London, young Jem Kellaway and his family feel very far from home. They struggle to find their place in this tumultuous city, still alive with the repercussions of the blood-splattered French Revolution. Luckily, streetwise Maggie Butterfield is on hand to show Jem the ropes. Together they encounter the neighbour they've been warned about: radical poet and artist William Blake. Jem and Maggie's passage from innocence to experience becomes the very stuff of poetic inspiration…

“A splendidly vital recreation of Georgian London.” SUNDAY TIMES

“A visual delight.” 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

“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.” INSTYLE
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 30, 2015
ISBN9781471293788
Unavailable
Burning Bright
Author

Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier is the author of the New York Times bestsellers At the Edge of the Orchard and Girl with a Pearl Earring, among others. She lives in London.  

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Reviews for Burning Bright

Rating: 3.2231271599348537 out of 5 stars
3/5

614 ratings47 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This was....OK, I guess. I really enjoyed Girl With A Pearl Earring so I thought I'd like this more. Oh well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.My Thoughts:After first reading ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’ many moons ago I tough I would never read a TC book again as I thought it was awful. I am glad that I have changed my mind and now have read all but one of her books.This book I quite enjoyed. What TC does do is give a good sense of place and I really felt I was following the characters along the streets of Georgian London. I also enjoyed the snippets into Astley’s circus. This also interested me as my married name is Astley and my husbands family were gypsies and travellers.My favourite character had to be Maisie, ‘Miss Piddle’. I loved her to bits and wanted to take her home myself and tell her not to go after the awful John Astley. She I think is the main reason I liked this book.There is also William Blake who lives next to the Kellaways. I didn’t really know much about Blake and to be honest came away from the book still not knowing much about him. For me the author could have concentrated more on the circus and just have Mr Blake as the nice man next door.Overall I liked the book very much and will always look out for more new books by Tracy Chevalier.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I absolutely love Tracy Chevalier, so I was looking forward to another of her works. However, no matter how much I wanted to like this book, I never managed to enjoy it all that much.The storyline revolves around a family, the Kellaways, who have moved from the country into the busy city of London in 1792 - the eve of the French Revolution. Jem, the eldest Kellaway son, befriends a working girl named Maggie Butterfield and their next-door neighbor, a poet named William Blake. Jem's father spends his days working as a carpenter for the circus, while Maggie's father spends his days cheating people out of their money. As Jem and Maggie grow up and learn from each other, they unknowingly become the inspiration for a poem that Mr. Blake is writing.Even as I tried to write the above paragraph, I faltered quite a few times, staring blankly at the keyboard and flipping back through the book itself, hoping that some forgotten, important plot detail would jump back out at me.The truth is, however, that I wouldn't be able to name any vastly important plot details at all. There were possibilities of a plot when the novel started, but none of them ever seemed to go anywhere.My favorite book that Chevalier wrote, "Falling Angels," similarly has a loose, vague plot. However, while 'Angels' gathers strength off of this fact (by turning your attention to vivid, magnificent characters), it did no favors for "Burning Bright."I wanted something to happen! So much of this book reminded me of a Dickens-esque world, and I kept waiting for the rush of complex, melodramatic action to go along with it.However, none came.There were opportunities - such as, the mystery that is hinted at right from the beginning. Did Maggie kill a man? Why?A couple times in the book, this is mentioned, and it seems to be a dark sort of secret that probably has hidden significance.The 'mystery' is revealed toward the end, but it wasn't even anything exciting, and it certainly didn't do anything to further any sort of plot.Chevalier is so amazing at writing personable, lovable characters, but I didn't feel any of that here. The main character, Jem, was not explored in any particular depth, and I never felt that I knew him. The other prominent character, Maggie, was a bit more life-like, but this is possibly just because she had such a springy, energetic character that was easier to write. I was constantly annoyed by her, leaving me with yet another person I didn't really feel that fond of.There are some 'bad' characters, such as John Astley, the son of the circus owner. He does one bad deed in one scene, and is never seen again.So much of this book, as I have said before, was left to go nowhere. At one point, a girl overhears a man speaking to the circus manager, and she learns that Philip Astley is not (as everyone assumes) the owner / manager of the circus - John (his son) is. Does John know this? Is his father taking advantage of him? Stealing the money from his son? Something?We never know.Countless other scenarios like this can be found through-out the book.John has an illegitimate son that his father will not accept. Mentioned once and then forgotten.Really - these things could have added a lot to the book if they were followed up on!The character