February 2010: The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

[Libby]

I've just finished reading this book. It was a hardback copy and there were no pictures.

I thought that the description was beautifully written. It also taught me quite a bit about the history of fireworks which was a subject I'd never considered before. It was obvious that the author had done her research thoroughly. I also enjoyed the way that fire was used a theme throughout the book.

The ending was not what I expected and for a while I felt slightly disappointed, but then I had to admit that this was not my story and the ending is the one that the author chose and it was one that I had to accept. And as I considered it the ending seemed to be the right one after all.

The threads in the book were deftly drawn together at the end and I realised why certain characters had been introduced and where the themes had been leading. It was not a conventionally happy story but it was thought-provoking and a novel that I would recommend.