Brilliantly realised evocation of Georgian London and a cracking story ( )

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 tenuousconnection 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. ( )

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. ( )

This story is about a community in outlying London during the late 1790's. The Kellaway family, moved into town from a small village in the countryside, must adapt to their new city life and to their new neighbors, the least of which is author and artist, William Blake. While the Kellaway family finds Mr. Blake to be a helpful, honorable man, other townspeople suspect him of being a sympathizer to the French Revolution and seek to send him to his punishment as a traitor. Tracy Chevalier has a talent with words, painting pictures to make you feel as if you're actually in England, experiencing the beauty of the countryside or the murkiness of the constant winter fog. ( )

i do not recommend this book. it is too scattered in content and too hard to figure out who or what the book is about. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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". ( )

Tracy Chevalier’s latest foray into the yesteryear is a quietly affecting journey of two mismatched youths into adulthood. Burning Bright portrays the Kellaway family subsequent to the loss of their middle child to tragedy in rural Dorset. At the outset of the novel, the Kellaway family is on an arduous journey to settle in to late 18th century London and begin anew.

Soon after, they move in next door to the revolutionary painter and poet extraordinaire William Blake and his loving wife. Burning Bright juxtaposes the budding friendship of young introvert Jem Kellaway with the sassy and street-smart London girl Maggie Butterfield with their exploration of the poet’s illustrious and now famous poetry collection Songs of Innocence and Experience which the fictionalized Blake bases on his interactions and impressions of the young protagonists. As usual, Chevalier paints a lush historical background which infuses an intricate and an enriched visual imagery and makes the ordinary characters come alive with beautiful vigour. ( )

'A family moves to London from Dorset and hey, whaddya know, William Blake lives next door.'
I'm a big fan of Chevalier but found this quite disappointing. Clearly a lot of research had been done, but there was a lack of narrative drive and a feeling that I was being told about the period rather than absorbing it throught the plot and characters. The involvement of William Blake felt contrived and I'm surprised to discover I don't know any more about him after reading the book.
Do read everything else by Chevalier. Sorry I can't recomment this one. ( )

Wonderful historical fiction tale about a couple of families in 1792 London. The book loosely contains William Blake, noted poet, artist and engraver and all-around ‘odd duck’ as the neighbor of the two families, but it’s mostly about the Kellaways and Butterfields. The Kellaways are innocents, newly-arrived in London from Dorsetshire—chair-maker Tom, his wife Annie and children Gem and Maisie, having been promised work by traveling circus owner Philip Astley. The Butterfields are hardened, street-wise life-long Londoners. The story changes points of view and we come to know particularly Jem Kellaway and Maggie Butterfield very well as they have adventures in the streets of London, have visits with their neighbor Mr. Blake and his wife Kate. I love books like this, not about kings and queens and Lord this-and-that, but the ordinary folk and a snapshot of what their lives were like over a year or so’s time.

Chevalier has ever told wonderful stories, and this one is no exception. While William Blake isn’t a central character in the book, he is rather prominent in the minds and eyes of the other characters and it does feature some of his work, as this takes place not long after he’d written his famed “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience.” I grew fearful towards the ending that the author would wrap everything up in a nice little packages in the way that real life never is, and thus spoil the whole story, but not to worry—it was decidedly satisfying for me. The reader was excellent, too, doing a myriad of voices and accents without faltering. ( )

The descriptions of 18th century London were fascinating but I expected that William Blake would play a more important part in the plot

The first half of this book was a difficult read. The country-come-to-city and street-wise characters were as you would expect. With the title of the book taken from William Blake's most famous poem and his presence in the book, I would have expected more about him. He would have been a much more interesting focus than many of the others. The last half of the book went more quickly as there was more action and a better historical tale to tell. The ending - with a major thread left hanging there was some character to it, but still much of it seemed too pat. Definitely not of the caliber that you would expect from Ms. Chevalier, having thoroughly enjoyed her other works. By far "Girl with the Pearl Earring" stands head and shoulders above them all. Fortunately the movie was well done - one of the most sensuous films I've ever seen. The passion and the attraction ran so deep. Not so with this book ( )

