Burnt Mountain

Love Siddons writing and character portrayal. She is one of those "wrap me in a blanket" authors, who's books just envelope me. This fell short in that I thought the plot not quite believeable nor as well developed as past books. To make a long story short, the heroine has a dark secret in her past, which she leaves behind. She moves on, meet a man, kind of a "out there" type story teller who seems too good to be true. The part that did not seem developed to me is how he went off the deep end. There was no explanation for his behavior. I just found that strange. Maybe there are Irish characters or traits with which I am not familiar. I am not sorry I read it, just sorry it didn't meet her past standards. ( )

Not one of Siddons best ( )

Summary-Thayer Wentworth is a tomboy, growing up in a family that depends on feminine wiles, appearances and making a "good marriage". Her relationship with her mother is strained, so she relies on her relationship with her grandmother, "Grand" to help her through the tough times we all face growing up. As a young girl, at summer camp, Thayer meets, Nick Abrams, whom she considers the love of her life. However, they are soon parted after entangling themselves in circumstances that come back to haunt Thayer later in life. Eventually, at a local college,Thayer meets and subsequently marries Aengus O'Neill, a professor and himself a student of Irish and Celtic Folklore. At this point Rivers Siddons does some of the best writing in the book, and some of the worst. Much of her character building, while interesting is not believable, unusual for her. So while I was intrigued by the possibilities the characters had before them, it was with a sense of disbelief that I approached the CD player. And I think the fact that I listened to the book, rather than read it, kept me listening till the end. Rivers Siddons has proved again and again that she can turn out a good book, so I persisted even when there were obvious editorial errors, in timing of the plot specifically. Having said that I did enjoy the suspense that begins to develop around Thayer's relationship with Aengus. Summer camp again begins to play an important part in Thayer's life, and that eerie feeling the reader has when Thayer talks about Burnt Mountain begins to make sense. Nick Abrams makes another appearance and there is a climactic ending that comes across especially well in audio book form.

Burnt Mountain is written in Rivers Siddons customary eloquent style, urging the reader along with irresistible prose, creating characters we care about. Her characters lives evolve into the stories that are guaranteed to haunt us long after we are done reading, a hallmark of an excellent writer, IMHO.
One factor that makes her novels stand out is in the development of the plot.While the first part of the novel relates the background of the characters lives, Siddon's special ability lies in throwing a twist into the plot of an otherwise well-told but not unconventional story. Suddenly, we find ourselves not only wondering just when it all changed but how the author managed to pull the different facets of the story together to accomplish this gradual but decisive move. Now, the characters are faced with a dilemma.

I enjoy Rivers Siddons' skill and style but mostly I like that the climax of her books grab the reader without ringing false. A lesser writer would fall short at the attempt. Reaching for an exciting climax can appear stilted. Our lives don't play out that way. If they did we wouldn't have to read. Rivers Siddons gives us characters whose lives while believable conspire to intrigue us, managing to create a story and ending that defies the banal by being unusual and suspenseful.

Having said all of this about Anne Rivers Siddons writing, I do feel that Burnt Mountain is not one of her best novels, to date, but she has more than made up for that in her prior books, any of which I would recommend. ( )

Didn't read the book, listened to the cd. Had a hard time keeping up, did not like the narrator's voice. The story was interesting, had a surprising ending. ( )

Not nearly as good as my favorite Siddons novel, Colony. Thayer Wentworth survives grief and loss, marries an insane Irishman, and finally re-discovers her first love. Full of the typical Siddons elements: the south, summer camp, love, loss, and tragedy. ( )