Bright I Burn - Molly Aitken - ★★★

AUTHOR: Molly Aitken

GENRE: Historical Literary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: September 10, 2024

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A literary fiction about a woman in thirteenth century Ireland who was the first to be condemned as a witch. Inspired by true events. Excellent themes. Had tremendous potential, but certain writing choices make this less impactful than it could have been.

Plot Preview:

1279. Kilkenny, Ireland. When little Alice Kyteler sees her mother wilt under the family responsibilities, she decides that she will not make the same mistakes and will keep control over her life. But can this be easy in a time and place where whatever men say or want is considered final? As Alice grows and matures over the course of the story, she is served well by her strengths: her propensity for business, and her calculating mind that is always focussed on survival. But with every increase in her social stature, the rumours about her private life grow worse.

The story, spanning several decades, comes to us in Alice’s first-person perspective.

PSA: The Goodreads blurb reveals too much!

Bookish Yays:

🔥 The strong feminist theme, especially considering the era. While I didn’t agree with the writing choices, it was an unusual experience to see a historical protagonist being in total awareness of her sexual needs.

🔥 Alice’s first-person narration has strong YA vibes at the start, but as she grows, so does her voice. I like how the writing changes her tone in accordance with her age.

🔥 Of the secondary characters, I liked Alice’s servant Petronilla the most. I felt so sorry for her but also admired how she did what she needed to do, just as Alice, even though their situations were so different. Petronilla is also based on an actual historical woman.

🔥 The portrayal of the medieval era, with its patriarchal dominance, the ingrained misogyny, the restricted role of women in society, the blind adherence to the church’s dictates, and the fear of anything that can’t be explained.

🔥 The author's note, which clarifies how this is a fictional work but inspired by a true story of the first woman in Ireland to be condemned for witchcraft. Very helpful and insightful!

🔥 Love that powerful cover art and the punny title!

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🕯️ Unlike typical medieval woman characters, Alice is savvy in business and worldly matters. She knows what she wants, and is ready to do whatever it takes to survive in a man's world. As the first-person protagonist, she is not likeable, so it is tough to root for her. The writing perspective, Alice’s first-person, makes her sound arrogant and self-righteous, which further distances us away from her. But her complex personality makes the plot more nuanced.

🕯️ Somehow, the writing doesn't feel historical in sound, even though the setting is so old. Alice’s thoughts seem too outspoken and independent for that era. This might be on purpose, but somehow, it didn’t come across as convincing. Rather, it felt like a 13th century woman was spouting 21st century thoughts.

🕯️ The structuring of the plot takes some time to get used to. It is quite patchwork in style, covering a period of 52 years from 1279 to 1331, so we get only a quick glimpse of some key moments from across this vast period. On the positive side, the time indicators are excellent, and there is never any confusion of what year is going on. However, the frequent time jumps, though linear, can be annoying, especially when every new section is a scene in a completely different timeframe and no immediate continuity.

🕯️ The story is character-driven, but as we see the events only from Alice’s first-person perspective, the general character detailing is quite vague. Most characters, including Alice’s immediate family, are developed only as much as barely needed; we don’t get to see beyond one or two of their personality traits.

🕯️ Unlike most books of this ilk, not all the men are depicted as prigs. (Well, most of them are shown as prigs, but there are a couple of worthy exceptions.) However, none of the male characters, whether good or bad, have any depth. Alice’s spouses are the most monotonous. (If you want a spoiler on how many life partners she ends up having, read the Goodreads/Amazon blurb.)

🕯️ There are some interludes in between the time jumps. These contain either village gossip about Alice or some folk tales that suit the scene or some poems. Some of these interludes add to the narrative, some are just a bit too experimental.

Bookish Nays:

💥 If you read the blurb and pick this up expecting a witchy story, it’s not gonna happen! The main genre is strictly historical fiction, with zero witch-hunt scenes.

💥 In a period of 52 years, we ought to see the growth of a strong woman from youth to maturity, from dependence to independence. We ought to see her single-handedly managing her lending business, tackling the challenges from fellow businessmen, interacting with the villagers. But what do we actually get through most of the book? Her longing for men, her inner wish for being a wildcat in bed, the ways in which she wants/has "ferocious sex", the way she manipulates men into sleeping with her and/or marrying her, of ogling at and baiting even married men with her physical guiles, of babying her son and ignoring her daughter... Is this the best way of honouring this woman, by letting us know that wanting sex is the only important and most vital trait of a historical rebel? It’s an innovative writing choice and will work well for some readers. But it was too limited for my taste. I wanted to know Alice holistically, not just for her physical desires.

💥 Despite so much happening in the story, the narrative often feels like an endless first-person rambling. There is more focus on Alice’s inner monologues than on actual events.

💥 F words and blasphemous profanity – nope for such a setting and era.

💥 The ending was very disappointing. I can’t go into spoilers so I’ll just say: it was almost anticlimactic and too rushed.

All in all, I loved the intent of the book, but the execution was slightly disappointing. I expected to feel more concern and fear for Alice, but her attitude left me unsure. I wanted her story to burn brighter, but it had more of sporadic sparks than feisty flames. Though I like literary fiction, this was perhaps too literary and radical for its own good.

Recommended to lit fic fans looking for a story about a woman who knew what she and her body wanted. (That’s the best way I can frame it.) Not for readers looking for a witch-hunt story, or for a plot-driven narrative, or some redeemable characters. I liked it, but it didn’t impress me as much as I had expected.

My thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing the DRC of “Bright I Burn” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

If you are interested in reading up on what happened to Alice Kyteler, check this out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Kyteler

Do be aware that the link contains spoilers for this novel.