Tracy Chevalier Keeps My Midnight Oil Burning Bright
When came time to pick out a new book to read after finishing Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams, it was a no-brainer: I had to finally start Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel Burning Bright.
The second I opened the book, I caught myself letting out a small sigh of happiness. I was in reader heaven. I do apparently really love Chevalier’s historical fiction more than other authors and books.
Burning Bright follows a family made up of a chair-making artisian, his prim and proper wife, their two youngest children, and the memory of the son they recently lost. After meeting a traveling circus man, the family moves from the small town countryside to the city of London. Home becomes a quaint apartment with a strict and bitter landlady, a garden that is reserved for looking only, and diverse, quirky neighbors - including real-life poet William Blake.
Every sentence is a good one, and I never have to reread anything. I understand and love the writing the first time around, even if that’s at midnight, in bed, as I am falling asleep. Tracy Chevalier wins my award for most captivating writing style.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
[...] the book and read it. Ironically, I read this historical fiction circus tale right after finishing Tracy Chevalier’s historical fiction Burning Bright that happened to have a circus in it, without knowing they shared this [...]