Fuel of Fire


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(3 stars; 2 reviews)

"Then was there war in the house of Baxendale. Guy had made up his mind to wed the fair daughter of the forester; while Sir Stephen and Dame Alice his wife had made up their minds — with equal firmness — that no son of their noble name should mate with a daughter of the people". A rumor started that the girl was a witch and so she was burned. However before she was burned she cursed the family who condemned her:
"First by the King, and then by the State,
And thirdly by that which is thrice as great
As these, and a thousandfold stronger and higher
Shall Baxendale Hall be made fuel of fire".
Ever since, the Baxendales cannot be truly happy, for they cannot have true love. What is life without love? They do their duty, rule over the land, but cannot be happy. Can the curse be lifted? Can a Baxendale experience true love?
This book is a protest against the prominent view of marriage at the time. Against the values of ambition and duty, and of course against social class. It offers a new way to look at marriage, the modern way of true love. A year after publishing this novel, the author, a daughter of a viscount, would marry a senior teacher at a navy school. Not someone from her own class. However the marriage was described as very happy. - Summary from the book's prolog with additions by Stav Nisser. (9 hr 16 min)

Chapters

Prologue 21:16 Read by John
Chapter I. The Burtons 30:21 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter II. Baxendale Hall 24:24 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter III. Laurence Baxendale 23:28 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter IV. Mrs. Candy 25:24 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter V. Anthony's suggestion 23:22 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter VI. Rufus Webb 20:17 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter VII. A woman tempts 27:12 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter VIII. The course of true love 23:47 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter IX. Another woman tempts 23:00 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter X. Mrs. Candy's holiday 24:20 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XI. The burning of Baxendale 21:51 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XII. Suspicion 14:27 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XIII. The losing of the keys 27:20 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XIV. The finding of the keys 21:10 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XV. In the lanes 23:18 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XVI. Mrs. Candy's opinion 29:09 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XVII. Vain oblations 16:59 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XVIII. Wedding bells 35:43 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XIX. Winter days 11:30 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XX. To what purpose ? 22:18 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XXI. Lady Alicia 20:09 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XXII. The lanes again 17:47 Read by Jim Locke
Chapter XXIII. The professor's visit 27:52 Read by Jim Locke

Reviews

Nothing extraordinary, but nice


(4 stars)

Noble idiocy and pride can lead even to death, but, thank god, in this case the author spared her characters from this lot. Even if both are present in the novel (idiocy and pride I mean). I liked the ending as well, quite unexpected solution to the mystery.