Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken is meant to be a story about a woman being accused of witchcraft and her journey to garner such accusations. In reality, the story follows the life of Alice Kyteler as she grows from a young girl into the end of her life. Bright I Burn is difficult to follow at first, because of the short chapters, varying writing styles and time jumps. However, Aitken does a wonderful job of progressing the story and making the reader feel as though they are swimming through Kyteler's mind.

I didn’t care for the writing style of this book. It felt very surface-level. The characters didn’t feel well developed.

DNF @ 24%

I was given an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. The story takes place in thirteenth century Ireland and is based on the life of a real woman. I found the story to be choppy and hard to follow. There seemed to be a lot of unnecessary poems and quotes that only confused/interrupted the story. From what I could gather, this woman, Alice, murdered her husbands, mostly for her own gain. The one surviving child she had was a son who in later years distanced himself from her only to return when money was involved. She was not likeable and what could have been a really interesting story left me disappointed. I had no feel for the time or setting, just disjointed scenes that never really came together for me. Maybe another reader will feel differently, but I was not impressed.

This is an odd book, but one I still thoroughly enjoyed. It is a fast read and an emotional one. I would recommend it to people looking for a quick, unique story.

The book follows a beautiful young woman in thirteenth century Ireland whose father refuses to accept a marriage proposal for her. When he dies, she takes over her father's lending business and finds a man to marry because she knows she won't be taken seriously as a business woman without a husband. We follow her through several unsatisfying relationships over decades and see how life hardens her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This is definitely a book that has a lot of my interests included. The writing is unique and the formatting of the book is interesting. I loved the pieces of gossip from the town that were thrown in before a chapter change.

The story is a fictionalized history of a woman who really did exist and it made me want to do some Wikipedia deep diving. Her narration was so strong and, though not necessarily likeable as a character, you can really feel her drive and passion to be more than just a wife or a mother. To be powerful and rich as well.

I enjoyed the reading of this book, however, I will say that it is not by any means a light read. It is pretty heavy all the way through and I highly suggest checking trigger warnings before starting.

Overall, I think this was a strong story and I look forward to what Aitken does next.

This is my first book by Molly Aitken. I had never heard of Alice Kyteler before this book. I think most people are fascinated by the Salem Witch trials and the awful way women were treated for being different in those times. This book tells the story of Alice who was the first person in Ireland to be charged with Witchcraft. Alice is a very strong, feministic character and you aren't sure if you love or hate her. She is very powerful and strong and I can see how that would be mistaken for evil in those times. She doesn't fare well with husbands, that's for sure.

Molly Aitken was born in Scotland and raised in Ireland, her ongoing fascination with Celtic myth and history informs this vivid reimagining of the life of Alice Kyteler, the first woman in Ireland to be condemned for witchcraft. Set in Ireland during the 13th century, it's mainly presented from Alice's perspective, interspersed by a chorus of townspeople's voices. Alice lives in the monastic town of Kilkenny where her father's position as innkeeper and moneylender has set her family apart, both envied and despised. When her father dies Alice's forced to marry in order to take over his business, but the marriage ends in disaster, like the others that follow.
Aitken's beautifully-observed narrative's lyrical but never sentimental. Aitken uses Alice's experiences to explore the plight of powerful, ambitious women in an era of misogyny, where a woman could be lawfully killed if suspected of adultery. It's a medieval society caught between the old ways
- in which witches and cunning folk were an acceptable feature - and rising forces within the Catholic church, resulting in clashes between the secular and the religious.
Aitken brings in hints of Salem with her references to local bakeries' mould-ridden bread known to provoke mania and delusions. But, unlike conventional stories of witchcraft and persecution, Alice isn't portrayed as a blameless victim of patriarchy. Instead, she's a far more complex figure, often far from likeable: her scheming and morally dubious actions stemming from her desperation to find some way of navigating the spaces between personal, bodily desires and what's expected of a woman and a wife, it's a refreshing perspective. Although there were moments when my attention wandered, I found this a surprisingly compulsive, Haunting piece

I was really intrigued by the concept of this book, a story about the first woman accused of being a witch in Ireland! While I enjoyed the book, I was left with mixed feelings. It was quite difficult to follow the speaker throughout the book, never knowing true events from the gossips and whispers around town. I think some of this could be fixed with proper formatting in a finalized edition. There also wasn’t a very smooth narrative, it was very eccentric just like the main character, but the topic of witches was never really addressed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for this arc!
3 ⭐️

Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken is a historical fiction novel set in 13th century Ireland. The story of Alice is complicated, she had aspirations to be independent and successful as a business woman in a time period that did not allow women to make their own decisions. Her greatest downfall was how she was perceived and accused which could be anything a man wanted to contrive without evidence.

This book was not for me, I found Alice’s life to be a consequence of her actions. She was promiscuous, her husbands die under unusual circumstances, she was quite vindictive and cruel to people around her. Ultimately, her maid pays the price for her discretions. She gave people reason to talk badly about her with her behavior and reputation. This novel does give an accurate view of a woman’s life in medieval Ireland, the struggles of women to be safe, to give birth and raise children, and to have a say in their lives.

I will decline sharing my review on my social media accounts due to my rating.

Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

It’s a huge bonus especially for women to have wealth no matter what year it is.

