so spontaneous is the writing in a lifetime burning, one might believe these are indeed words of a woman desperately trying to understand what has happened to her life, beginning with the fact that her husband has stopped sleeping with her. why? is there a rival--perhaps "the toad," the unattractive housewife next door--or someone else, who will completely surprise the reader, as do many of the events of the protagonist's story? at age sixty-two, corinne must grapple with the most painful truth that her lifelong passion--which is anyone's passion, to love and be loved, body and soul--could burn unquenched forever. her imaginative narrative even when she is lying is as revealing as bedrock truth. a lifetime burning is as real as life itself--a novel shimmering and vital and recognizably true. gripping, smart, suspenseful, and at times, wonderfully witty, douglas's widely acclaimed book forms a searching and searing record of love, anger, confession, and discovery.