Burntcoat

Product Information

Extra kudos to Hall for crafting Garth Greenwell-level sex scenes, this is excellent writing of sex as a form of communication.

The hope in this sparse, sumptuous, brilliant book is that the work of finding meaning and truth can be continued even in extremity, even as art and love slip away.And, of course, it's not the description of a devastating pandemic that is problematic (this is, to my knowledge, the first pandemic novel I've read). I could appreciate the mastery and craft that went into the product, but man-oh-man… sometimes less is more. I’m curious to hear more about the one you’re reading at the moment, so I’ll definitely keep an eye on your reviews. There are many graphic sex scenes (between Edith and Halit and in memories of her former lovers) but they never felt gratuitous or cheap; being thrown together as a pandemic rages outside the walls of Burntcoat is a baptism by fire and this relationship burned intensely. We now live in a contemporary, modern world where pandemics happen, and our lives are impacted in multiple ways, including our innermost thoughts and feelings.

The parts that resonated most with me were about Edith's art - and the process of her sculpting with burnt wood. A major success in her 20s finances her acquisition of Burntcoat, a large riverside warehouse-like building at the outskirts of an unnamed British town.Just as with other dystopian novels I’ve read, this one got under my skin and the realism left a huge mark on me. Fico contente por ter outras obras da autora, porque ela escreve muito bem, ainda que em pontos me pareça desnecessariamente lírica, mas esta em particular está cheia de altos e baixos. She isolates herself in her immense studio, known as Burntcoat, with Halit, the lover she barely knows.