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