Book Review/Discussion: The Burning Air by Erin Kelley

I pulled this book off the shelf of the library, it sounded pretty interesting, so I took it home. I must admit that I didn't have huge hopes for The Burning Air, but my curiosity was piqued just enough to give it a go. And...I am so glad I did!

For those who have not yet read The Burning Air 

For some reason, the last, like ten books I've taken home from the library have turned out to be from British writers and set in Britain. This is NOT something I'm doing on purpose! I think it's a pretty funny coincidence. So, yes, Erin Kelly is a British author and this book is set in England. 

The Burning Air tells the story of the MacBride family, a very close, well-to-do family that has just lost their matriarch, Lydia (this is not a spoiler, you find this out from go). As a way to seek some closure after Lydia's death by scattering her ashes, the MacBride clan gathers at their Dorset country home, Far Barn, for a get-together. Arriving at Far Barn are the widower Rowan, his oldest daughter Sophie, her husband and their four children, his daughter Tara, her long-time boyfriend and her child, and his son Felix and his new girlfriend. But, as they come together to grieve, a threat long-since brewing in their midst is about to come to a head. 

This book is predominantly about one thing: obsession. I mean, straight-jacket-worthy obsession. It is what drives one of the major characters and all of the events. This novel is full of twists and turns, and Kelly is a skilled enough author to handle them masterfully. I also enjoy how we see several of the pivotal scenes from two perspectives, adding an interesting dimension to the novel. The aforementioned obsession does come off as a little much at times, could someone really be that obsessed?, but the outcome speaks for itself....I couldn't put this book down. 

Recommended? 

I can definitely say YES. This is an enjoyable read and Kelly is clearly a very talented writer. My heart ached with these characters. Four out of five stars. 

Tips

This is another library find, so check your library first as they might have it. Also, try to read this novel quickly, as having details fresh on your mind is important. 

For those who HAVE read The Burning Air 

Warning! Ahead there be spoilers! And I PROMISE you that this is the type of novel that will just be utterly ruined by spoilers. 

Now that you have been thoroughly warned let us proceed. 

Darcy Kellaway. Oh, Darcy Kellaway, you obsessed little bastard. I have read a lot of books in my life and I can honestly say I have never encountered a character so utterly obsessed with another character (or in this cases, I guess characters). I know I am overusing the word obsession, but wouldn't you agree that it's really the only word to describe his little revenge fantasy? I mean, it drove his life completely for roughly twenty years. And as an aside, did this happen to anyone else? I was reading the Darcy section and suddenly the whole Matthew thing happened and I was like, wait, what?!?!?! The whole time I had thought Darcy was a girl. In fact, I was starting to suspect that Darcy was Kerry (hey, at least I was kind of on the right track there). It wasn't just the name, it was the way Darcy was written up to that point. I skimmed through to check and I didn't see any pronouns. Was this deliberate on Kelly's part to throw us off the scent, or was I just dense? Anyway, Darcy/Matt...I thought his character was quite interesting but also kind of far-fetched. I mean, his mother was a nutter and that goes a long way in explaining it, he had really inherited her obsession and neurosis, but it seemed odd to me that he would be so singularly fixated on destroying the MacBrides for so long. 

Also, I think we can all agree the MacBrides didn't deserve this, right? Sure Lydia may have done some things that weren't entirely on the up-and-up but not everything is black and white the way Darcy/Matt seems to think it is. I think that although it was wrong of Lydia to accuse Darcy when she knew he was not the one with the knife, I can see where she was coming from. Now, would you believe that I've read some blogs about The Burning Air where the authors expresses frustration that Darcy/Matt didn't exact more revenge? I've honestly read blog posts that say the MacBrides were the bad guys, not Darcy/Matt. Um...did we read the same book? Sure, in Darcy/Matt's twisted little mind he was a crusader for what was right. But he was actually going after completely blameless people. Remember, Lydia is the only one who actually did anything anyone could consider wrong, and Matt/Darcy went after the whole lot of them. 

As for Kerry...I believe what she expressed in her section. I think she was a damaged girl, and I think we as readers should see some parallels between Sophie's child-abandoning after having a baby and Kerry's child-stalking after losing a baby. I think we are meant to forgive them both their transgressions, which were different sides of the same coin of temporary mental illness. I hope she takes that fortune that Darcy/Matt inadvertently left her and finds a way to be happy. 

There are a lot of characters to feel for in this novel. I feel for Rowan, who has lost his beloved wife and has to see his children and grandchildren suffer. I feel for Felix, who lost both his eye and his sense of trust to Darcy/Matt's machinations. I feel for Sophie, who thought her child was gone forever. I feel for Will and Sophie both with the whole infidelity thing, though we can all agree that was a line Will should absolutely not have crossed. I feel for Tara, who found out she had trusted and loved a monster. I feel for Jake, who now has to live with being a murderer, even though the bat-to-the-head was to save his family. I feel for Lydia, who had to live with the guilt of what she'd done. I feel for Kerry, who was used and then discarded by her crazy husband. 

I do not feel bad for Matt/Darcy. Maybe I was supposed to, but I didn't. Yes, his childhood was pretty horrible, but that does not give him the right to set out to destroy an entire family. In fact, I can't remember the last time I wasn't even able to muster a little sympathy for a character. But for Matt/Darcy, after what he did to Felix and the rest of the family, I had none to give. I was, however, bummed that he died. I would have liked to have seen him have to answer for what he had done. 

So, those are my thoughts! I enjoyed the book a lot. I thought the way Kelly handled the twists were really masterful: she let them unfold bit by bit, letting us put the puzzle pieces together instead of giving us an instruction manual. 

In keeping with my pretence that people read this blog, here are some questions to ponder over in the comments section. Please spoiler tag if necessary! I think we can all agree that this is one novel that mustn't be spoiled!

-Do YOU think the MacBrides deserved what Darcy/Matt did to them? 

-Is Kerry more of a victim or an accomplice? 

-Some bloggers who've written about this book have expressed some real contempt for the MacBride family, which surprised me because I really liked them. What are your feelings on the MacBrides? 

-Moving forward past the last page of the novel, which character do you worry about the most?

-Why do you think only Darcy and Lydia were written in the first person? 

-Did you think Darcy was a girl at first?????

-Have you read any other works by Erin Kelly? How do they compare to The Burning Air, and would you recommend them?