BURNING BRIGHT by HELEN DUNMORE

 BURNING BRIGHT

BY

 HELEN DUNMORE

THE BLURB:-

Nadine, a sixteen-year-old runaway new to London, is set up in a decaying Georgian house by her Finnish lover, Kai. Slowly, she begins to suspect that Kai's plans for her have little to do with love.

'Be careful,; warns Enid, the elderly sitting tenant in the house, who knows all about survival and secrets. And when Nadine discovers Kai's true intentions, Enid's warning takes on a terrible and prophetic quality.

THE REALITY:-

It was the second time around for me with this one. I first read it when I was a student living above an Irish pub in north London, off sick from work back in 1996, when it came free with a magazine (Cosmo, I think?) and it kind of stuck with me. There is another Helen Dunmore I've read- Mourning Ruby; the terrible tale of a child who died. That book went off on tangents, including circus performances, and that also features in this novel, so I'm wondering (as I always do when an author repeats subjects) if that person has personal experience of that?

Enough of the speculating. This book is incredibly strangely written; a combination of first person, second person and third person dialogue within the same chapter, although it seems to work and it looks like different character's viewpoints are divided by chapter. I also noticed lots of repetitions of words/ phrases within paragraphs. Towards the end, when (spoiler alert!) Nadine's in Finland the process does delve into a stream-of-consciousness approach (this was actually where I put the book down and got bored with it, skipping to the end the first time around) but if you persevere it does work in both shaping the character and describing the remote, rural surroundings.

This book has been described as "nasty" in reviews, as it delves into the subject of a vulnerable girl being groomed for prostitution. Another reviewer questioned whether Nadine's parents would really leave her and move abroad to concentrate on their disabled younger daughter, who has to go to a special centre. Sadly, I can find that all too true, being the family outcast (or so it felt) who was also not living at home at 16, and with a (mentally) disabled (older) sibling, whose needs always seemed to take presidence over mine. As for predatory men on the make then yes, they abound and I've seen how they can take advantage of vulnerable young women.

It was obvious that (another spoiler alert!) Paul Parrett is Enid's son, who she had put up for adoption, although that's not confirmed in the novel (we also never really find out what happens to Kai, but in the end it's only Nadine and Enid, who develop a touching friendship, who seem to matter anyway- others are merely bystanders.)

But the best, most heartfelt sections were those that dealt with Enid's past, her affair with Sukey and Caro's (big spoiler alert!) murdering of Sukey. Manchester Ladies and the cottage where Sukey met her end really touched me, and this novel was an interesting study of both class (Sukey and Caro were from the upper echelon) and love affairs between women. This is a book that gets under your skin and stays with you.