The Glassmaker: A Novel

The Glassmaker: A Novel
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A Parade and Christian Science Monitor Best Book of June

“This charming fable is at once a love story that skips through six centuries, and also a love song to the timeless craft of glassmaking. Chevalier probes the fierce rivalries and enduring loyalties of Murano's glass dynasties, capturing the roar of the furnace, the sweat on the skin, and the glittering beauty of Venetian glass.” – Geraldine Brooks, author of Horse

From the bestselling historical novelist comes a rich, transporting story that traces a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day.

It is 1486, and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers on Murano, the island renowned for its glassmaking craft. As a woman, she is not supposed to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. After her father dies, she secretly teaches herself to make glass beads, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family through creative triumphs and heartbreaking losses, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the dominance of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work and their bonds endure.

Chevalier, a master of her craft, delivers The Glassmaker, a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city as enduring as their glass. This inventive and spellbinding novel is a testament to the lasting beauty and resilience of both art and family.