Reviews for Turning up the Heat

The average rating for Turning up the Heat based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-11-24 00:00:00 Marcelo Hidalgo 5 "elegant, understated, masterful" stars !! 4th Favorite Read of 2016 Goodness! I finished this book and sat with my Earl Grey tea listening to Bach's Solo Suites for Cello.I pondered, sighed and stroked the cat on my lap. I grieve the ending of this book and so I got up in a fit of agitation and put on my duckies, my windbreaker and went out into the cool windy rain and walked briskly and reflected on the perfection of this book. I have read many excellent books but this book entered into my core, not because of the plot or the characters or even beautiful or profound passages but because Mr. Trevor was able to capture the essence of life, the essence of death and most of all the permutations of grey between the two, the land of shadow where most of us live. At first I was so charmed by the Irish island, village and its inhabitants as they went about their business, eking out an existence, falling in love, having children, attending church, gossiping, conversing, reading, dreaming of cities in Italy or France. The rich are living like paupers in big homes, the middle class are garish and the poor as always remain poor. Affairs are had, men bet on horses, women pine for affection, children yearn for more free time. Histories are vague, people complain and hail marys are recited. Kindness is frequent, cruelties are harsh, judgements and stonings are cast. Slowly however the fairy tale ends and becomes a discovery of what lays within tormented souls. Time passes and people become ill, secrets are discovered and then hidden again. A bastard boy is ostracized, a woman punishes herself for a crime of childhood, a nursemaid dies in unrequited love. A middle class lady seduces a young gentryman and loses herself in desire and his disdain. A kind old matriarch makes amends for the evils of her progeny. The cycle of life and death repeat in perpetuity. Mr. Trevor understands the Irish. Mr. Trevor understands existence. Mr. Trevor has written a masterpiece. Also a big thanks to Fionnuala whose review inspired me to read this author who was unknown to me.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-29 00:00:00 Carra Quillo [ we learn from the matriarch on her death bed and from diaries of the deceased governess that the three children committed a hideous, unspeakable crime when they were young. Maybe that was what bonded the three children and kept them in this life of quasi-despair in a backwater? (hide spoiler)]