Then Clara is abducted from one of the busiest streets in the city. Olivia is told it's thieves after ransom money, but she's convinced there's more to it. As she sets out to discover what's happened to the sister she's only just begun to know, she falls deeper into the shadowy underworld of Alexandria, putting her own life, and her chance at a future with Edward, the only man she's ever loved, at risk. Because, determined as Olivia is to find Clara, there are others who will stop at nothing to conceal what's become of her . . .
Beneath a Burning Sky is a novel of secrets, betrayal and, above all else, love. Set against the heat and intrigue of colonial Alexandria, this beautiful and heart-wrenching story will take your breath away. Comment: I got interested in this book some years ago, after seeing a positive review. The way the person described the book made me curious and now, using the excuse it would fit a topic in a challenge I'm doing, I finally picked it up.
In this historical fiction novel we follow Olivia, a young woman who is coerced into marriage with a man who had his eye on her sister Clara. Olivia says yes because she feels she has no choice and also because she travels to Egypt with him, which is where her sister lives with her husband and child and she thinks they might become friends again. Although they spent their childhood there, they got separated and their relationship was never the same. However, live with her husband isn't a happy one for Olivia and everything changes when he welcomes an officer boarder, with whom she falls in love and seems to be reciprocated. At the same time she is dealing with these emotions, her sister is kidnapped and no one seems to do the necessary to find her. Olivia investigates but it's not easy...especially since it feels someone is trying to keep Clara hidden, but what will Olivia do when she finds out the truth?
I felt the beginning of this novel was a slightly confusing one. I struggled to understand why Olivia's husband would want to marry the sister of someone who rejected him but I suppose this was just another way for us to see Alistair as the villain. Nevertheless, the whole situation felt oppressive and unfair, which I assume was the point but I'll confess sometimes everything was just too bleak.
In fact, I'd say this is the tone of the book from start to finish, bleak. The characters lead miserable lives, have complicated feelings towards Egypt and its culture but it's also what they know,not only because this is set at a time the British had control over the region but because that meant many British officers, their families and who knows who else, were living there for years and established roots. Of course, living near to Egyptians, who have different ways of seeing life and dealing with it, would always crash with the British mentality and I feel the author didn't try to ignore this.
Therefore, the more cultural/political aspects of the novel weren't superfluous or badly done, but when in relation to the fictional characters I just found everything to feel a little frustrating. Olivia spends the book being worried about her sister, trying to discover clues on her whereabouts and trying to understand why someone would have wanted to hurt Clara. She is also falling in love and she feels trapped in a situation she can't control, since her husband is so domineering and imposingly cruel. But what about how she behaves outside, when dealing with Egyptian people? I found some of the passages too convenient for the plot, others too slow... it wasn't always easy to maintain my interest in what was happening.
The reason why Clara disappears is slowly revealed as the plot moves along. As soon as I've finished, I thought everything was just too naively done and would such a simple motif cause such problems, but then the author explained another doubt and it felt as if everything had more sense than I imagined. This is an interesting blend of a mystery novel with an historical one, but to my personal taste, I'd have preferred more captivating characters. I can't tell if it's just the writing style - quiet, unassuming, slow - or the characters themselves, all more or less irritating, but I wasn't fascinated by them.
Olivia is a good heroine in the sense she embodies all the positive aspects of a tragic heroine, trapped in a loveless marriage, but still trying to do the right thing, devoted to her sister despite the years they weren't together, but her personality didn't win me over. She was too frustrating to think of, always with morose thoughts and actions, even while trying to investigate her sister's disappearance. As for the love interest, the boarder at her house... well, my first impression of him wasn't a good one and while he proved to be "honorable", I still feel I didn't get to know him that well to care.
Overall, this was interesting at times, a little annoying at others. I was also a little annoyed when things would seem to finally reach some sort of conclusion or turning point and then it would all stop (an interruption, a character who doesn't answer questions..) and I would think, more waiting... On one hand this is a good tactic to delay having the explanations too quickly, but I don't think the way this is written benefited from this choice. The secondary situations or even the characters alone just didn't interest me that much for this to be bearable, it was simply annoying.
No comments:
Post a Comment