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Burning Bright

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About this listen

 Nadine, a 16-year-old runaway new to the city, is set up in a decaying Georgian house by her Finnish lover, Kai. Slowly, she begins to suspect that Kai and his partner, Tony, have plans for her that have nothing to do with love. "Be careful", warns Enid, a sitting tenant in the house, whose own tragic past means that she knows all about survival. When Nadine discovers that she has been groomed for renting out to a government minister with special tastes, Enid's warning takes on a prophetic quality.©1994 Helen Dunmore (P)2007 Isis Publishing Ltd Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Romance Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Thriller

Critic reviews

"A seductive narrative illuminated with instants of visionary clarity." ( Guardian)
"Helen Dunmore beautifully fulfils the highest function of a storyteller: to make you wonder what will happen next." ( Sunday Times)
" Burning Bright is a beautifully constructed and thought-provoking novel, with a freshness that makes it outstanding." ( Sunday Telegraph)
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I'm a big fan of Helen Dunmore - she's one of those authors where you have to keep back a book you haven't read of hers, to look forward to. And this book is probably, for me, amongst her best. On top of this, it is brilliantly narrated - a marriage made in heaven. Read by one of those rare narrators who manages to distinguish so clearly between the voices of all her characters. Really excellent. I'd probably put it in my top 10 audiobooks.

Great book, great narrator

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As usual Dunmore's poetry surfaces in her prose. She challenges our cliched perceptions of morality through characters who are far from simply good or evil. Love it

Marvelously poetic prose style

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What disappointed you about Burning Bright?

The most positive observation I can make is that I did listen to this book all the way through but it really is the most implausible story line. From time to time it is padded out with long, boring episodes which are totally superfluous to the plot. The quality of the writing is inconsistent, but when Helen Dunmore begins referring to minor characters by that jarring recognition technique of naming them by the most obvious thing about them e.g. Grey Suit I really lose patience.

Would you ever listen to anything by Helen Dunmore again?

No I wouldn't

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

On the whole the narrator gives a good performance, although I was surprised when it was revealed that one of her impersonations , whom I had been imagining as Paul McCartney, had actually been born and bred in Manchester.

Any additional comments?


The narrator could do with taking a trip "up north" and listen to some regional accents.

Implausible plot

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