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Bright Burning Things

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Bright Burning Things

By: Lisa Harding
Narrated by: Lisa Harding
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Bloomsbury presents Bright Burning Things written and read by Lisa Harding.


SHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022

'Absolutely dazzling' MARIAN KEYES

'On every page there are little shimmering bombs' LISA TADDEO

'Quietly devastating . . . Reminded me repeatedly of Shuggie Bain' OBSERVER

Being Tommy’s mother is too much for Sonya.

Too much love, too much fear, too much longing for the cool wine she gulps from the bottle each night. Because Sonya is burning the fish fingers, and driving too fast, and swimming too far from the shore, and Tommy’s life is in her hands.

Once there was the thrill of a London stage, a glowing acting career, fast cars, handsome men. But now there are blackouts and bare cupboards, and her estranged father showing up uninvited. There is Mrs O’Malley spying from across the road. There is the risk of losing Tommy – forever.

AN OBSERVER, GRAZIA, IRISH TIMES AND IRISH INDEPENDENT HIGHLIGHT FOR 2021©2021 Lisa Harding (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Mental Health Motherhood Parenting & Families Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships
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Critic reviews

The stakes in Harding’s Bright Burning Things are stark and terrifying . . . Harding [makes] a well-worn narrative shine with a heroine whose dogged triumphs accumulate over the course of this fast-paced and intensely lucid novel
A heady mixture of heartbreak (“I swallow, I soothe, I sleep”) and hope, that the cycle will break: “tomorrow – there’s always tomorrow”
[A] moving story of a mother battling addiction . . . Bright Burning Things joins Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Shuggie Bain as a portrait of female wreckage. Harding’s fine and affecting novel can hold its own respectably in the company
A tour de force of anguish made bearable by glimmers of redemption
Hard on the heels of last year's Booker winner Shuggie Bain comes this pungently propulsive heart-wrencher about another single mother battling the booze, this time in modern-day Ireland . . . We root desperately for her to pull through, in an alarming yet tender portrayal of the slow-burn impact of long-repressed grief
A scorching read – heart-breaking but ultimately hopeful
A novel of extraordinary intimacy and vividness, a uniquely disquieting account of a mind sinking into the depths and rising again, full of such powerful love and fear (Megan Hunter, author of 'The End We Start From')
A tense, unflinching, immersive mapping of a pitted track of addiction and recovery . . . I lived every scene as I read, and I know that these characters will be with me for a long time (Donal Ryan)
[Harding's] writing is taut, and there is such an intensity, an urgency about the narrative that you find yourself turning the pages as if you fear Sonya might race out of sight . . . A contemporary, zeitgeisty read and very satisfying
The novel . . . has the feel of a monologue, held together by Sonya’s mesmerising voice, a glorious mix of barely-held-together sanity and unbridled honesty … Sonya is a beautifully realised character
Absolutely dazzling . . . While the subject matter is dear to my heart, I’d have loved it even if I knew nothing about addiction. It’s instantly engrossing. Sonya’s emotional interiority is fascinating and compelling. I really cared about her and Tommy – they felt very real to me (Marian Keyes)
Delves into territories which are as devastating as they are illuminating
Well-crafted… It’s a wild ride, culminating in a scene that combines hope, fear and beauty
On every page there are little shimmering bombs. Like Room, where parenthood is at once your jail and your salvation, it is almost claustrophobic – but in the most glorious way (Lisa Taddeo, author of 'Three Women')
Startling, urgent and intimate, Bright Burning Things is a meticulous portrait of a life unravelling, and of the painstaking, heartbreaking work to put it all back together (Lisa McInerney)
An unsentimental, blackly funny novel about motherhood and addiction
All stars
Most relevant
This is a gentle and hard hitting story of a single mum's struggle to hold onto her son. The author is obviously reading it as she wrote it so hang in there with the fast pace of her narration. I presume it's meant to reflect the manic situation of addiction. Very well thought out and put together experience. Lisa's other book Harvesting remains a personal all time favourite

Absolutely lovely

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I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. It has without question evoked emotions, it was a brilliant monologue with insight into alcohol and addiction. Motherhood can be challenging at all times. Throw in the battles of addiction and this is the result of this powerful novel.

Bravo Lisa Harding. You have written and narrated an exceptional book. Thank you.

Exceptionally emotive story!

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I think the descriptions of a mother on the edge and of being the small child of a loving but unstable and self - absorbed mother ring true.

However, the description of how the child was dealt with by social services was far-fetched and lacked subtlety and and this spoilt the book for me.

Mixed feelings again in that I felt sympathy for the mother but also very irritated - feelings that are indeed provoked by caring for an addict/someone with mental health problems.

So not a bad listen, not a great one.

Mixed feelings

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