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Chime
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Chime (2011) (edit title/settings)

by Franny Billingsley (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Briony has a secret. It is a secret that killed her stepmother, ruined her sister's mind, and will end her life, if anyone were to know. She has powers. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and a great mane of tawny hair. He is as natural as the sun, and he treats her as if she is... read more

Summary edit see section history

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Characters edit see section history

  • Briony Larkin: A young teenage girl living in the town of Swampsea with her father and twin sister Rose. Her mother died when she was young and her stepmother recently died from an arsenic overdose, a suspected suicide. Taught to hold herself responsible for all things gone wrong in her family, Briony battles with a deep self-loathing.
  • Eldric Clayborne: The handsome newcomer from London who later befriends Briony and fascinates people with his "fidget" as Briony calls his little art projects. His father, however, is not impressed.
  • Father: Briony and Rose's father, a clergyman. He is a distant, cold man.
  • Rose Larkin: Briony's twin sister who's wits are addled. She says what she wants, with no inflection of tone and is prone to fits of screaming. She is an artist and creates collages with bits of paper.
  • Cecil Trumpington: Claims to love Briony, or rather the idea of her as the "porcelain angel face."
  • Leanne: The beautiful, seductive twenty-something who turns Eldric's head.
  • Mr. Clayborne: Eldric's father who is draining the swamp to bring the railroad through.
  • Mr. Drury: Eldric's tutor
  • Stepmother: Briony's Stepmother who has passed away
  • Pearl: The Larkin family maid. According to Briony, she has an "an ugly baby." She helps Briony watch over Rose.
  • Dr. Rannigan: the doctor that serves the Swampsea
  • Fitz: Briony's old tutor who was dismissed for his addiction to arsenic. He was Briony'sbest friend before Father married Stepmother.
  • Petey Todd: a village boy that makes fun of Rose
  • Robert: a fireman that Rose fancies
  • Judge Trumpington: the judge of the Swampsea who proceeds over the witch trials
  • Nelly Daws: a young woman accused of being a witch
  • Tiddy Rex: A nine year old boy Briony is very fond of. Has the swap cough.
Show all 17 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Be honest now, Briony. You hit a person and he laughs? That is adorable.”
    Briony
  • “I hated myself, but I also loved myself in a hateful way. I loved being clever, I loved being special, I loved being a witch.”
    Briony
  • “That’s what stories do. They connect the random dots of life into a picture. But it’s all an illusion. Just try to connect the dots of life. You’ll end up with a lunatic scribble.”
    Briony
  • “Jealously eats you from the inside out”
    Briony
  • “Doesn't love come before lust? It does in the dictionary”
    Briony
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • That’s what stories do. They connect the random dots of life into a picture. But it’s all an illusion. Just try to connect the dots of life. You’ll end up with a lunatic scribble.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
  • A poem doesn’t come out and tell you what it has to say. It circles back on itself, eating its own tail and making you guess what it means.
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • If you want to stretch out your life, here’s my advice: Look about for new experiences, lots of them. It slows down time.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • Father’s silence is not merely the absence of sound. It’s a creature with a life of its own. It chokes you. It pinches you small as a grain of rice. It twists in your gut like a worm.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • Howl at the moon, at the blood-red moon. Let your mouth be a cavern of stars.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • In a proper story, antagonistic sparks would fly between Eldric and me, sparks that would sweeten the inevitable kiss on page 324. But life doesn’t work that way. I didn’t hate Eldric, which, for me, is about as good as things get.
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • How has Rose lived for seventeen years and no one has ever killed her, not once?
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • “Another few minutes won’t hurt,” said Father in his sermon voice, which is his favorite voice, the one he starches and irons every morning.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • It’s quite a good thing I don’t suffer from normal-people feelings, such as disappointment.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • I’m aware that I’m mixing my metaphors horribly. How can I compare Eldric to a lion in one description and to electricity in another? But I don’t care. It’s my story and I get to make the rules.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
Show all 15 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

I've confessed to everything and I'd like to be hanged.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. The Trial
2. The Taste of Burnt Matches
3. A Crown for the Steam Age
4. Such a Pretty Little Rosy!
5. Help to Get Them Witches
6. Please Let Him Live!
7. Girl What Can Hear Ghosts
8. When In Rome
9. A Good Little Boggy Man
10. Lo: The Gloriousness
11. The Chiming Hour
12. Wolf and Lion
13. The Trial
14. Nineteen Chimes
15. Communion
16. The Party's Always Over at Midnight
17. Mooncrumbs
18. Sticks and Stones
19. Make Love Story!
20.Happily Ever After
21. Comin' Thro' the Rye
22. Hos Is Mister Eldric?
23. Awkwardissimus
24. Wine Is Cheering
25. Jaunting
26. A Proper Punch
27. The Face in the Mirror
28. Unquiet Spirits
29. A Crumpled Page
30. Eels in Eel Broth
31. The Trial
32. Word Magic
Acknowledgements

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in 2011 Locus Recommended Reading List: Young Adult. (authoritative list)
This book is in Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2011. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Franny Billingsley (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Dial
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: March 17, 2011
ISBN: 978-0803735521
Page Count: 368

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Brief mentions of sexuality. Dark and haunting.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Sweet Far Thing
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty
  • Rebel Angels

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