Thanks to NetGalley, Lisa Harding and Bloomsbury Publishing for this advance review copy of Bright Burning Things.

Bright Burning Things is different to my usual read and more of a psychological read than I am used to, It tells the story of Sonya - a single Mum living in Dublin with her 4 year old son Tommy and their rescue dog Herbie. They have an intense and incredibly close relationship, living in each others pockets and spending all day every day together, Sonya's mother died when she was a young girl and she has little contact with her father and as such, her son and dog have become her little bubble and her entire world. Unfortunately there is another addition to their relationship - alcohol,. Sonya is an addict, and as life goes on she begins to struggle to battle her 'winged demons'; making increasingly poor decisions that raise questions from neighbours and risk her losing Tommy forever. We follow Sonya's experience of being sent to a rehab unit and the steps she takes to try and turn her life around.

This is a heartbreaking and intimate read about the fragile reality of someone experiencing addiction and as such it can be quite a hard read at times. Whilst I don't have a personal experience of addiction, I have previously supported people who have, so reading the stark reality of some of Sonya's thoughts was an emotional read.

The narrative is written in an unfamiliar tone - manic and frantic, with fast paced, short snappy sentences. At first this took me off guard; but upon persistence it became apparent that these were representative of the impulsive and muddled thoughts of a person struggling to contain her emotions,

It's hard to say I 'enjoyed' this book as it doesn't feel like the right phrase, but the characters will stay with me for some time. A hard hitting yet heart warming book to add to your Wishlist.

This review will be shared on realmumreview.com in my What I read in February post at the end of the month.

Sonya is an ex-actress who has returned to Dublin to live with her little boy, Tommy. They have a close, intense relationship and together with rescue dog, Herbie, they make a self contained unit. Narrated by Sonya we immediately know we're only getting one side of the story. It starts on a beach with Sonya tearing off her clothes to go for a swim in her underwear. She leaves Tommy alone with Herbie (he's only 4) and of course someone tells her off for this. Her fury is unappealing and is made worse by her dealing with it by drinking a bottle (or more) of white wine and almost setting the house on fire. She is firmly in the grips of alcohol and before long she is in a rehab unit run by nuns.

I found this to be a gripping, emotional read. It's not easy to like Sonya, she's selfish, impulsive and with a terrible temper to boot. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for her as she battled with her addiction and thereafter with the authorities to get Tommy back at home with her again. The people around her don't help save for one or two whom she meets at the rehab centre. Jimmy in particular is helpful to her and is one of the few likeable characters in the book. Sonya has a terrible relationship with her father who turned away from her immersed in his own grief unable to comfort her when her mother died when she was only 7 or 8. He then gets entangled with another woman, Lara who is simply horrible. Of course we only see them through Sonya's eyes and I doubt that she's a reliable narrator so who knows maybe Lara is much nicer than Sonya says.

It's a powerful read. Some things I couldn't quite accept such as the on-off relationship with David who seemed even needier than Sonya but it's a book that will stay with me. Not one that I'll read again as I did find it depressing. But it's extremely well written and I would recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This is a novel about a failed actress, Sonya, struggling with single motherhood to her young son, Tommy, and an addiction to alcohol. The book follows Sonya, who has had a difficult childhood and descends further into the bottom of a bottle and risks losing her family.

The subject matter is difficult and I felt a constant need to slap Sonya round the face to make her wake up and get a grip! I found the book therefore very difficult to read and the writing style with short choppy sentences just wasn’t for me. The writing was powerful and maybe I’m just in the wrong place myself.

A sad and beautiful book all in one. It is the story of how a mother tries to bring up her young son while being an alcoholic and suffering from her own demons. She also has an estranged relationship with her father and step-mother. I found it an intense read but I was always on the side of Sonya and willed her to keep making the right decisions as she clearly loved Tommy.

This is my first Lisa Harding Novel and it definitely won't be my last.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the arc for an honest review.

this is not a book i would usually pick up. this is a psychological book in terms of it deals with mental health issues. i thought it was a challenging, emotional read. i felt so sorry for sonia and tommy - both struggling with all the changes they went through.

