Bright Burning Things
will be the most talked about book of the year.

An immensely powerful and compulsive novel of maternal love, control and a woman at the mercy of addiction. Reminiscent of ‘A Girl Is a Half Formed Thing’, ‘A Little Life’ and ‘Room’.   Beloved by the Bloomsbury Australia team; our inhouse readers tore through it and it has already sparked many conversations.

Be one of the first people to read the breathtaking opening chapter here.

Being Tommy’s mother is too much for Sonya.

Too much love, too much fear, too much longing for the cool wine she gulps from the bottle each night. Because Sonya is burning the fish fingers, and driving too fast, and swimming too far from the shore, and Tommy’s life is in her hands.

Once there was the thrill of a London stage, a glowing acting career, fast cars, handsome men. But now there are blackouts and bare cupboards, and her estranged father showing up uninvited. There is Mrs O’Malley spying from across the road. There is the risk of losing Tommy – forever.

Bright Burning Things by Lisa Harding
Publication: 16 March 2021
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781526624475
RRP: $29.99

LISA HARDING is a writer, actress, playwright  and the author of one previous novel, Harvesting, which was a bestselling Irish sensation. It is currently in development with the director of ‘Derry Girls’ and the script editor for ‘Trainspotting’. Lisa Harding was nominated for Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and won several prestigious awards. She lives in Dublin.

‘Absolutely dazzling. Sonya’s emotional interiority is fascinating and compelling’
MARIAN KEYES

‘Startling, urgent and intimate, Bright Burning Things is a meticulous portrait of a life unravelling, and of the painstaking, heartbreaking work to put it all back together’
LISA MCINERNEY

‘Tense, unflinching, immersive …  I lived every scene as I read’
DONAL RYAN

‘A uniquely disquieting account of a mind sinking into the depths and rising again, full of such powerful love and fear’
MEGAN HUNTER

‘A shattering portrait of the divided self’
PAUL LYNCH

‘Unputdownable’
RODDY DOYLE

‘Fearless … I was both shaken and completely absorbed’
JANE URQUHART

‘Lisa Harding is a vivid and original stylist and a gifted storyteller. This is a fabulous novel’
KEVIN BARRY

‘Interrogates the raw edges of love and addiction with an honesty that made me ache’
JESSICA ANDREWS

‘Gripping, atmospheric and deeply truthful’
JOSEPH O’CONNOR

Bright Burning Things is one of Bloomsbury’s biggest books of 2021 & will be backed by a stellar marketing and PR Campaign 

• • An astonishing publicity campaign will make this the most talked about book of 2021, including a major author interview with Lisa Harding to run in one of Australia’s leading broadsheets. Reviews, podcasts, interviews and word-of-mouth mentions across the media will drive buzz for this unforgettable book
  • Advertising campaign with Chat 10 Looks 3 reaching their legions of Chatters
  • Partnership with Better Reading promoting the book to their community of booklovers
  • Print advertising with key publications such as Australian Women’s Weekly and Sunday Life
  • Targeted social media and YouTube advertising
  • A large suite of digital assets will be available for all retailers

Email hermione.davis@bloomsbury.com with BRIGHT in the subject line for your chance to win one of 20 advance copies.