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A Lifetime Burning by Linda Gillard


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Greedy for experience but determined to be good, Flora Dunbar spends a lifetime seeking love, trying to build a future out of the wreckage of her past - an eccentric childhood spent in the shadow of her musical twin, Rory; early marriage to Hugh, a clergyman twice her age; motherhood, which brings her Theo, the son she cannot love; middle-age, when she finds brief happiness in a scandalous affair with her nephew, Colin.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Well, what can I say? I have never read a book quite like it. It took a bit of coming to terms with the subject matter between brother and sister :lol:, but it was dealt with in a very sensitive manner by Linda. All the characters were very individual and were all drawn in to this quite unusual family! I have to say I wanted the ending to be different for Flora though, but not sure how! It did jump about a bit, with the year dates and I found that slightly irritating at times, but you come to appreciate why it was written the way it was. It reminded me a bit of how Alice Sebold wrote 'The Lovely Bones' and it works well.

 

It is a book of controversial themes, which won't appeal to everyone, but you will have to read it to make up your own mind about that! I can appreciate how some readers wouldn't/won't like it and others will love it. I found it a compelling read and would recommend giving it a go.

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This was a really good book. I agree with Inver, the themes were very questionable and were a little unsettling, but overall a very good read. Very well written by Linda

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  • 11 months later...

I finished this compelling book today, and I've written a full review in my reading list thread here.

 

One thing I forgot to mention - I loved the Author's Note in the back, with the list of music featured in the book, as I'll definitely be looking them up. I actually listened to a CD of Beethoven: Piano Sonata's 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, as well as the soundtrack to the film, "The Hours" and both suited the mood of the book beautifully.

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  • 1 month later...

I borrowed Inver's copy (thank you Inver) and started this morning and I have not put it down as yet, very intense but easy to read :D

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I just finished this book. I loved the writing - but I don't really know what to say about the book as such since the themes were unsettling to say the least. A good writer will make most anything work I suppose, and I do think this book has re-read potential, which is the best I can say about a book really. I will find it hard to recommend to friends I guess..

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I am on page 129 of the book and I had to stop, just to get my head around some things, its an excellent read, I really want to know what will happen next. With regards to Flora and Rory, I really don't know how to feel about these characters.

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Sorry for going on everyone but I seem to be going through various emotions, I feel sorry for Flora but I don't feel sorry for Rory and the whole time, my brain is screaming 'your brother and sister!!!!', its a fantastic read.

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It is an absolutely compelling read - I've reviewed it in my reading list thread, but there are lots of spoiler warnings in the discussion I had with Linda about it, because I just had so many things I wanted to say about my feelings on the book!

 

I will most certainly read it after I have finished Chesil :D

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I think that Rory is

too bloody minded and difficult to really love. He also expects and demands love from others -

not a lovable trait in anyone.

 

Flora I found to be

a more tragic character, although Linda hasn't made her a two dimensional victim in the book. She certainly makes some terrible decisions along the way.

 

 

I'll say no more until you're done Gyre. But wow, what a book this is! :D

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I think that Rory is

too bloody minded and difficult to really love. He also expects and demands love from others -

not a lovable trait in anyone.

 

Flora I found to be

a more tragic character, although Linda hasn't made her a two dimensional victim in the book. She certainly makes some terrible decisions along the way.

 

 

I'll say no more until you're done Gyre. But wow, what a book this is! :D

 

Thanks Chrissy:D

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I finished 'A Lifetime Burning', I don't have the words at the moment to be honest (its a good thing), I will post my thoughts soon. :lol:

 

A brilliant read. :lol:

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First of all I will start with saying wow, what an amazing book, I enjoyed it from start to finish.

 

For such an intense subject, it has been handled brilliantly by Linda Gillard. My initial reaction was that something was going to happen between Flora and Rory, their relationship as children, I felt , lacked the normality of siblings relationships, maybe because they were twins but there was always an edge, Flora never-ending pursue to be better than Rory, Rory’s lack of awareness due to his love of music, I found it interesting, they were both characters who knew what they wanted from life, the main thing ultimately being each other.

 

I felt sorry for Flora because she grew up with the feeling of being bad and almost in some ways, the forgotten child, so she strived to make sure that everyone noticed her, her naivety as she grew up was heartbreaking, I felt that if Dora had spoke to Flora, taught her more, maybe Flora would not have been so naive and maybe if Flora had been treated the same as Rory, she would not have craved love so much. Flora seemed to have a permanent cloud over her head which was promoted by others and as Flora matured, the cloud stayed there because I honestly think that Flora felt that she was so bad, that she could not do any worse and therefore continued to make bad decisions.

 

I have never read a book with so many tormented souls, they had their secrets and the fact that these secrets remained secrets show the power of their family unit but at the same time the secrets were secret for a reason. I felt sorry for the characters, they were so well written, you could not help feeling sorry for them, so much angst, and so much guilt. They were all strong characters which were wonderful to read, they all wanted their part of the story to be heard.

 

Writing a book about incest is no mean feat but Linda manages to write in a way which is sympathetic and forthright, yes, it was wrong what was happening between Flora and Rory but they could not help how they felt but that leads me back to if maybe things had been different when they were younger, maybe they would not have turned to each other, but they were brought together by their bond. I think Linda Gillard has taken a sensitive subject and confronted it in a remarkable way, highlighting how much can go on within families and secrets can destroy families.

 

All the characters suffered in some way, Flora, I felt suffered the most, she was conflicted. At times I felt Flora and Rory were quite cold-hearted but as I read on, I realised it was because they were so engrossed in their own world.

 

A truly excellent read, I was initially shocked when I realised what was going to happen with the twins because all I kept thinking was, ‘they are brother and sister’. It’s true what they said, you can’t help who you fall in love with (a clich

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