** this review will also be posted on my instagram - @librariangeorgia **

A compelling and heartbreaking account of a young woman’s battle with addiction while raising her son as a single mother. The writer accounts for the trials of the main character and also the effects her issues has on her son and her family.

What a gripping story.

This was a very disturbing but good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.
Very sad and real, you feel inside the story
This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension -  impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!
Thank Netgalley

I loved this book, more than an addiction recovery memoir in scope it covers a more blanket exploration of mental health issues.

Most of all I enjoyed the protagonist’s voice.

I would highly recommend it.

This is quite a difficult read, and not exactly an enjoyable one. Somehow I have read at least four books recently featuring women struggling with addiction - perhaps this painful topic is having a moment. It seems timely: I imagine the pandemic is not having a positive effect on anyone with substance use disorders.

All of this is to say: I think I would have enjoyed this more if I'd read it at a different time, because there's no denying that it's a powerful book. The characters are complex and real, even the worst of them inspiring some kind of sympathy, and the beats are affecting even when they're predictable -in fact, especially when they're predictable. Comparisons with Shuggie Bain are apt and deserved.

I feel that the overarching metaphor is slightly overdone in the final moments of the novel, but it does keep the tension up right until the very end.

Maybe save this one until you're feeling resilient - but do read it.

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

I found this a difficult read, Sonya is in the midst of addiction and mental health issues and struggling to raise her son. It is both infuriating and heartbreaking to navigate through her world. The awfulness of alcoholism and neglect is handled well by the author, and it feels painfully real. As well written as it is I don’t think I could/would read this again as I found it quite distressing.

This was an outstanding novel, filled with suspense, richness and incredible writing. Gripped like a vice and wouldn't let go.

An intense and deeply riveting novel, Bright Burning Things vividly pulls the reader inside the head of Sonya as she battles alcoholism (and her sanity) while raging against the system to keep her son from being taken from her. The prose is alive, never letting up, and never sugar-coating the reality of Sonya's life on the edge. Or the serious consequences for her little boy. Between the lines are the subtle hints of unresolved backstory for the reader to contemplate. Sonya's childhood, the loss of her mother, and the emotional distance between her and her father. A breathless, emotional journey, worth taking. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishers for opportunity to read this ARC.

Bright Burning Things is a hard-hitting read about alcohol addiction and mother-son relationships. It has been compared to Shuggie Bain, Booker Prize winner by Douglas Stuart, and I’ll happily admit that this comparison piqued my interest in this novel. This book is however quite unique. Lisa Harding has chosen to tell this story entirely from the viewpoint of Sonya, an alcoholic and out-of work actress who fell pregnant in London and returned home to Dublin to have her baby, Tommy. This book is about Sonya’s struggle to conquor her inner demons and maintain a hold on her son. We remain in Sonya’s head for the duration of the book: this not an easy place to be. Sonya is chaotic, impulsive and impetuous.

“My ‘tipping point’ was just an inevitable destination on the journey I had embarked on. My flirtation had turned into a full-blown affair. There wasn’t an ‘aha’ moment; the relationship was going along nicely, smoothly – a buffer – and then I woke up to find my every thought consumed. This is my story with alcohol, as with all the men in my life up to now.”

Sonya has two great loves in her life: her boy and alcohol. She loves Tommy fiercely, but is driven by her addiction.

“My love for Tommy is bigger than anything I’ve ever felt before, bigger than any love he can ever show me.”

Sonya is unreliable, and as readers, we are only given her version of events – we have to rely on the reactions of others to interpret what is really going on much of the time. Because this story focuses on a particular chapter in Sonya’s life, we don’t end up with resolution in all of her troubled relationships. The lens is very much focused on her, Tommy, and alcohol.

I don’t shy away from hard-hitting books, and it feels wrong to say I enjoy them! However, I was sucked up into this story of Sonya, Tommy and Pinot Grigio. I was desperately cheering Sonya along from the side lines, screaming at her to make the right decisions, which she so often didn’t. This book is not an easy read, and won’t appeal to all, but I absolutely devoured it, reading it over two days.

