Bright, Burning Things
When we first meet Sonya, the young mother at the center of Bright Burning Things (HarperVia) by Lisa Harding, she is frolicking at the beach with her son, Tommy, and dog, Herbie. While it feels like a normal outing on a warm and sunny day, it is not long before we start to question a few oddities: Who is this “lethal and irresistible sidekick” character? What “fever” is building? And why is she stripping down to her underwear?
So begins Sonya’s journey as she tries to come to terms with her alcoholism and keep her small family together without inflicting the same damage she faced in her own childhood. Her story is a familiar one: early success as an actress, hailed for her beauty and ability to inhabit a character; a series of bad relationships that echo back to a strained relationship with her father; and the confusing loss of her mother while she was a child. She spends her limited money on wine instead of food for Tommy and Herbie, and her infrequent attempts at cooking result in small fires and burned fish sticks.
Alcohol makes Sonya mean, angry and unpredictable. She believes she does a good job hiding her drinking from Tommy, but he sees the person she becomes — the bad Yaya who he steers clear of when he can. Perhaps in an effort to make his childhood happier than hers was, Sonya fills his head with stories and characters to try to explain the world around them. With no school or friends, Tommy’s life is as unstable as hers and all the more heartbreaking as we read how she weighs him down with all of her anxieties about the world.
DESTINED FOR DISASTER OR DELIVERANCE?
Sonya and Tommy’s life changes dramatically after a man, David, pays for their dinner at a pizzeria when Sonya is unable. In the days that follow, Sonya thinks about him often as a kind of savior. The two reconnect when Sonya finds herself at a rehab center, which she attends following a tense negotiation with her somewhat-estranged father. David is a sort of peer, a “been there” counselor who tries to help Sonya and then becomes her lover. Once she is out and aiming to rebuild her relationships with Tommy and her father, David becomes a controlling and destructive force in her recovery.
There are no real heroes in this story, but Sonya and her father are all the more relatable because of that. They are deeply flawed people who have made bad decisions and hurt those around them, and yet they continue to try to do better despite their inability to take ownership of their actions. Unlike Shuggie Bain, which told a story through the experience of the child of an alcoholic mom, Bright Burning Things is Sonya’s story. Witnessing her battle to understand herself and make the best choices for her family felt so relatable. We can see the right path just ahead of her and I found myself willing her to make the best decision, feeling disappointed when she didn’t and hopeful when she did. I looked forward to the next day when she had another chance.
This story, like our own, doesn’t have a tidy ending. We are left hoping that she will find the strength to do what is best for Tommy, and herself. And that’s all any of us can ask.
