The Burning Bride

by Margaret Lawrence

Book Overview

A mystery set after the American Revolution features midwife Hannah Trevor, whose fiance is accused of murder just before their wedding. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038097620X
• ISBN13: 9780380976201
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 387 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

I Love This Series!!!!

The story of Hanna Trevor and all her loves is such a compelling story. Margaret Lawrence has such a wonderful talent for bring her characters to life. There are very few books that use the fictional setting of post-American Revolutionary life that this is a very refreshing and enlightening read. Ms. Lawrence does a great job with developing characters and plot lines. Weaving everyday life with the extra story of mystery and murder. The author makes the reader feel for each and every character. Ms. Lawrence gives the reader a good solid understanding the society of this time, so that the reader learns and empathizes with each character. In "The Burning Bride", Ms. Lawrence weaves a very good murder mystery in with the on going story of Hanna and Daniel and their love for each other. Both plot lines are very satisfying in their delivery and conclusion. The author gives the reader many suspects and reasons that keep me guessing till the end of the book. I highly recommend Margaret Lawrence's Hanna Trevor trilogy. Even if you think you might not enjoy a story set in the 1700's. This is mystery writing at its finest. But, start with "Hearts And Bones" and "Blood Red Roses", if you read these books out of order, you won't get the full enjoyment of this series.

Incredible story

After reading Hearts and Bones and Blood Red Roses by Margaret Lawrence I couldn't resist spending a few extra dollars on the hardback edition of The Burning Bride. I wasn't disappointed.This is an incredible series set a few years after the Revolutionary War in Maine. The story centers around Hanna Trevor, the local mid-wife, her lover Daniel Josselyn and their daughter, Jennett. In each book the story becomes more complex and the characters are more interesting. The series is about life after the Revolutionary War and how everything wasn't the picture perfect life everybody thought it to be. Greed, debtors prison, taxes, murder, treason, audultery, rape, prostitution and love are all intertrined in this incredible story. Ms. Lawrence has outdone herself.I definetly recommend starting with the first of the series.

Superlative historical fiction

These three books are a must-read for anyone interested in the post revolutionary period. Beautifully written, unusual in form, with wonderful characterizations: Lawrence succeeds where so many don't even try to make us understand the women of this time and place. There is a love story (although I would disagree with the reviewer -- it is not steamy, but simply evocative, and touching), and there are mysteries, and both of them are wonderfully done but these novels are more than the sum of their parts. Lawrence draws on the life of Hannah Trevor, a midwife who lived in Maine during this period, and in doing so she brings that resonant and important voice back to life.

One of the great historical mystery series of the decade

In 1786, the townsfolk of Rufford, Maine are having their annual military celebration. Not everyone is happy with the event as some British loyalists still smart over the independence of the former colonies. However, this year the event does not go off as planned because the body of Samuel Clinch, the town's so-called surgeon (he was trained as a barber), is found with a bullet to his head and chest, and his feet are burned. In spite of being four-months pregnant, Hannah is a prime suspect because she publicly ripped the deceased over his child birthing techniques. Things turn worse when a member of the General Court is found murdered in the presence of the militia. Their leader, Hannah's lover, Daniel is the person held responsible. Though they finally marry, Hannah has a new cause: to uncover the identity of the culprit if she ever wants to live with the man she loves. The third novel in the Trevor amateur sleuth mysteries, THE BURNING BRIDE, is a great early Americana fiction. Though the post war troubles of the residents of Maine are brilliantly scribed by Margaret Lawrence, this at time overwhelms the who-done-it. Hannah and her support cast remain wonderful characters, whose emotions and motivations periodically explode to the surface, adding dimension to the plot. Though the mystery is weaker than the previous two novels (HEARTS AND BONES, and BLOOD RED ROSES), the book remains a top rate period piece that is worth reading by fans of historical mysteries.Harriet Klausner

Fabulous historical mystery

In 1786, the townsfolk of Rufford, Maine are having their annual military celebration. Not everyone is happy with the event as some British loyalists still smart over the independence of the former colonies. However, this year the event does not go off as planned because the body of Samuel Clinch, the town's so-called surgeon (he was trained as a barber), is found with a bullet to his head and chest, and his feet are burned. In spite of being four-months pregnant, Hannah is a prime suspect because she publicly ripped the deceased over his child birthing techniques. Things turn worse when a member of the General Court is found murdered in the presence of the militia. Their leader, Hannah's lover, Daniel is the person held responsible. Though they finally marry, Hannah has a new cause: to uncover the identity of the culprit if she ever wants to live with the man she loves. The third novel in the Trevor amateur sleuth mysteries, THE BURNING BRIDE, is a great early Americana fiction. Though the post war troubles of the residents of Maine are brilliantly scribed by Margaret Lawrence, this at time overwhelms the who-done-it. Hannah and her support cast remain wonderful characters, whose emotions and motivations periodically explode to the surface, adding dimension to the plot. Though the mystery is weaker than the previous two novels (HEARTS AND BONES, and BLOOD RED ROSES), the book remains a top rate period piece that is worth reading by fans of historical mysteries.Harriet Klausner