RaveThe GuardianThe Burning Chambers is vastly ambitious and in the early chapters the reader may feel dazzled by the sheer number of characters and viewpoints, but Mosse has an instinctive feel for narrative momentum and the pace rarely falters as she moves between the intimate, domestic world, and the jostling for political power that shapes the lives of ordinary men and women ... Mosse weaves historical events and figures seamlessly with her own characters, and wears her considerable research lightly ... The Burning Chambers is a tour de force, a compelling adventure that views the past with insight, compassion and humour, and reminds us of the variety of women’s voices so often forgotten in the official accounts.
Elizabeth Gilbert
PositiveThe Observer (UK)Gilbert’s attention to period detail and idiom is just as sharp here as in her previous novel, and the dialogue reads like the script of a sassy screwball comedy. But for all its verve and sparkle, what appears to be a novel about sexual awakening turns out to be a warm and wise meditation on friendship, on the choices women make, and on the way that multifaceted relationships and sexuality are far from being modern phenomena.
