Customer Reviews

The Burning Bride

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading Hearts and Bones and Blood Red Roses by Margaret Lawrence I couldn't resist spending a few extra dollars on the hardback edition of The Burning Bride. I wasn't disappointed.

This is an incredible series set a few years after the Revolutionary War in Maine. The story centers around Hanna Trevor, the local mid-wife, her lover Daniel Josselyn and their daughter, Jennett.

In each book the story becomes more complex and the characters are more interesting. The series is about life after the Revolutionary War and how everything wasn't the picture perfect life everybody thought it to be. Greed, debtors prison, taxes, murder, treason, audultery, rape, prostitution and love are all intertrined in this incredible story. Ms. Lawrence has outdone herself.

I definetly recommend starting with the first of the series.

These three books are a must-read for anyone interested in the post revolutionary period. Beautifully written, unusual in form, with wonderful characterizations: Lawrence succeeds where so many don't even try to make us understand the women of this time and place. There is a love story (although I would disagree with the reviewer -- it is not steamy, but simply evocative, and touching), and there are mysteries, and both of them are wonderfully done but these novels are more than the sum of their parts. Lawrence draws on the life of Hannah Trevor, a midwife who lived in Maine during this period, and in doing so she brings that resonant and important voice back to life.

It's been a long time since I read the first two books in this series, and so I was a little confused when reading the last. I had forgotten the names of the many characters, their histories, what was going on via government at the time. Eventually though, I figured it out. I would recommend reading the three books in this series back to back though instead of spread out. It will give you a bigger picture of the story.

This is the third, and I think last, book in the Hanna Trevor series. Its fall in Maine and the annual Mustering of the Militia has come. Hanna's soon to be husband, and father of her daughter and unborn child is in charge of the Militia. At the same time a riot act is being enforced because of the massive debt problems and the mustering of the common people against the courts. And of course, a man is found murdered.

Initially the thought is that the mans servant killed him. But when another man is killed, shot from a long distance by an expert sniper, it brings back memories of the war to Hanna's Daniel of a similar situation and three sisters.....

Like the others, the story is told through multiple points of view, character journal entries, coroners findings, biographical sections on characters...even recopies. This method does make for an easy and interesting way of piecing together the evidence (as one of the sections is called.)

I have to admit I was a little disappointed by the mystery aspect of this book. I had the identity of the killer figured out very early, though admittedly I didn't understand all the elements at play. What was good in this novel was everything else that was going on-the political strife, the rupture in the town between rich and poor, the coming together of Daniel and Hanna.

Overall though, this book doesn't meet the quality of the first two, Hearts and Bones and Blood Red Roses. Also every killer this author writes about is mad in some way and while this brings up interesting questions about weather or not you have to be insane in some way to take another's life, I know that there are calculated murders that are done for gain and not because of any emotional instability. It would be nice to see Hanna figure out one of those because otherwise the town she lives in has a disproportionate number of insane people (and murders to think of it.)

Three Stars.

The story of Hanna Trevor and all her loves is such a compelling story. Margaret Lawrence has such a wonderful talent for bring her characters to life. There are very few books that use the fictional setting of post-American Revolutionary life that this is a very refreshing and enlightening read. Ms. Lawrence does a great job with developing characters and plot lines. Weaving everyday life with the extra story of mystery and murder. The author makes the reader feel for each and every character. Ms. Lawrence gives the reader a good solid understanding the society of this time, so that the reader learns and empathizes with each character.

In "The Burning Bride", Ms. Lawrence weaves a very good murder mystery in with the on going story of Hanna and Daniel and their love for each other. Both plot lines are very satisfying in their delivery and conclusion. The author gives the reader many suspects and reasons that keep me guessing till the end of the book. I highly recommend Margaret Lawrence's Hanna Trevor trilogy. Even if you think you might not enjoy a story set in the 1700's. This is mystery writing at its finest. But, start with "Hearts And Bones" and "Blood Red Roses", if you read these books out of order, you won't get the full enjoyment of this series.

Hannah Trevor is a wonderful character. Margaret Lawrence really does a wonderful job with the tone and detail of this post-American Revolution series of mysteries.

Another day in Rufford, Maine, another murder for Hannah Trevor, soon to be Mrs. Daniel Josselyn, to solve. But of course, nothing is that simple. Her beloved cousin Jonathan has run off into the wilderness, still involved with the regulators movement. She worries about the fate of her deaf daughter. It doesn't help, of course, that Daniel is somewhat suspected of the murder...