This book is based on the true story of Alice Kyteler. It takes us back to a very long time ago; the year is 1279. After her father died in Kilkenny, Ireland, she inherited the ownership of his profitable inn. It gave her a good living but she constantly had her eye on getting more coins and doing whatever she needed to aim high in her life with four marriages and one son.

This book opened up my eyes to this woman’s life and what a struggle it must have been. Each husband called her “wife.” Women had to obey and yet, Alice had a way of getting whatever she wanted. The setting took us to a place where there was a great fear of war with the Gaels. Women needed protection from a man. Yet, Alice wasn’t afraid of walking alone.

Alice wasn’t someone I liked. I wouldn’t want to put her on my friend’s list with an attitude of importance and ongoing goal of reaching more riches. Women with successful husbands had to be nervous of her presence.

At times, I was confused about what was happening wondering if I may have missed something. It helped me to read accounts on Google to get more background of her life. I wish there was more in the book about how Alice was accused of using dark magic. She knew that to have control with her life she needed money and powerful friends. Not all women were as fortunate especially servants. It made me think about women’s rights of today. Maybe there’s not a trial of witchcraft these days but money sure helps with any legal situation.

My thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book with an expected release date of September 10, 2024.

I loved this historical fiction about a woman in 1300's Ireland who was accused of being the first witch because she successfully ran an inn and just happened to have four husbands who died under mysterious and not so mysterious circumstances. But it is so easy to see why they accused her of being a witch, because they didn't like her. I loved at the beginning of the chapters there were snippets of gossip. I really enjoyed this take of Alice Kyteler but I wish there had been more details and depth. I wanted to know her better than I did by the end of the novel. Highly recommend!

imaginative, gorgeous writing. just missing a component that would bring me to cone back to it. i found it hard to fall deeply into the story and stay there.

The prose of Bright I Burn is fantastic. Alice is a strong character. She worked a highly patriarchal society to be a successful woman, in a time where it was impossible. However, if you are unaware of Alice and her historical origins, you may be struggling to understand a lot of the book. It would be beneficial to look up basics of the actual historical figure prior to reading to merge some of the missing pieces. The formatting of the book was interesting, bouncing between Alice's narrative and the community conversations. This allowed the reader to piece together the public opinion of Alice and what she thinks.

I went into this expecting a fantasy historical book featuring witches but instead found a historical book with a serious tone about Medieval Ireland. I love learning about things and I love a good history book; however if you're looking for a fantasy this isn't it. It's a realistic look at life during this period. Aitken did a wonderful job working the era, showing you what Alice was living through, and maintaining a strong focus on the main character allowing her narrative to shine through.

A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Really intrigued by the play gossip has in this book, and the form and snippets help to move the plot along from what is otherwise all Alice’s perspective. She’s very focused on her own goals which isn’t always a terrible thing, if you don’t mind a few dead husbands along the way. Alice herself can be both a badass and challenging to root for at different points throughout the book. If you’re looking for a lot of witchcraft lore, you might be disappointed, as this book leans toward the everyday decisions of ambitious women who get ahead of everyone else and is hated for it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was definitely intriguing, the implementation of it just didn’t really do it for me personally. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t memorable either

I thought I would enjoy Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken, but it was slow-going for me. I did appreciate the story of real-life Alice Kyteler and am grateful to Aitken for depicting how terribly hard it was to be a woman in Ireland in the thirteenth century, but I found the writing style difficult to get through. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because I wanted to learn what happened to Alice. Now to read more historical sources about her!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for honest feedback.

This book. Sigh, so good, where to begin?

My familiar approves 🐈 and that’s the best approval a book can ever have. Bright I Burn is an exploration of power, sexuality, womanhood, and resilience. Oh, and gossipy townsfolk. It is inspired by the story of Alice Kyteler, the first woman in Ireland to be formally charged with witchcraft. Also who here doesn’t love a good Irish tale?!

We follow Alice as she created a morally questionable path in an immoral world. Fans of Weyward by Emilia Hart or The Book of Gothel will probably enjoy this book. Although, Airken’s writing is a bit more lyrical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cannongate for the ARC! 📚✨

"In thirteenth-century Ireland, a woman with power is a woman to be feared."

I LOVE historical fiction (and nonfiction) about how women were considered witches.

This book's plot had me interested from the start. It would be perfect for the fall season! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This lyrical historical fiction is based on Alice Kyteler—namesake of our female MC—who was the first woman condemned as a witch in Ireland back in the 1300s. Kyteler leads what would (especially then) be considered a scandalous life, having had four husbands. This historical fiction closely follows the real life story of Kyteler and while exquisitely told, I was hoping for more of a lean in to the fiction and, therefore, the witchcraft. I suppose I was hoping for more of a story along the lines of “Weyward” or “The Lost Apothecary” so my own expectations failed me; it felt more like a historical retelling rather than historical fiction and that made it difficult for me to truly connect with. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more on audiobook but as a physical book, I struggled.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Available 09/10/2024!

Bright I Burn
by Molly Aitken
4⭐️

I don’t think I’ve read a book like this in a while, this was way out of my usual scope but so good! I loved the style of writing and the way this story is told. Alice is such a strong FMC, she is flawed and real in the way strong and fierce women always are.

There’s a few things that weren’t super clear to me because of the ambiguous way in which they were written but maybe this was on purpose.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6608922392