An emotional read. I felt so sorry for Sonya and Tommy. Sonya is not coping well with motherhood and needs to start taking better care of both her son and herself. Parts of the story felt so real which made it even more of an emotional read. I will remember this story for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

This is the author (who is also an actress and playwright)’s second novel – her first (which I have not read) was about sex-trafficking and she has made an equally difficult and brave choice of subject here – alcoholism.

The book is narrated by Sonya – the back story of who we piece together as the book progresses – although some remains opaque even to her. Her mother died when she was 7-8, and, her relationship with her crushed father never really properly developed, something which, at least as she sees it, was not aided by her stepmother who also cut them off from her mother’s family.

For a time she was a successful actress, but after a couple of failed and difficult relationships, quit the stage and at the book’s start is a single mum, living on benefits in an almost claustrophobically close relationship with two others: her 4-year old son Tommy and her rescue dog Herbie. The three make a mutually dependent tight knit group, and Sonya’s general (almost misanthropic) distrust of others (she has for example banished her father from all contact with his grandchild) – which she largely transmits to Tommy and Herbie - makes it an exclusive one.

But there is a fourth person in the relationship – alcohol – and Sonya’s relationship with that first threatens that with Tommy and Herbie and then causes – from her father, a concerned neighbour – a forceful intervention and a non-negotiated 12-week spell in a Catholic drying-out sanctuary. We follow Sonya before, during and after her spell there – as she sees her relationship with Tommy and Herbie disintegrate, alter and then tries to reassemble it in a more sustainable fashion – with a counsellor she first encounters in the before stage, and then officially in the during phase, both easing and complicating the after stage as his own dependencies and issues emerge.

The writing is both intimate and intense – capturing both a mother/young child relationship (with shared phrases, rituals and jokes – albeit a dysfunctional and increasingly neglectful one) and Sonya struggling with her inner demons (with alcohol a cause of many of her issues but also a cause of deeper symptoms going back to her mother’s unexplained death). Over time, her lifelong fascination with lights and fire transmits itself dangerously to Tommy.

Sonya’s actress past both inspires quotes and scenes from the stage to play out in her head as she contemplates her life, but also allows her to examine both the way she behaves under the influence, and the roles she needs to play to both make it through her course and convince others to return Tommy to her.

"I squeeze my eyes shut. Behind my lids a kaleidoscope of various shades and patterns of darkness play out. The creatures stir and rouse themselves, a kinetic force of nature, a flock programmed to fly thousands of miles, even in inclement weather, even if they might be flying to their death. My eyes open just as my mouth does. This shouldn’t happen, not while I’m sober, and not in front of this angry, wretched boy. It’s all I can do to witness the stream of abuse I hurl at the world, the boy, who turns and observes me in a detached manner, as if he’s watching a play, and maybe he is, and I’m entirely taken over by the character I’m playing"

The book will I think inevitably draw comparisons to “Shuggie Bain” (and already has in the Guardian’s 2021 Literary Fiction Preview) – although its important to point out that Bloomsbury announced the pre-emption of this book in January 2020, before Douglas Stuart’s masterpiece was even published in the UK and fully 6 months before the UK publication that lead on to its Booker win.

Although there are similarities there are differences.

In particular having a first party narrator is a very brave decision as it forces the author to put us in directly the mind of the person suffering with alcoholism – it is I think a gamble that pays off richly.

Interestingly for me: although Sonya’s life-choices will be alien to them, I think that her relationship with alcohol – and particular an almost romantic examination of the characters of the white wine she drinks - will be something that resonates a lot more closely with readers of literary fiction that Agnes Bain’s non-discriminatory cravings. In some ways it would have been interesting had this book been due for a February publication as I think it may have lead to a few Dry January’s being extended.

I do hope however that the success of Douglas Stuart’s book helps to gain this book’s the attention it richly deserves for another both heartbreaking and beautiful portrayal of alcohol addiction viewed through the prism of a mother/son relationship.