As usual, the prose of this novel is wonderful, a real pleasure to read. I'm not sure, however, that I liked this book as much as the other two. I didn't like the retrospective portrayal of the late Charlotte Josselyn. I did really like Sibylla, though. And Jem Siwall, for some reason. Sherriff Tapp is an excellent bad guy, though he gets a little weird toward the end of this one.

The last scene, though...It is so wonderful. I loved it, a perfect fiery climax to this little trilogy. It redeemed anything that bothered me about the whole rest of the book. Excellent. Margaret Lawrence has a real talent, in my book. I have my eye out for a paperback of Icebreaker, her new novel, so I hope that'll be good.

The Hannah Trevor mysteries are wonderful. Read them, it's a real experience!

Part historical fiction, part murder mystery, The Burning Bride is the third in Margaret Lawrence's series about midwife/amateur sleuth Hannah Trevor, inspired by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's nonfiction work "A Midwife's Tale". This installment is based upon Shays' Rebellion, an uprising that occurred in Massachusetts in the aftermath of the War for Independence. Life was hard for many new Americans, who were watching in poverty as only the rich and powerful benefited from their hardwon freedoms. Hannah and her family are swept up in the violence of the time, which is recounted quite graphically in this novel. It is a story worth telling, but Lawrence's narrative is disjointed, chopped up as it is into chapters in various formats that impede the story's flow. Also, the quilting/piecework metaphor is over worked and historically inaccurate. But Hannah is an independent character living in tumultuous times, and her successes and mistakes (some of which are major) make for interesting reading.

In 1786, the townsfolk of Rufford, Maine are having their annual military celebration. Not everyone is happy with the event as some British loyalists still smart over the independence of the former colonies. However, this year the event does not go off as planned because the body of Samuel Clinch, the town's so-called surgeon (he was trained as a barber), is found with a bullet to his head and chest, and his feet are burned. In spite of being four-months pregnant, Hannah is a prime suspect because she publicly ripped the deceased over his child birthing techniques.

Things turn worse when a member of the General Court is found murdered in the presence of the militia. Their leader, Hannah's lover, Daniel is the person held responsible. Though they finally marry, Hannah has a new cause: to uncover the identity of the culprit if she ever wants to live with the man she loves.

The third novel in the Trevor amateur sleuth mysteries, THE BURNING BRIDE, is a great early Americana fiction. Though the post war troubles of the residents of Maine are brilliantly scribed by Margaret Lawrence, this at time overwhelms the who-done-it. Hannah and her support cast remain wonderful characters, whose emotions and motivations periodically explode to the surface, adding dimension to the plot. Though the mystery is weaker than the previous two novels (HEARTS AND BONES, and BLOOD RED ROSES), the book remains a top rate period piece that is worth reading by fans of historical mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

In 1786, the townsfolk of Rufford, Maine are having their annual military celebration. Not everyone is happy with the event as some British loyalists still smart over the independence of the former colonies. However, this year the event does not go off as planned because the body of Samuel Clinch, the town's so-called surgeon (he was trained as a barber), is found with a bullet to his head and chest, and his feet are burned. In spite of being four-months pregnant, Hannah is a prime suspect because she publicly ripped the deceased over his child birthing techniques.

Things turn worse when a member of the General Court is found murdered in the presence of the militia. Their leader, Hannah's lover, Daniel is the person held responsible. Though they finally marry, Hannah has a new cause: to uncover the identity of the culprit if she ever wants to live with the man she loves.

The third novel in the Trevor amateur sleuth mysteries, THE BURNING BRIDE, is a great early Americana fiction. Though the post war troubles of the residents of Maine are brilliantly scribed by Margaret Lawrence, this at time overwhelms the who-done-it. Hannah and her support cast remain wonderful characters, whose emotions and motivations periodically explode to the surface, adding dimension to the plot. Though the mystery is weaker than the previous two novels (HEARTS AND BONES, and BLOOD RED ROSES), the book remains a top rate period piece that is worth reading by fans of historical mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

A wonderful read, as only a well-written book can be. And as a non-American, I think I actually appreciate the impact of the american revolution far better (AND learnt what "to read the riot act" really means!)

This is the third book in the series and yet again "extreme mental instability" because of past experiences ends up being the reason a person is killing people - just the same as the last two in the series. Is everyone in the small village insane?

The writing is solid and I enjoy the historical perspective and would read more in the series - but come up with new reasons for the murderers to kill - good old fashioned greed would be fine for a change.