Title: A SLOW FIRE BURNING
Author: Paula Hawkins
Read: October 2021
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
When a young man is found gruesomely
murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who
knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home.
Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet
another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets
from the police.
Three women with separate
connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons –
simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to
right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might
be capable of terrible deeds. How far might any one of them go to find peace?
How long can secrets smoulder before they explode into flame?
My musings:
I love a good character study and with A SLOW FIRE
BURNING that is exactly what I got! If you are looking for a fast paced
mystery, take a hint from the “slow fire” in the title and keep walking.
Firstly, the kindling takes a little while to take, and secondly, it never
fully takes off into a raging inferno but slowly smoulders away in an
undercurrent of hurt, anger and resentment. Even the murder is not a focal
point of the novel, but merely another log added to the flames to be gradually
consumed, leaving just the dark ash of despair.
Hawkins is a master at portraying
damaged characters, and she has set the stage with this cast. Each and every
character is scarred by some form of trauma: a terrible car accident, the death
of a loved one, an encounter with a serial killer, neglect, abuse, ridicule,
addiction, hopelessness. I would not recommend reading this book if you are
feeling depressed, because the deep sadness hidden in its pages will most
likely throw you into a pit of despair. Hawkins writes her characters well,
which made this an even more painful experience as each and every one of them
stumbles into disaster.
Personally, I admired the author’s
skill in making me suffer along with her characters, but it was also a bit of a
hindrance. None of the characters are particularly likeable (apart from Irene,
but she only plays a peripheral role), and yet I also couldn’t hate any of them,
on account of their tragic pasts. This probably mired me even more in
depression, as I was longing for the intense fire of fierce love or hate for
any of the characters. A slow fire burning, indeed!
Whilst the mystery surrounding the
murder of a young man on a houseboat forms a central theme, it was not the most
interesting aspect of the story for me. Here we also have a “book within a
book” theme as some chapters are featuring Theo Myerson’s bestselling novel The
One Who Got Away, which rolls out in a reverse time-frame, offering an
interesting side story (which was just as tragic as the rest of the tale). With
all these elements going off in different directions, it took me a little while
to get fully immersed in the story, but once I had a grasp of where it was
headed, I was fully hooked!
So, now to the rating. This was really a masterful dark character study that kept me turning the pages despite almost having to make a doctor’s appointment to get a script for anti-depressants as this sad tale unravelled. There were a variety of themes and a lot of threads which all came together in a surprising finale that was cleverly done. After turning the last page, I sat for a while in a state of silent grieving for the poor souls in the story. So I am settling for 3.5 stars simply for enjoyment value even though the writing was top notch. I think I will need to read something light and funny next!
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