Bright I Burn
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Canongate Books
Published:6th Jun '24
Should be back in stock very soon
In thirteenth-century Ireland, a woman with power is a woman to be feared.
When a young Alice Kyteler sees her mother wither under the constraints of family responsibilities, she vows that she won't suffer the same fate. Soon Alice discovers she has a flair for making money, and builds a flourishing business. But as her wealth and stature grow, so too do the rumours about her private life. By the time she has moved on to her fourth husband, a blaze of local gossip and resentment culminates in an accusation that could prove fatal.
Inspired by the first recorded person in Ireland to have been condemned as a witch, Bright I Burn gives voice to a woman lost to history, who dared to carve her own space in a man's world.
Mesmerising . . . An imaginative, very stylishly written and entertaining book * * Irish Times * *
Extraordinary . . . Some of the best prose I've read -- ELAINE FEENEY
An incredible medieval life rendered in incandescent flashes * * Kirkus * *
Vividly recreates medieval Ireland, its challenges and customs, its increasingly influential clergy, its gossiping townspeople. There's an ever-encroaching sense of death and violence, whether in the harsh natural world or the brutal world of men. Amid this, Alice is a driven and often ruthless woman * * Irish Times * *
Spellbinding witch literature . . . A stunning rendition of one fierce Irish woman's voice pitted against the patriarchal power constructs of Medieval Ireland -- ANYA BERGMAN
Aitken is a distinct, singular, stunning voice in historical fiction, and Bright I Burn is a triumph. It took my breath away -- JENNY MUSTARD
A gorgeous, blazing novel, that makes history crackle to life. Fans of Maggie Farrell's Hamnet or A.K. Blakemore's The Manningtree Witches will love Aitken's complex, sensual anti-heroine -- CLARE POLLARD
I was captivated. Every sentence reads like poetry. A stunning, magical, beguiling book -- HUMA QURESHI
Gripping, poetic, a glorious story of a remarkable woman's passion and her revenge -- LOUISA REID
Beautifully told, full of passion and fire, Aitken evokes a vivid sense of time and place through her powerful depiction of a woman determined to maintain her position in a society driven by men. Stunning -- JENNY QUINTANA
ISBN: 9781786898388
Dimensions: 222mm x 140mm x 27mm
Weight: 408g
304 pages
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