The Glassmaker

Tracy Chevalier

From Shelf: Official Indie Fiction Bestsellers (week 44, 2024)

'Spellbinding' ELIF SHAFAK

'Ingenious' THE TIMES, Book of the Year

'Sparkling'OBSERVER

'A triumph' PHILIP PULLMAN

'As finely wrought as a dazzling Murano bead' INDEPENDENT

'Meticulously researched and evoking the beauty of the Venice lagoon' PHILIPPA GREGORY

'A spectacular feat, crafted by a maestra at the top of her game' SPECTATOR

FROM THE GLOBALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING

Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here - like the glass the island's maestros spend their lives learning to handle.

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.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.

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?

Tracy Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is vivid, inventive, spellbinding: a virtuoso portrait of a woman, a family and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.