Bluethroat Morning

By Jacqui Lofthouse

Book Overview

A literary mystery that explores the troubled relationship between women and their writing. Alison Bliss, world-famous model and author of critically acclaimed Sweet Susan , walks into the sea on a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582340862
• ISBN13: 9781582340869
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A book for a cold winternight!

I couldn't stop reading, I needed to know what was going to happen. Just read it! it stays in your head for a long time.

Under a Spell

Other reviews have outlined Harry's search into the suicide of his novelist (shades of Plath) and ex-model (shades of Kate Moss?) wife, so I will leap to my conclusions. As things narrow down to old man Ern (the keeper of secrets), factors and facts about the past begin to pull together, and I came completely under this Bluethroat Morning's spell. I was gripped not only by the storyline but by some magic of the narrative voice. There is something of John Fowles's The Magus about it: a man, set apart, seeking in a strange isolated setting, worlds within worlds, time within time, though without The Magus's conspiracy element or high mythology. Even the protagonist has similarities.. an egocentric, self-pitying, sex-solves-things guy... yet I was still hooked on his search. The evocation of Norfolk and area is brilliant, Ern is a superb character, and the boat scene and climactic scene at Ern's cottage complete with ancient clocks, an obsessive newspaper collection and glass cases full of eerie stuffed birds -- wow. I was less enthralled with Alison herself, what we knew of her; perhaps she deserves a novel of her own? Lofthouse isn't afraid to create lush, nearly gothic settings and makes them a good and believable read. I agree with some of the customer reviews that some of the overwriting or repetition could be edited down, but forgive this because I was grateful and intrigued to read a book that, quite simply, got me and wouldn't let go.

Mesmerizing, Spellbinding!

The book is about a model, Alison, who struggles with anorexia, then becomes a successful author when she writes a semi-autobiographical book about the fashion industry. She finds an old photograph in her husband's house of one of his ancestors with his wife and becomes intrigued with the unhappy-looking woman in the photo. She finds out that the woman in the picture committed suicide by walking into the sea and goes to the town where it all happened to do research and write her second book about this woman, Arabella. The twist, which you learn very early on in the first chapter (so I'm not giving anything away here), is that Alison ends up committing suicide by doing the exact same thing in the very place that Arabella did it and her husband is left to unravel the mystery of her death. This was a real page turner and very well written. The plot sucked me in like a Hoover and didn't let go until the very end when it builds to a dramatic conclusion. Wonderful read!!!!!

An intelligent mystery

This is an intelligent mystery written by a writer with a major talent for descriptive writing. Jacqui Lofthouse can transport you to a situation and "Paints pictures" with atmosphere. The tension in the book gradually rises as the main Character Harry returns to the scene of his wife's suicide to find out why she killed herself. The bleak Norfolk landscape is a perfect backdrop for this story, the characters are beautifully drawn. I couldn't put it down and thoroughly recommend it.