of William Blake was one that I was curious reading, to see what Chevalier would do with him. I have read his poetry, but know little about the man behind it.He was a very neglected, minor character, even though I think that the author wanted him to play a large part in the story.Blake's garden is mentioned far more times than he is, and whenever he does actually come into the story in person (about three times for a page or two), he is always making these dramatic, profound speeches to the children. In every scene, he ponders aloud about deep, philosophical matters, or asks the children their opinions on in-depth topics. None of these topics are ever very relevant, and since this is all we ever see of Blake, he comes across as a strange, eccentric man.Perhaps he was...But I wanted to see more of him. He came into the story a couple times and asks questions like "If a tree falls in the forest when no one is there, does it make a sound?" and then leaves us.No character could possibly be spun from this, and he was actually pretty pointless, now that I think about it.I did briefly enjoy the descriptions of London, and Chevalier sends her characters roaming about to quite a few parts of the city, so we get a good look at it in 1792. Poorer areas are focused upon, and of particular interest to the story seemed to be prostitutes, both the beautifully tempting ones and the rotting, filthy ones that were far more common.It was interesting, though never quite as vivid and transporting as I know Tracy Chevalier is capable of.I wish that I had better things to write about this book, as it is from one of my favorite modern historical fiction writers, but I was very disappointed with it. Hopefully, my next Chevalier read will be a better one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was not a page turner for me, but I did get to a point that I wanted to know what would happen to each of the characters as their relationships developed. Before reading this, I knew some of Blake's art and poetry. I liked that the book shared a more everyday view of his life, during the year in which the book is set. It is also a book about whose message I have been thinking. So it has made me travel beyond just its reading. I found that the messages that Blake did share with the children, ultimately wonderful lessons and advice for how they could understand themselves and their relationships.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    About William Blake, at least in theory. He was really a secondary character, but there was a great deal of interesting circus and historical chair-making action, so it was pretty good. Wrapped up a bit too neatly for me.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Really disappointed in this novel of circuses and wood shavings in 18th century Lambeth. It managed to educate me as to the ramifications of the French Revolution back in the UK, but I was really hoping for something more when it came to the interplay between the characters. Everything seemed so underplayed somehow, and there was little in the way of plot. To top things off the journey at the book’s end managed to combine mind numbing tedium with utter improbability. I put on my speed-reading hat. Not even the bare buttocks of William Blake could redeem this one.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was disappointed with this, my second book by Chevalier. William Blake was a relatively minor character as was Astley & I found the story about Maggie and the Kellaways not particularly interesting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Historical fiction - here with The Blakes as next door neighbours to new arrivals from Dorset to Lambeth in Georgian London. A circus, the French Revolution and adventures seen through the eyes of two children. Enjoyable but not as good as other Chevalier novels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tight stories set in the rural poverty of Appalachia, capturing the voices, the despair, the apathy and the weak struggles to overcome.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful! As good as Girl with a Pearl Earring. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I reallu love tracy Chevalier. This is not one of my favorites but it still was pretty good. It follows a country family who makes chairs and the adjustments they have to make when they move to London. One of their neighbors is William Blake. Novel touches on the revolution in France and how London viewed it but did not nearly go deep enought into this aspect. I liked the characters jem and his sister Maisie and Maggie the nighbor and lively one .i did enjoy the Ansty connection of the circus and what that was like.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Burning Bright follows the Kellaway family as they leave behind tragedy (the accidental death of their son and brother) in rural Dorset and come to late 18th-century London. As they move in next door to the radical painter/poet William Blake, and take up work for a near-by circus impresario, the youngest family member gets to know a girl his age. Embodying opposite characteristics – Maggie Butterfield is a dark-haired, streetwise extrovert, Jem Kellaway a quiet blond introvert – the children form a strong bond while getting to know their unusual neighbor and his wife. Jem’s sister is besotted with the son of the circus owner, who leads her astray and gets her pregnant. The family leaves the city behind to return to the country.Set against the backdrop of a city nervous of the revolution gone sour across the Channel in France, Burning Bright explores the states of innocence and experience just as Blake takes on similar themes in his best-known poems, Songs of Innocence and of Experience.A little slow moving. A big book with not much happening!