The Glassmaker
Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962)[1] is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.
Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.
The beads she creates will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?
On the whole our group liked the novel, among other things for its informative value – history told through the eyes of Orsola and her family. The author uses an unusual trick - the same family continuing their lives seamlessly, but at the same time jumping from century to century (“Skipping like a stone on the surface of a placid lake”).
A trick that takes some mental effort for the reader to get, but once understood, is easy to follow. Tracy Chevalier knows how to get us drawn into all the family´ s tribulations, their loves and tragedies, and keep reading,
Tracy Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is vivid, inventive, a virtuoso portrait of a woman, a family and a city that are as everlasting as their glass. Her descriptions of places and people are evocative yet concise, one doesn´t
get bogged down in too many details, as it is often the case with historical novels.
Blanka
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