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Burning Secrets by Clare Chambers (view source)
Revision as of 15:27, 2 October 2020
, 15:27, 2 October 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox2
|title=Burning Secrets
|author=Clare Chambers
|date=March 2011
|isbn=0007307284
|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>0007307284</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=0007307284|cover=<amazonus>0007307284</amazonus>
}}
But what is there to go ''to''? Wragge is remote, quiet, uneventful. There's no mobile phone reception, their cottage doesn't have an internet connection, and even the TV works only sporadically. But what there is, is space and privacy. Daniel's mother can get on with translating Scandinavian crime novels, Louie won't need to show anyone her scarred arms and Daniel can breathe easy in the open air, now he's no longer confined.
The islanders are gossipy and slightly parochial, but they are unfailingly friendly and polite. There are no extremes of emotion on Wragge - everyone is calm, placid and happy. Nobody locks a door since there are no thieves. Teenagers aren't a nuisance because their well-equipped school and charismatic head teacher headteacher give them nothing to rebel against.
So why doesn't Wragge feel like a paradise?
I really enjoyed ''Burning Secrets''. Clare Chambers writes with an easy but elegant style and she creates a genuinely creepy, slightly menacing atmosphere as the novel goes on. We know something isn't quite right - both on Wragge and within Daniel's family, but we're not quite sure what it is. There are plenty of clues and more sophisticated readers will enjoy picking up on them and watching events unfold and the effects they have on the characters.
The eventual confrontation is perhaps a little anticlimactic with things being sorted out perhaps a little too quickly and neatly, but this isn't really a novel that leads only up to one great big reveal. It's about secrets and how damaging they can be, about grief, it's about adolescence as a right of passage , not a punishment. It will suit the thoughtful reader and the mystery lover alike.
Recommended.
My thanks to the good people at Harper Collins for sending the book.
If they like secrets and psychological mysteries or thrillers, they might also enjoy [[The Angel Collector by Bali Rai]], [[From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma]] and [[Deathwatch by Nicola Morgan]]. You might enjoy [[Dear Charlie by N D Gomes]]. For older readers we can recommend [[The Favourite by S V Berlin]].
{{amazontext|amazon=0007307284}}