Smouldering Fires (New Portway Reprints) [Hardcover]

Anya Seton (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Portway Reprints | Publication Date: November 10, 1987

A young girl is troubled by dreams and fantasies which parallel the life of another girl who lived over two hundred years before.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Compelling and suspenseful."  —Historical Novels Review

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Anya Seton was the author of the bestselling historical novels Avalon, Devil Water, Dragonwyck, Foxfire, Green Darkness, The Hearth and Eagle, Katherine, My Theodosia, The Turquoise, and The Winthrop Woman.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Press; New edition edition (November 10, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862205778
• ISBN-13: 978-0862205775
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars TEENAGE ANGST WITH A TWIST..., June 3, 2003

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smouldering Fires (Paperback)

This book covers some of the territory the author covered in her best selling novel, "Green Darkness", that of past lives. The trouble is that the author is unable to capture the magic inherent in her best seller. While this well researched book is of some interest, due to its subject matter, there the similarities stop. Those who have read the other will be somewhat disappointed with this readable, though somewhat tepid, fare.

Here the book revolves around a young New Englander, Amy Delatour, a teenage girl of French Acadian-English lineage, who often goes into a fugue stage where she believes she is a tormented soul named Ange-Marie, a French Acadian in exile in eighteenth century Connecticut who had been separated from her beloved husband, Paul. The shy and bookish Amy lives in a state of anguish and uncertainty, until one of her high school teachers, Martin Stone, takes an interest in this unusual, highly intelligent young woman. Together they will try to get at the bottom of her mysterious dream states and her fire phobia.

The novel starts out promisingly enough, but it never quite reaches its promise. It has a feel of needing to be further fleshed out. While parts of the book are quite interesting, the reader feels as if one where given a delicious appetizer to tempt the palate, only to find that the main course is not forthcoming. Still, there is enough in this novel to make for a pleasant read. Those who have an interest in past lives regression will surely find this book to be of interest.

2.0 out of 5 stars THIN book, not worth it!, February 1, 2012

By 

E. Clark "ITuser" (CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smouldering Fires (Rediscovered Classics) (Paperback)

Any Seton novels are usually thick, this one is thin....barely a few hours read. I'm sorry I wasted my money, it's a rip off to charge over $4 for this book!

3.0 out of 5 stars Great story idea, not-so-great writing, July 24, 2009

By 

Michele - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smouldering Fires (Paperback)

The central idea of this book -- of a girl who has some sort of psychic connection to an ancestress of 200 years past with whom she shares a name -- is captivating, and the little bits of historical detail that Seton weaves in makes it interesting. However, this book has some big weaknesses in terms of the writing. While there are passages and scenes that are very well-written, draw the reader in, and transition smoothly to other scenes, they are interrupted by passages that are poorly written and transitions that are sudden and unexplained. For instance, the beginning of the book is very weak. It's almost as though Seton was so anxious to get into the meat of the plot that she didn't want to take the time to "set up" the story. As an example, chapter one ends with Amy running way from Martin Stone, unwilling to commit to talking with him again and afraid that he would report her to a school counselor. Chapter two starts up two weeks later, with Amy and Martin meeting in his apartment. There is no explanation given for what changed Amy's mind. Such a lack of transition seems amateurish and isn't what one would expect from a seasoned writer like Seton. Also, as other reviews have stated, the ending of the book is flat. There was so much Seton could have done with the ending of a story like this, but it's almost as though one day she decided she was through writing the story and just ended it where she was. This should have been a longer book, with the weak parts better developed.

I think the story line was creative and interesting and deserves a 4; however, the writing itself deserves a 2. So I am compromising at a 3. If you've read other Seton books then you'll understand she was not at her best here. This was her last book, and it feels like she had just lost the inspiration, the desire to write, or something. If this is your first Seton book, don't let this one turn you off. Her others are better!