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Unlike the 'Virgin Blue' and 'The Girld with a Pearl Earring', this book just didn't do it for me - it doesn't deal directly with William Blake. Instead, it circumvulates around, narrating the lives of the Kellaway family, drawing from 'Songs of Innocence/Experience' as a time marker for the childrens' life experience in London. Blake seems to be like a father figure to the children, but with no depth as to his work, his daily occupations or his character. I would have preferred a more direct narrative, ideally, a first person one. This book has less depth historically than the other two novels I've read of hers, and, I am afraid to say, I am done reading her books for a while. Maybe because I've read them all at a specific time in my life, or just because I've grown out of her writing - maybe I'll come back to her work at some point, who knows!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Although it was nice to read something about the 18th century poet William Blake and circus master Philip Astley, to say the book is about them would be a very far stretch. Yes, they are mentioned but Tracy Chevalier's novel is really a slice in the lives of the Kellaway and Butterfield families and how they live those lives in Georgian London. Ms. Chevalier brought London of that time - the pubs, the homes, the factories, the entertainment - to life for me and I enjoyed reading historical fiction that was not about royalty and intrigue.Burning Bright is a "Coming of Age" novel and I felt that the two central characters, Jem and Maggie were well developed. I don't think you have to be a fan of Tracy Chevalier to enjoy this novel, but I think it would help. I am a fan of her books so I was willing to overlook the slow start and keep reading. In the end, I was happy I did so.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jem and his family have moved from the countryside to London after the death of one of his brothers. Everything seems strange and Jem welcomes the friendship of Maggie, a street-wise London girl. Although fiction this story also includes two real historical people: the poet William Blake and circus owner Philip Astley.Although this book does not have a very strong plot line it is an enjoyable read and the period details is interesting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Set in London of 1792, we find the story focusing on two families: an idealistic country family in search of work within the dreariness of a crowded and dirty city and a local family, street-savvy, jaded and having strong survival skills. The story which focuses on the children of these two families, lays a background for the work of enigmatice poet and engraver, William Blake. It is a metaphor for his "Songs of Innocence and Experience". For the most part, I have enjoyed Chevalier's other writings and found them to be engaging and insightful. This book, however, did not draw me in and carry me to another world and time, which was a disappointment. In its defense, it is clearly written, well-researched and paints a rather clear picture of the London of 1792 with its oppressive atmosphere, both literally and figuratively. This is not a bad read just not one of Chevalier's best.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another book from Julie's library. Julie originally brought Tracy Chevalier to my attention. I really enjoy her books - especially the way the historical person of interest is on the edges of the novel. Even with being on the edge of the novel, you get a good bit of information about them.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Set in London during the French Revolution, this novel chronicles the burgeoning friendship of two near-adolescents. Jem Kellaway, son of a country chair-maker, and confirmed London urchin Maggie Butterfield strike up a close friendship, bordering on first romance. The two are united in a fascination with their unique and libertine neighbor, poet and artist William Blake. Blake shares some of his poetry and engravings with the children, which keeps them hungering for more. As the children navigate the streets of London, they discover that the revolution growing on the other side of the Channel will affect their lives in ways they never imagined. Chevalier does a fairly good job recreating the London of the 1790s. That said, the addition of William Blake as neighbor to the main characters is the only thing that makes this book anything out of the ordinary. I was never convinced that Blake contributed to the story in any meaningful way. Each time he appeared it seemed like a drive-by William Blake sighting.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Found this book very slow was having to make myself read it rather than want to read it in the end didnt finish it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Slice of life that really brings the time period and characters to life; however, I was uncaptivated by it, slogging through it without really being interested, as there didn't seem to be a climax to it that was worth it. I enjoyed Girl With a Pearl Earring much more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jem, Maisie, Maggie Dorset and London. William Blake
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not much to say except I couldn't finish this book. The frame story about the families was just not engaging and Blake does not appear often enough in the first half of the book to make much of an impact.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I loved the characters and setting of the book, however I think the plot was weak. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the ending was a bit of a disappointment.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Brilliantly realised evocation of Georgian London and a cracking story
