Three Flames, Alan Lightman
Three Flames, Alan Lightman
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Three Flames
A Novel

Author: Alan Lightman

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 5 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/03/2019

Synopsis

From the internationally bestselling author of Einstein’s Dreams comes a deeply compelling story about the lives of a Cambodian family―set between 1973, just before the Cambodian Genocide by the Khmer Rouge―to 2015.The stories of one Cambodian family are intricately braided together in Alan Lightman’s haunting Three Flames, his first work of fiction in six years.Three Flames portrays the struggles of a Cambodian farming family against the extreme patriarchal attitudes of their society and the cruel and dictatorial father, set against a rural community that is slowly being exposed to the modern world and its values. A mother must fight against memories of her father’s death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and her powerful desire for revenge. A daughter is married off at sixteen to a wandering husband and his domineering aunt; another daughter is sent to the city to work in the factories to settle her father’s gambling debt. A son dreams of marrying the most beautiful girl of the village and escaping the life of a farmer. And the youngest daughter bravely challenges her father so she can stay in school and strive for a better future.A vivid story of revenge and forgiveness, of a culture smothering the dreams of freedom, and of tradition against courage, Three Flames grows directly from Lightman’s work as the founder of the Harpswell Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance a new generation of female leaders in Cambodia and all of Southeast Asia.

About Alan Lightman

Alan Lightman is the author of six novels, including the international bestseller Einstein’s Dreams, as well as a memoir, three collections of essays, and several books on science. In 2003, Lightman founded the Harpswell Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help advance a new generation of women leaders in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. He lives in the Boston area.

About Cassandra Campbell

Cassandra Campbell has recorded over one hundred audiobooks and directed many more. She has received eight Earphone Awards and has been nominated for an Audie Award. As an actress and director, she has worked off Broadway and in regional theaters across the country, as well as doing voice work on numerous commercials and films.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on September 27, 2023

One flame is to keep the gratitude toward your parents You have to walk on the way that was paved by your parents and serve your parents well …Another flame is your husband who you stay with forever You should serve well don't make him disappointed Forgive him in the name of woman; don't speak in th......more

Goodreads review by Angela M on September 24, 2019

3.5 stars It’s 2012, years after Pol Pot regime in Cambodia life is still hard for a husband and wife who have survived it. It’s a hard life farming and living in a one room house and their children suffer the heartbreaking consequences of this life and the decisions made by their hardened father. T......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on August 09, 2019

THREE FLAMES takes place in Cambodia and is told by interwoven stories concerning one family. I enjoyed reading this novel about a family's struggles and recommend this to everyone.......more

Goodreads review by Lynn on October 25, 2020

Such a great novel. The female members of a Cambodian family try to survive an impoverished and often brutal society nowhere they are subject to the male members. The story isn’t linear but jumps back and forth in time. Each chapter takes place in a certain year. One woman in a village comes across......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on July 19, 2019

Won this as a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you! The loves, hurts, smiles and scars of a Cambodian family. Every member has a story that weaves together the fabric of the family. A collection of unexpected beauty and understandable hurt.......more

Quotes

"Three Flames is Alan Lightman’s best book since Einstein’s Dreams.” Annie Proulx, New York Times bestselling author

“Lightman stints neither in sympathy nor honesty, and this deceptively slim volume is a salute to that most cunning of human capacities: endurance.” Gregory Maguire, New York Times bestselling author

“Readers will be moved by this collection’s navigation of deeply personal heartaches and lingering implications of war.” Publishers Weekly

“[An] intimate examination of a Cambodian family’s post-Khmer Rouge lives, driven by survival, redeemed by resilience.” Booklist

“Narrator Cassandra Campbell leaves her distinctive mark on this audiobook. Her considerable skill with voices and pacing is immediately evident…Campbell has no problem maneuvering through the text: Her engagement with the characters and their struggles is fully invested, and her portrayal of the action is thoughtful and clear.” AudioFile

“I loved reading Three Flames and feeling immediately transported to rural Cambodia.” Bookmarks

“Lightman’s novel gives readers a family that is rich in stories, history, and heart, proving in the end that love shines even in the midst of great darkness.” Loung Ung, author of First They Killed My Father

“Burrows into the complexity of the Cambodian way of life, with its intricate maze of memories, dreams, and ghosts and reveals an aching for love and acceptance that is universal.” Kalyanee Mam, award-winning filmmaker of A River Changes Course

“Three Flames is a rich and poignant story of family, revenge, and redemption. With keen insight into the human heart, Lightman has written a deeply moving, multilayered story that resonates long after it’s over.” Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai’s Garden

Awards

  • New York Times Pick
  • Chicago Review of Books Pick
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