Tracy Chevalier Books

This is the Spanish text edition of the book, "Falling Angels", which covers the period in the lives of two families that stretches from January 1901, the end of the Victorian era, to May 1910, the end of the Edwardian one. The lives of these two families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, converge and become inextricably woven together when they inadvertently meet at a cemetery while paying their respects to deceased loved ones. Unbeknownst to them, their lives are moving inexorably towards a tragic denouement, one that is to have ramifications for both families.

Two of the daughters of these respective families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman, find that they have formed the beginning of a friendship during the brief interlude at the cemetery. The two girls also befriend Simon Field, the son of one of the gravediggers at the cemetery. The friendship of the two girls is cemented when they later discover that they are to be neighbors, as through happenstance the Waterhouse family moves onto a property adjacent to that of the Colemans. Despite differences in social class and personal taste, as the Waterhouses are definitely sentimentally bourgeois and the Colemans have pretensions to more refinement, the families are brought together, however unwillingly, through the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

The mothers of these two girls are unable to form a true friendship, as stolid Gertrude Waterhouse and pretty Kitty Coleman are unable to find much common ground. Gertrude is bound in tradition, while Kitty, dissatisfied with her marriage and her life, is looking to escape tradition and expand the role allotted in society to women. Never the twain shall meet, as these women will never see eye-to-eye, despite the friendship between Lavinia and Maude.

This is a well-plotted novel with each character adding his or her perspective to the events that unfold, many of which are of a secretive nature. Even the husbands, Albert Waterhouse and Richard Coleman, have something to say that contributes to the development of the story, as does Richard Coleman's mother, Edith, as do the Coleman's maid, Jenny Whitby, and their cook, Dorothy Baker. Lavinia's younger sister, Ivy May, who plays a small but pivotal role, also has her say, as does Kitty's admirer, John Jackson. There are also a number of twists and turns in the tale.

The story is told in the clean, spare prose that fans of the author have come to expect. It is told through first person narratives, and it is almost as if the narratives were taken from the personal diary or journal of each character. Therein lies the rub, as the author is unable to make the voice of each character truly distinguishable from that of the others. The book suffers somewhat from the failure of the author to develop a truly unique voice for each one. This is, however, the only failing of this otherwise absorbing and intriguing story that is suffused with period detail. This is an otherwise excellent book that fans of the author will enjoy, as will those who love historical fiction.

No doubt Ms. Chevalier highlights a significant time of religious intolerance, but the tale is disturbing on so many deep levels, I am extremely sorry I read it. I am still trying to erase my memories of this novel and I won't be taking a chance on any other Chevalier material. (I previously read Girl with a Pearl Earring and thought it was interesting.)

I quite like Tracy Chevalier's books, although I believe she has sort of lost her touch with her two most recent novels, The Lady and the Unicorn and Burning Bright. "The Virgin Blue" is her debut novel, and while it also deals with a part of European history, the main motive of all Chevalier's books, displacement, is most evident here. It alternates between two stories, one about Isabelle de Moulin, a young protestant woman dealing with the hardships of life in 1572 France, and a modern-day one about Ella Turner, an American who has recently moved to France with her husband and who starts tracing her family history out of boredom.
The novel is both fun and difficult to read, as it requires some knowledge about the Huguenots and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, but there is a historical note at the end of the book that explains it all and should be read first. The two women are very well-written characters, although at times too two-dimensional - irregardless, their stories are engaging, and the novel is a real page-turner.
Although not quite as good as Chevalier's smash hit Girl with a Pearl Earring, Deluxe Edition, or her best novel, Falling Angels, "The Virgin Blue" is good historical fiction - far-fetched, engaging and sexy, bordering on erotic.

I bought this book, Burning Bright, with great anticipation, after I read and liked her previous 2 books, Girl with a Perl Earring, and The Lady with the Unicorn. I am most disappointed by this effort. Perhaps, I am thinking, it is not Tracy Chevalier's writing after all? The above mentioned two novels were magical, the language wonderful, while this one is flat, forced, boring, and so on. I tried to read on valiantly but eventually gave up at page 46. An old professor of my said long ago: "Who does not speak Arabic, should not speak Arabic".

Hard to get past the first few chapters and I have put it down and cant seem to pick it back up yet. Maybe later I will be able to get into it. Th information about the book is very interesting but the writing is not very fluent.

Having enjoyed several of Chevalier's books about art, I had expected more from this author. The two story lines were improbable, the characters two dimensional, the main character shallow and irritating, descriptions of place lacking depth. It would have been a far better story if she had simply focused on the Huguenots, instead of trying to tie together intensely personal experiences between two women who were centuries apart.

Like Chevalier's other books, this is good historical fiction, taking place in England more than 100 years ago. The book addresses taboo subjects, youth and innoncence lost, friendship, mourning and poverty. There are elements of joy and sorrow, mixed in with some cruelty and hope. I can honstly say I learned new terms and concepts after reading the book, as some of the language is not used in today's world. The main characters are easy to like and root for, as they face some harsh realities of their worlds. Like most of her books, I recommend Burning Bright fairly confidently. This is not a one night read, but rather a book that is worth savoring over many days.

Loved this book. There were so many stories within the story. Many historical persons, places and facts that I enjoyed looking up. Tracy's writing is SO descriptive. You could picture everything as if it was on video. I used this book for my book club. It was a great book for discussion. I read Girl with a Pearl Earring and saw the movies- liked the book better. I look forward to another book by this author.

Not as good as her previous work, but still an easy ready for the beach. The story line is just not very strong and the purpose of it is fairly weak. It gets a little more interesting in the last 50 pages. However it seems a little late to me.

I'm a big fan of Tracy Chevalier and bought this book as a holiday read. I really enjoy feeling immersed in another time period, learning how people lived while being fully engaged in an engaging story. This book was unputdownable and over way too soon!

Tracy Chevalier is a skilled writer whose novels have all been historical, built around a famous personage from the chosen time period. In Burning Bright, that person is William Blake, the rather mystical English poet/philosopher/engraver, but his presence is intermittent. This novel focuses upon two late-18th century London families, one newly arrived from Dorset and the other more established. Both are poor, struggling to get by, and the plot is built around the adolescent children of these families. Characterization is one of Chevalier's strengths, and Maisie, Jem, and Maggie quickly charm the reader, while others, notably John Astley (the dastardly villain of the piece), Charlie, and the bigoted landlady. Circus folk, pub denizens, washerwomen, and the like add plenty of dash and color. A feel for life in London during the French Revolution quickly develops. Thematically, the concepts of opposites, the conundrum of what's in the middle of each opposing pair, and the drive toward symmetry, are all recurrent ideas, taken from Blake's own work.
Burning Bright provides hours of intelligent, pleasurable, and at times, thought provoking reading.