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A simple story neatly told, weaving history together history, biography and evocative descriptions of eighteenth century London. Three children - their ages, as with the style of writing, are presented as young and naive to begin with, but Jem, Maisie and Maggie are all in their mid-teens - are forced to 'cross the river' from innocence to experience during one tumultuous year in the late eighteenth century. The Kellaway family move from rural Dorsetshire to a smog-bound, cruel, hard-working London in 1792, and befriend a local girl, Maggie Butterfield. Living next door to the family, in a row of houses owned by Philip Astley (the man considered to be the father of the circus), is mad poet and radical William Blake. The children befriend him and his wife, admire his poetry (much quoted), and form a mutual protection society against the anti-revolutionary feeling building in the city.I picked up this book because of the tentative connection with the French Revolution, my pet subject, but apart from the year and the growing tension towards the end of the story, the characters and setting actually evoke more of a Victorian atmosphere, sort of Charles Dickens lite. Still, I wasn't disappointed - it is very easy to get carried away by the vivid descriptions of life back then, from London streets to the harsh working conditions of girls like Maggie, and there is also the occasional literary gem to be found in what could otherwise be read as a YA novel. I particularly love the imagery Chevalier uses to portray emotions - 'He gazed at his wife and she gazed back. To Jem it felt as if they were holding the ends of a rope and pulling it tight between them.' Also, the corruption of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' into 'pear tree's loss' by one of the characters has poignant associations for the Kellaways, and although the device is rather contrived, the effect is very emotional.The research into the background of the fictional characters is also fascinating - William Blake and circusmaster Philip Astley are real figures, of course, but I think Tracy Chevalier deserves special mention for placing Piddletrenthide, Dorsetshire, on the literary map! Some of the exposition can occasionally become heavy-handed, but the enjoyable story carries the infodumps well. Vaguely plotted, but good fun and a quick read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's March of 1792, and young Jem Kellaway and his family move from their small, rural village in the Piddle Valley to the bustling city of London. It doesn't take long for Jem and his friend Maggie to become acquainted with neighborhood outcast William Blake. A political radical, Blake guides the youngsters through the messy entanglements of everyday life while they influence his poetry.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read this book because I so enjoyed "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by the same author. I was disappointed, principally because of the lack of a strong story-line to keep things going. On the plus side, I enjoyed the historical setting, which is London in 1792-3. William Blake is used as a significant, but not major character, unlike the way Vermeer played a starring role in "Girl". The teenaged main characters are Blake's next door neighbors and make for pleasant but unremarkable protagonists. I continued to read to see if the plot line grew stronger, and it did, near the end. If you liked "Girl with the Pearl Earring", or are looking to try Tracy Chevalier's work, I'd pass on this.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not as close a connection between the characters and the artwork as the previous Tracy Chevalier books. Like the previous books however, a fascinating history lesson from an artistic perspective.Somehow, I never considered that William Blake was married.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not as close a connection between the characters and the artwork as the previous Tracy Chevalier books. Like the previous books however, a fascinating history lesson from an artistic perspective.Somehow, I never considered that William Blake was married.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    To date, I have read all of Ms. Chevalier's books except "The Lady and the Unicorn". All of her books were truly amazing in her writing style and how deep the personalities of her characters go. Out of all the books of her's that I've read, this one is definitely my least favorite. In fact, I can't say I really liked it all that much as a novel. Ms. Chevalier paints these incredibly intricate portraits of all her characters. I know the people in these books so well that I can expect them to come walking into my house at any time. This includes even the most minor of the characters, like Mrs. Pelham or Bet Butterfield. Ms. Chevalier's ability to give so much detail without boring her reading is what I think I like most about her writing. This book shows off this ability.However, the book lacks any great story. A family from a small village moves to the crowded city of London in the late 1700s. William Blake and Astley's Circus weaves in and out of the tale. These are probably supposed to be highlights, but there wasn't any real plot to be highlighted. This book lacked the suspense from Ms. Chevalier's other novels. There was no story to be told, no tension to be broken, no mystery to be solved. However, if you are a fan of her previous novels, I would recommend reading this simply because her portraits of her characters are so real. If you have not yet picked up a book by Ms. Chevalier, I highly recommend that you start with "Girl with a Pearl Earring" or "Fallen Angels".