A single mother, a convalescing alcoholic, an ex-darling of the rolling camera, and a borderline narcissist, Sonya is the woman centre-stage in this blisteringly intimate novel by Lisa Harding. She narrates first-hand, enters Sonya’s despair, her grief, her hopes, her joys; her everything. It’s a tornado of emotions, taut with a suspenseful clasp: will she get to keep her four-year old – will she stay sane for long enough?

Yes, Sonya is not “mother material”. Yes, she is an anti-social personality with narcissistic tendencies. Yes, she’s an alcoholic likely to end up back in the “institute” at any moment. But the brilliance of Harding’s writing is that she’s entered the narrative of this flawed character without judgement, only observation. Therefore, it’s up to the reader to decide whether or not they can sympathise with Sonya. For those without difficulty exercising empathy, then look no further.

The language is also biting, engrossing. For example, the immediacy of dropping the first person pronoun at the beginning of sentences – “My stomach is raw and distended. Run my hands across my belly and imagine an alien life form in there, eating me from the inside out.” – Hypnotic metaphors – “What will happen to those winged creatures without my daily dose of anaesthesia? I’m scared they’ll rise up and rip out of me.” – Insight into Sonya’s conflict of recovery – “Sanity has to hide her truth at all costs, Sanity has to smile and suppress, Sanity has to present a neatly packaged front to the world.”

Such a swarm of intimate language-use is haunting and creates a highly memorable picture. Forget drink, this novel is its own high.

Trying hard to be a good mother Sonya has many conflicts and tribulations as she tries to fight addiction and her other self that appears when she has had drink. I found it difficult to relate to the characters and did not enjoy the story at all.

Sonya Moriarty was once a successful actress but her life is now spiralling out of control into alcoholism. Her very absent father finally steps in to intervene to protect Sonya’s four year old son Tommy from some of her worst behaviour. She is to have a three month detox in a convent.

This is a powerful, raw and emotional story as you are pulled in all directions for Sonya and Tommy. Sonya is so damaged you want to help her but also to shake her to be more responsible in caring for Tommy. She has been let down so badly by people in the past that your heart aches for her especially as her love for Tommy and Herbie the dog is never in any doubt. However, her mind loops and the appearance of the ‘bad fairy’ when she’s drinking means the intervention is overdue and Tommy’s life is certainly topsy-turvy. Tommy is an adorable child and whilst Sonya is an unconventional mother you know that if she can ditch the booze she will be a magical one. This is well written story which is very well told with real impact and some beautiful descriptions, especially vivid ones of the effects of her drinking. This is heart breaking at times particularly the separation of mother and child and the anxiety they both feel for this three months makes for compelling reading.

Overall, an emotional rollercoaster of a novel which is extremely thought provoking.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (UK and NZ) for the arc for an honest review.

I have felt every emotion reading this book. From anger to sympathy and back again. I wanted to shake this young mum to make her see sense and I wanted to look after them all at the same time. In this crazy year we are living in it seems topical and thought provoking to read a book like this. I think in 2021 this book will be talked about a lot.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

A book that grabs you on several levels, addiction, love and abandonment. Sonya is from Dublin, a single Mum dealing with the pressure all that brings and a lot of emotion from her youth, before Tommy was born she had a successful career as an actor (not allowed to say actress i think) in London. Her career took a nose dive just a her ex Howard also decided fatherhood wasn't in his plans, unfortunately wine became the new support mechanism the other half.
As Tommy hits 4 and a half Sonyas actions are getting the attention of others obviously not in a good way so action is needed. This is the emotional journey of Sonya as she battles with life and all it throws at her, Can she win the battle with the wine that's "the journey" we take with her.
This is a very well written and fascinating novel its charged with raw emotion and intrigue, has suspence with some great characters scattered throughout the book. Its all you need to keep you involved but is also a description of the pain many people have and indeed are going through everyday some winners and some don't. I think its safe to say no 2 stories of addiction are the same as there are no 2 identical humans on the planet there may be some similar stories and emotions but each tale is different hence it won't be anything you've fully heard before but it will be rewarding in many ways and will almost certainly challenge you in a healthy way so I highly recommend this book and have a feeling you won't want to put it down as you share Sonyas journey with Tommy and his friends (pets).