[.ca] Burning Marguerite (ISBN 0375726225)

From Amazon.com:
From the first incantatory sentence in Burning Marguerite ("I can see spring in winter") to the last, Elizabeth Inness-Brown draws us into a north-country winter's tale with all the strange power of a dream. The novel is set on remote Grain Island, reachable only by ferry. First settled by the French, Grain Island now has two distinct populations: wealthy summer folks and hardy year-round inhabitants, who while away winter days ice fishing. Burning Marguerite begins in winter with a mysterious death, and goes on to reveal other mysteries and other deaths, including a violent crime. It alternates between the third-person point of view of 35-year-old James Jack and the first-person musings of Tante, the 94-year-old woman who raised him after his parents drowned when he was 4 years old. To all appearances a spinster, Tante has many secrets, including how she lost the little finger of her left hand and why she fled Grain Island for New Orleans as a young woman and never returned until after her parents died. James Jack keeps a secret of his own--a promise he made to Tante, one that embroils him with the island's sheriff, who almost adopted him, and an unhappily married woman. Burning Marguerite is a poetically written and haunting debut novel. --Susan Biskeborn

Nice, easy read...:
I really enjoyed this book! I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a interesting, well written book that is not too complex, and easy to get through. Perfect summer reading.

Lyrical debut novel:
Alternating locale between sultry New Orleans and a cold and craggy New England island, author Inness-Brown uses landscape and 'sense of place' to skillfully enhance the depths of her already very complex and passionate characters. Fire is a recurring motif, having been responsible for initiating the series of tragic events that both unite a family and pull it asunder. Flashbacks aren't supposed to be a popular fiction format, say some, but in Burning Marguerite, they work. Boy, do they work. Don't miss this one.

LAYES OF LIFE LIKE AN ONION, SLOWLY REVEALED...:
BURNING MARGUERITE is a wonderfully-written novel that draws the reader firmly but gently into a slowly unfolding story that will touch them not only deeply but also in a lasting way. Her characterizations are vivid and believable - her characters are likable but not perfect - and the tale and emotions are ones to which anyone can relate. ... Elizabeth Inness-Brown's reputation as a respected writer of short fiction is well-established. With this book, she shows her readers - new and old - that she has enormous talents with the longer form as well. The story - and her characters - unfold themselves before our eyes, from two very different but close perspectives. Part of the story is told in the third person, viewing the life of James Jack Wright. ... The other perspective from which this story unfolds is that of Marguerite herself......As with all of us, there are joys as well as tragedies through which these characters must navigate on their journeys through this life. These joys and tragedies are universal to us all, and yet they are unique to each individual they touch - such is the nature of humanity, and it is with great skill and caring that Elizabeth Inness-Brown has translated this into the printed word. This novel is rich and compelling, intelligent and moving - and it is a pure joy to experience writing of this caliber. I can't recommend this novel highly enough.

Beautiful, Burning, Brilliant:
This well-crafted story is the best book I've read so far this year. I savored each chapter-stretching out its 234 lyrical pages over many days. It cannot be called a "fast read." A gifted writer, Elizabeth Inness-Brown fills her paragraphs with stunning and flavorful detail as she tells the story of Marguerite, "Tante," and her adopted son, James Jack and their life on a remote, frozen island. It is both heartbreaking and liberating, and I highly recommend this book. From the author of "I'm Living Your Dream Life," McKenna Publishing

BORING! 50 pages was all I could stand.:
Sorry, folks, I guess I'm just a weirdo. I simply don't have the patience for authors who feel compelled to describe, in minute detail, every snowflake on every leaf of every branch of every tree... or every spoonful of sugar that a character puts into every cup of coffee. How about a little PLOT, Ms. Inness-Brown??? I forced myself to read 50 pages of this, because it was recommended highly by a dear friend, but decided life is just too short to keep on slogging, when there are so many other things to read.