Review by serendipitysbooks - The Glassmaker

serendipitysbooks 's review for:

The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

4.25

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Glassmaker follows Orsola Rosso, the daughter of a Murano (an island off Venice) glass blowing family from 1486 up until the present. No, that's not a typo for Chevalier plays with time. Orsola and other family members age but not at the speed conventional time would dictate. I was unsure how this would work, but honestly I barely noticed the asynchronous chronology and it did solve the problem of having to get to know the large cast of characters a novel spanning more than 500 years would normally feature. I loved Orsola as a character, a strong but flawed woman who often held her family and their business together despite the obstacles she faced as a woman. The immersion into the art and business of glass blowing was another plus. Venice was very much a character in this novel, and I loved watching her fortunes ebb and flow. At times, I could clearly picture it unspooling in cinematic detail. I also liked seeing the impact of historical events on the city and its economy, as well as comparing and contrasting the impact of the plague and the Covid pandemic, which bookended the story. All in all, well-researched, readable story that I enjoyed.

Content Warnings