The Glass Woman

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The Glass Woman is melancholy and heart breaking, a tale to fall into, it is unpredictable and so so good. Loved it.

Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting, this is a stark evocation of a community where fear of the outsider is rife and unsettling. Daily MailLea crafts deeply intriguing characters while bringing to life their harsh landscape. Full of emotion, mystery, and suspense, this unique love story will keep readers guessing until the very end.”— Booklist August 1686, Iceland. Rósa, the daughter of the late Bishop of Skalholt is living with her mother Sigridur in a little hut. They once lead a comfortable life, now after the death of her father, Rósa and her mother are struggling. This book provided a classic example of a plot which did not quite match the quality of the writing. A highly suspenseful read that carried a haunting sense of atmosphere throughout courtesy of a unique and treacherous setting, the story initially presented a series of fascinating mysteries only to become increasingly convoluted as the end grew nearer.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric book set in one of my favourite time periods and places. It has an interesting story and characters as well as stellar audio narrators…….yet I could never really connect with the story. The were moments of brilliance in the writing, but something was definitely missing, and I suspect that this was that I was never able to form a true connection to anyone in the story. While the ending was fitting to an extent, it did not fulfil the promise of the early part of the book. It is hard to pinpoint where exactly things began to go wrong, but as the two storylines converged the story lost its fluidity, and the answers to the mysteries were not as breathtaking as I hoped or anticipated. The glass woman itself is actually fairly irrelevant to plot, instead playing more of a symbolic role. Some aspects of the plot were similar to The Miniaturist. Stepford Wives meets 2001 Space Odyssey, The Glass Woman is a twisty, thought-provoking read with characters full of heart engaging with the debate around AI in a truly inventive and original way.” I won’t give too much away but this is both clever and pitched perfectly, even the mundane day to day tasks are vividly drawn, there is not a single dull moment.When she travelled to her new home in Stykkishólmur with her new husband, Rósa was concerned that her husband was taciturn, that he had them sleep in the open rather than seek lodgings, and that when they did meet other people he gave a false name. Anyone who has read Hannah Kent's novel, Burial Rites, already knows that croft-life in Iceland in the olden days was hard. In The Glass Woman we discover that 140 years earlier, it was even harder. Not enough food, warmth or light. Too much smoke, gossip and superstition. Undoubtedly the biggest strength of this book was the writing. It was incredibly descriptive and filled with tension and foreboding, and that more than compensated for the relatively slow pace. Much of it is driven by the setting, which is synonymous with the story and provides the basis for numerous metaphors and analogies that are evident right from the beginning.

Memorable and compelling. A novel about what haunts us - and what should.' -Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year Ghost Wall Into this epic landscape comes Rosa, who marries for practical purposes not love and who comes to believe she may be in grave danger from Husband Jon, the death of his first wife being surrounded by gossip, intrigue and dark mutterings of witchcraft.. My second reservation was that the structure didn’t work as well as it should. At first the story was told purely from Rósa’s point of view, but some way into the book another perspective was added into the mix. I completely understood the need for that second voice, it enriched the story but I wish it had been introduced a little earlier and that the transitions had been done with a little more finesse. The book is set in an era where people believed in ghosts, spirits, witches, legends, etc and had their own way of dealing with them from chants, potions, and even runes to ward off the bad spirits and keep people safe. MEMORABLE AND COMPELLING. A NOVEL ABOUT WHAT HAUNTS US - AND WHAT SHOULD' Sarah Moss, author of Ghost WallThe villagers mistrust them both. Dark threats are whispered. There is an evil here – Rósa can feel it. Is it her husband, the villagers – or the land itself? SD: I am finding this book relatively slow-paced, but also quite gripping. When Rosa is alone in the croft and hearing sounds, it creates a very creepy and haunting atmosphere. It makes the whole setting feel claustrophobic. How are you finding these aspects of the book so far? Haunting, evocative and utterly compelling. The Glass Woman transports the reader to a time and place steeped in mystery, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Stunning. Tracy Borman This evocative debut is compelling with a brilliant twist.”— Daily Express, UK—four out of five stars She travels to the croft of her new husband, prepared to try to be an obedient wife and put aside her dreams of reading and writing. For her parents encouraged her desire to write and she delighted in the sagas and stories of her home. However, the lines between myth and witchcraft are blurred in this world and it is easy to be accused for a false word.