I remember going to a local museum once when I was little. I hardly think I was old enough to truly appreciate the beauty, the simplicity, the complexity and the artistry in any of the pieces. Because I think art contains a mixture of all of that and a lot more.
I loved sketching as a kid. I zoned out during classes a lot and I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檝e stopped that even now. But when I manage to recover my wits, I鈥檒l find rather elaborate doodles all over my notebook. The amazing part to me was that they all came out so beautiful, that you鈥檇 think it was intentional. But that is one of the beauties of art I came to realize later on. The art lies in the mistakes or the things we perceive as mistakes.
But apart from drawings and paintings which I find rather delightful, I鈥檝e always been left awestruck by sculptures, pottery, metalwork, and most of all glasswork. It鈥檚 like watching magic unfold, just from glass and fire, and of course a few other mixtures into something more than magnificence itself. A burst of colours and light all fused. That and more was found in the book:
Born In Fire by Nora Roberts
Born In Fire originally published in 1996 is the first book of the Born Trilogy. It stars Margaret Mary Concannon, a reclusive, stubborn and opinionated woman from a little town in the heart of Ireland. She鈥檚 a glassmaker and as the burning flames of the furnace she makes exquisite glass pieces from, so is her fiery spirit and volatile temper. But as the delicateness and fragility of each piece, so is her heart on the inside. Though she doesn鈥檛 know that. At least not yet.
In the bustling city of Dublin, however, is gallery and business conglomerate owner, Rogan Sweeney. Rogan happens to stumble on one of Maggie鈥檚 glass pieces. Seeing the soul and the unquestionable fire in the piece, he vows to bring her art to the limelight and help her build her career. Maggie, unyielding at first and as expected, finally succumbs.
When he visits her studio, he soon discovers that beyond the hot walls, there鈥檚 an attraction that burns just as powerful between him and Maggie. But between Maggie Mae鈥檚 insecurities based on her scarred family past and Rogan鈥檚 uncompromising blue-bloodedness, their flame may not stand the test of time. Or will it?
Review and Rating
The first thing I want to appreciate is Nora鈥檚 dexterity in her writing. I think that what makes a writer is not just the fact that she writes but that she reads, she researches, and she goes out of her way to know things. I don鈥檛 think you can be successful as a novelist if you don鈥檛 dedicate time to discovering things. I鈥檝e read several books of Norah鈥檚 and each one isn鈥檛 just on one field.
She couldn鈥檛 possibly know everything and when I read one of her interviews where she said she spends as much time writing as she spends researching, I immediately could understand the flawlessness in her work. Going out of her way to know the inner workings of glass production is what brought the true magic to the story. Beyond the sizzling love of Maggie and Rogan, the times I read how she made her glass pieces were the highlights of the story for me.
The next part I loved in the story was the protagonist herself. I wouldn鈥檛 say she鈥檚 my best but I love the fact that she wasn鈥檛 portrayed as a sappy, spineless woman but one who knew what she wanted, or in this case, who she wanted and went after him, unabashedly. She鈥檚 the kind of woman I鈥檇 wish to be. In another life, of course. Lol. The character development was impeccable and the rationale behind why she was the way she was, was clear.
I would say that this book, by all indications, wasn鈥檛 a slow-burn. As I鈥檇 stated previously, Maggie isn鈥檛 one to let the attraction simmer. And that was rather refreshing to me. However, I felt like it wasn鈥檛 enough. I do get her part, but the fact that Rogan suddenly just saw her as the love of his life was rather unclear to me. It was like a whole jump and I kept wondering, how did it happen?
Their love didn鈥檛 have enough time to build in the way it should have been and that I can say is my only dissatisfaction. Other than that, the book was stellar so I鈥檒l be giving it 4 out of 5 stars. That鈥檚 a whopping score in my books and a rather pleasant read. So, I hope you enjoy it. I鈥檓 off to read the second and last parts of the trilogy. Till next time.
Jhymi馃枻
Thumbnail created by me with Canva.
Other image is a screenshot from my e-library.