Burning Bright

Burning Bright

From the author of the international bestseller Girl With a Pearl Earring and At the Edge of the Orchard, comes a stirring eighteenth-century coming-of-age tale In the waning days of eighteenth-century London, poet, artist, and printer William Blake works in obscurity as England is rocked by the shock waves of the French Revolution. Next door, the Kellaway family has just moved in, and country boy Jem Kellaway strikes up a tentative friendship with street-savvy Maggie Butterfield. As their stories intertwine with Blake's, the two children navigate the confusing and exhilarating path to adolescence, and inspire the poet to create the work that enshrined his genius.

Burning Bright

In 'Burning Bright', John Steinbeck embarks on an experimental journey, departing from his signature naturalism to explore the boundaries of allegorical drama. The narrative pivots around Joe Saul, a man grappling with issues of fertility and legacy, whose personal tragedy becomes a universal parable. Steinbeck's use of fluid settings and a chorus-like ensemble of characters challenges traditional storytelling, while the terse dialogue and symbolic resonance bear the essence of a morality play. This literary context harks back to the expressionism of earlier twentieth-century literature yet comes suffused with Steinbeck's acute social awareness and empathy for human suffering. Renowned for his vivid chronicling of the quintessential American experience, Steinbeck infuses 'Burning Bright' with elements from his larger oeuvre: the keen examination of personal and existential conflicts. His fascination with people's resilience in the face of adversity—evident in masterpieces like 'The Grapes of Wrath' and 'Of Mice and Men'—here transmutes into a focused, staged intensity. This work emerges from Steinbeck's ceaseless experimentation with form and his desire to transcend the novel genre, an ambition reflective of a career-long interrogation of the human condition. 'Burning Bright' thus stands as a testament to Steinbeck's versatility and his relentless pursuit of literary innovation. It is recommended not only for devotees of Steinbeck's work but for all who seek a novel that defies strict categorization, blending the trenchancy of drama with the scope of narrative fiction. Readers will find in this edition a stirring confluence of art and humanism, a work that despite its departure from the conventional, retains the indelible mark of Steinbeck's masterful storytelling.

Burning Bright