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carolyn0613's review against another edition
5.0
I've read Corrag and Let Me Tell You About a Man I Know by Susan Fletcher and I love her beautiful descriptive writing. House of Glass does not disappoint.
It's an intriguing story about a young woman, Clara with brittle bone disease who has led a sheltered life. After the death of her mother, she finds comfort in the glass house at Kew Gardens, learning about the exotic plants. She gets a job creating a tropical garden in the newly built glass house of a country house. On arrival, she finds mysterious events unravelling around her and looks to find out what is happening - the rumours being that the house is haunted by its previous owner Veronique Pettigrew. The current owner is also mysterious - curiously absent on her arrival, disinterested in the wonderful garden Clara is creating, and the voluble housekeeper seems to be covering up a torment.
The descriptions of the hot summer of 1914 are beautifully done. The depiction of the atmosphere and setting is effortlessly intertwined with the plot. We are not just reading pages of description - the mysterious noises late at night are heart-racingly in contrast with the heat and lethargy of the following day.
It's an intriguing story about a young woman, Clara with brittle bone disease who has led a sheltered life. After the death of her mother, she finds comfort in the glass house at Kew Gardens, learning about the exotic plants. She gets a job creating a tropical garden in the newly built glass house of a country house. On arrival, she finds mysterious events unravelling around her and looks to find out what is happening - the rumours being that the house is haunted by its previous owner Veronique Pettigrew. The current owner is also mysterious - curiously absent on her arrival, disinterested in the wonderful garden Clara is creating, and the voluble housekeeper seems to be covering up a torment.
The descriptions of the hot summer of 1914 are beautifully done. The depiction of the atmosphere and setting is effortlessly intertwined with the plot. We are not just reading pages of description - the mysterious noises late at night are heart-racingly in contrast with the heat and lethargy of the following day.
annekeofgreengables's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Erg mooi, ik waande me in de tuinen van Shadowbrook
ajisaiblue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ladyr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
writersreads's review against another edition
4.0
House of Glass, set in 1914, tells the story of a young woman from Kew, when she is summoned to establish a tropical plant house in the grounds of an old Gloucestershire manor. But Clara is not the only new arrival in its dust-settled rooms – Shadowbrook is rumoured to be haunted.
I felt completely absorbed whilst reading this book, and happy, most of all, to be perched on Clara’s shoulder throughout it. She was an inquisitive and outspoken protagonist, who dug her heels in often and pressed for answers … and I trusted her to find them. As a character second glanced and whispered about, distrusted for her boldness, she consistently stormed through others’ expectations and, in doing so, remained compelling to follow.
‘Secrets were not, of course, like that; they could not be identified in a human map any more than a soul could be. But I felt changed, for having spoken honestly.’
Throughout the story Clara is turned and turned again on the spot – and, like her, I learned that to trust anything too quickly was a mistake. The neighbouring village of Barcombe is one home to a community fuelled by rumour, and every one of its inhabitants has their own history pinned to them, their own truth, marbled with gossip – and Clara is forced to interrogate each of them in order to make up her own mind on the events that unfold over the course of the story.
‘—breath shows itself in the rise and fall of our chests. In our blowing out of a candle. In how I’m talking to you now. There’s proof of breath.’
Secrets and ghosts are not all that echo through the cobbled streets of Barcombe, or the empty corridors of Shadowbrook manor … there is also the click of Clara’s cain. As our rooting point, she is a woman of science and fact – of plants and their Latin names. But in a story that is layered with mist and uneasiness, it is her bones that truly ground us. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a rare bone disease that causes brittleness and easy breaks, and it is Clara’s weight to bear. For all its pieces, if you were to pull apart the novel’s gothic themes, you would find a much quieter story. One about a woman finding her strength, despite her disability – how she is stronger for having it.
‘—because to venture forwards with the hope of finding a specific answer served no purpose at all.’
This is a book infused with mystery, its narrative like rope wound in on itself – tightest at its centre. Clara’s delicate narration builds the tension quietly, so no rug is ever glimpsed before it is pulled out from under you, and if ever I found myself thinking, Ah, I see where this is going … it would fold back, leading me deeper into the maze. Lost in the best way.
At its core, House of Glass is about what is known and what is not – and the choice to believe, even when unsure. How belief alone can make some things true. From a writer of incredible talent, I savoured my time with every one of her pages – and when I did finish it, I was both surprised and satisfied by the close. It was a conclusion that felt, after much fog and uncertainty, clear and right.
In a time as unsettled as this, I can think of no better writer to recommend. When the world feels too big, an eye for the smaller moments can be our best, and only, remedy – and that is Fletcher’s specialty, and this novel’s truest strength.
I felt completely absorbed whilst reading this book, and happy, most of all, to be perched on Clara’s shoulder throughout it. She was an inquisitive and outspoken protagonist, who dug her heels in often and pressed for answers … and I trusted her to find them. As a character second glanced and whispered about, distrusted for her boldness, she consistently stormed through others’ expectations and, in doing so, remained compelling to follow.
‘Secrets were not, of course, like that; they could not be identified in a human map any more than a soul could be. But I felt changed, for having spoken honestly.’
Throughout the story Clara is turned and turned again on the spot – and, like her, I learned that to trust anything too quickly was a mistake. The neighbouring village of Barcombe is one home to a community fuelled by rumour, and every one of its inhabitants has their own history pinned to them, their own truth, marbled with gossip – and Clara is forced to interrogate each of them in order to make up her own mind on the events that unfold over the course of the story.
‘—breath shows itself in the rise and fall of our chests. In our blowing out of a candle. In how I’m talking to you now. There’s proof of breath.’
Secrets and ghosts are not all that echo through the cobbled streets of Barcombe, or the empty corridors of Shadowbrook manor … there is also the click of Clara’s cain. As our rooting point, she is a woman of science and fact – of plants and their Latin names. But in a story that is layered with mist and uneasiness, it is her bones that truly ground us. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a rare bone disease that causes brittleness and easy breaks, and it is Clara’s weight to bear. For all its pieces, if you were to pull apart the novel’s gothic themes, you would find a much quieter story. One about a woman finding her strength, despite her disability – how she is stronger for having it.
‘—because to venture forwards with the hope of finding a specific answer served no purpose at all.’
This is a book infused with mystery, its narrative like rope wound in on itself – tightest at its centre. Clara’s delicate narration builds the tension quietly, so no rug is ever glimpsed before it is pulled out from under you, and if ever I found myself thinking, Ah, I see where this is going … it would fold back, leading me deeper into the maze. Lost in the best way.
At its core, House of Glass is about what is known and what is not – and the choice to believe, even when unsure. How belief alone can make some things true. From a writer of incredible talent, I savoured my time with every one of her pages – and when I did finish it, I was both surprised and satisfied by the close. It was a conclusion that felt, after much fog and uncertainty, clear and right.
In a time as unsettled as this, I can think of no better writer to recommend. When the world feels too big, an eye for the smaller moments can be our best, and only, remedy – and that is Fletcher’s specialty, and this novel’s truest strength.
krobart's review
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/review-1517-house-of-glass/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/review-1517-house-of-glass/
lexiken's review
4.0
The twist and turns of this book are so unexpected and entertaining. I was mesmerized, scared, excited, surprised, angered. It's like watching a horror movie at midnight, but, it's not what you think it is. Hopefully many others can read this gem.
onesmallmeep's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
arya_13's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0