My book club selected this fictionalized story about artist/poet William Blake, who I hadn't even heard of before reading this book. This story takes place in England during the late 1700s. In order to overcome a family tragedy, a small town family moves to the city where they become neighbors with Blake and his wife. This is a tale of young love, the circus, the French Revolution, and especially of innocence, experience, and the crazy space between the two. I loved it and will definitely read more books by her! ( )

Takes a while to get into the story, but well worth it! ( )

Excellent book! Tracy Chevalier is an incredible author. Once again she has been able to capture life from long ago and wrap it around a master artist with a fantastic tale of overcoming change. ( )

View my full review here: http://literaturecrazy.blogspot.com/2... ( )

Dette var ikke den boka som gjorde mest inntrykk på meg. Mulig at jeg burde ha lest den "på ordentlig" i stedet .... ( )

Good, but not as good as her others. ( )

I loved The Girl with the Pearl Earring, so I began this book with high hopes -- especially after reading the richly descriptive opening paragraphs. Unfortunately, the writing in this book is so awkward and clunky I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. Writer Tracy Chevalier leaves nothing to the reader's imagination. Not only did she tell me exactly how everything looked, she was determined to describe in detail how every character felt at every moment of the novel. If the characters had been three dimensional people who occasionally felt or thought something unexpected, this might have been a bonus. Reading the predictable feelings of dull characters, however, makes for a deeply boring book. Save your money and give this one a miss. ( )

Burning Bright is the latest novel by Tracy Chevalier, the author of Girl With a Pearl Earring. Like GWAPE, Burning Bright is based on a famous figure, in this case the poet, artist and engraver William Blake. Blake is best known for his poetry, particularly the collections Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. He was, however, a well-regarded painter, and experimented with new methods of engraving.

In this book Blake is an important background figure who becomes involved with his neighbors in late 18th century London. He lives next door to the Kellaways, a family which has come to London from their village in Dorset. Jem Kellaway, the teenage son, becomes friends with a neighborhood girl, Maggie Butterfield. Jem and Maggie explore and experience London, with Jem's younger sister Maisie often in tow. They become friendly with William Blake and his wife.

Life is not easy for the poor in 18th century London . In addition to learning how to manage their world, the children must contend with exploitative adults, family tragedies and political turmoil in England.

This was another book I purchased to read on a long plane ride. It is well written, and very obviously well researched. It is not, however, of the caliber of GWAPE. It lacks emotional intensity and any kind of suspense. In other words, it's OK but not great. ( )

just scanning; may read another time

What Tracy Chevalier did for 17th Century Delft in Girl with the Pearl Earring and 15th Century Brussels in The Lady and the Unicorn, she has done for Georgian London; especially a row of houses in Lambeth known as Hercules Buildings.

William Blake, poet, engraver, genius, madman, lived at number 13 Hercules Buildings during the 1790s. In Chevelier’s story a family of chairmakers from Dorsetshire, the Kellaways, move to number 12 after a family tragedy and a flippant comment from the infamous (and actually existed) circus owner, Philip Astley.

Thirteen-year-old Jem Kellaway and his new street urchin friend, Maggie befriend and are entranced by Mr and Mrs Blake, the former of whom reads to them, shows them copies of his books and how his printing press works and write “London” and “Tyger”. But as the French Revolution turns to bloodshed and fears of the same wash over London any supporters, the Blakes included, are not to be trusted.

Throw into the mix Philip Astley’s circus, his rather promiscuous son and a ton of illegitimate babies and really you’ve got a pretty good read.

Unlike a lot of writers of historical fiction, Tracy Chevalier never allows her stories to be real, even for a minute, and in return she always gives the most wonderfully accurate historical detail. Yes, like Girl with a Pearl Earring this is pure fantasy, but isn’t all history merely a matter of opinion :)

Historical perspective of London was good but story itself very thin. Story with a happy ending ( )