Candles Burning

I loved this book. As much as I wanted to figure out what the hell was going on, I didn't mind waiting to find out. The pace of the novel is very slow, but it was a pleasure to meander through. A modern southern gothic novel that will mesmerize you.

However, I wasn't so crazy about the ending. You spend all this time getting to know all the characters and getting involved in the weaving of the story and then....the bombs drop and the novel is done. A great read though!

The story begins in 1958, when Calliope “Calley” Dakin’s father is brutally murdered in New Orleans. Everybody in the small town of Tallasee, Alabama suspects her mother, Roberta Ann Caroll Dakin of killing him for his money, including her mother. It seems that everybody was after her father’s fortune and out to control Calley, who can talk to the dead. I enjoyed reading about the characters in Candles Burning. By the time I reached the 400th page, I was anxious to find out what happened to her father and why Calley’’s great aunts were going to such elaborate lengths to her and her brother, Ford, on a tight leash. I eventually did and enjoyed the black humor at the end. Candles Burning started out as Michael McDowell’s show more book in the beginning. But when he passed away, Tabitha King decided to complete it. She states in the very beginning that he would have ended it differently. I’m not familiar with either author, but I am familiar with the Kings’ political beliefs. Tabby’s liberal slant rang loud and clear as she wrote about Calley’’s revenge. But for the time period that ended the book (Vietnam), it fit. Recommended. show less

Unfortunately the story fell apart towards the end. Good narrator but poor execution of story about 80% through. I just love Michael McDowell so this was disappointing for me.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but in the end, I found it to be a bit of bore. I slogged through the whole thing and then wondered why I had persevered.

Maybe it's just me but I could not get into this. i read almost half of it and just had to stop?!

A disappointing read.

Calliope “Calley” Dakin tiene siete años y es el ojito derecho de su padre. Pero su mundo infantil se desmorona cuando, durante un viaje al bullicioso Nueva Orleans, su adorado padre es secuestrado, asesinado y descuartizado por dos mujeres sin ningún motivo aparente. Después de esto Calley y su madre se ven atrapadas en una serie de extraños sucesos que las llevan a Pensacola, donde una enigmática mujer aguarda su llegada.