Sorry not for me this one. Struggled to get into it withe smattering of Italian words in it. I’m sure those who love historical fiction are really going to enjoy this! Just not my favourite genre I’m afraid

I have enjoyed reading all Tracy Chevalier novels and this one is no exception. The novel begins in the 1400s and tells the story of Orsola Rosso who is in fact the glassmaker’s daughter and is aged 9 at the start of the book. Chevalier has most unusually written the story from the point of view that time passes and eras pass but the main characters only age very slowly. Consequently the novel goes right up to the last few years and even includes the Covid pandemic with Orsola still alive. She experiences both the Plague and Covid and readers can compare the two epidemics and how they were dealt with according to the time in which they happened.
I wasn’t sure how this was going to work and would it be confusing to the reader but after realising what was happening after the first time jump I thought the idea worked really well. It’s a very novel way of telling a story.
The very first sentence of the book is - “If you skim a flat stone skilfully across water, it will touch down many times, in long or short intervals as it lands. With that image in mind, now replace water with time”. This perfectly sums up what she does in the book.
The reader learns of the history of glass making in Venice or more particularly in Murano as well as the actual real history of Venice and its islands and how glass making and family life in Venice had to adapt to the changing world situations. I also learnt a great deal about the glass making industry.
Women were not supposed to work at that time in history and Orsola has to learn her craft in secret even though her father and brothers have their own glass business. She is fortunately befriended by an already successful female glass maker who teaches her the craft of bead making which ultimately will help to save the family when times are hard.
All the characters are fully developed these include her mother, her brothers in particular Marco her eldest brother, the love of her life Antonio and the man she eventually marries Stefano and we discover how they too adapt to the passage of time. However only Orsola manages to survive the passage of centuries.
Chevalier’s novels are meticulously researched and give you a real feel of each different era. I particularly liked the addition of real people such as Josephine Bonaparte, and Casanova.
The number of Italian words could be off putting to some readers. Even though there is a glossary provided, having to pause your reading while you look up the word to discover the meaning can break up the flow of reading. I can speak basic Italian but some of the Venetian words were a problem.
Italy has always been one of my favourite countries and I love historical novels so this book was the perfect read for me.

In this novel we follow Orsola Rosso who is the eldest daughter in a glass making family on Murano. Starting in the 1400s we follow her and her family through their lives and through history. We watch Orsola argue with her brother Marco the head of the family and the glass studio, as she falls in love with Antonio as he learns to make glass, her cautious friendships with Domenego the gonolier and merchant's daughter Klara.

We also watch the family as plague arrives in Venice and spreads to Murano, as the fashion for glass changes and the family struggles to adapt, the beads that Orsola continues to make change in style and value and popularity, she meets Casanova, Napoleon's destruction of Europe and the decline of Venice, how tourism rather than trade takes over and finally how floods and covid affect the Rosso family. While this isn't a time travel novel it is a slip in time - how one family in one place would see history change them if they lived over 500 years and barely aged.

The history of glass making, the changes in trade and fashion, the changing value of women's work - all is depicted in this novel through Orsola. She is our guide through glass and it is an enjoyable journey.

A gripping tale of glass and family in and around Murano. This is a true page turner filled with vivid details of creativity and relationships over the years.. A book both intensely personal and informative. I couldn't put it down.

'The Glassmaker' is the new book from Tracy Chevalier, author of 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', and is due to be published this September.

It too belongs to the genre of historical fiction beginning in Venice in 1486. The story follows a family of glassmakers on the island of Murano. With plagues, floods, and fierce competition the family are tested and it is one of the daughters, Orsola, who pivots into beadmaking. Her determination to succeed in a trade market dominated by the maestros and merchants (males), as well as her unfaltering commitment to the family, make for a fascinating story. The book's greatest achievement, in fact, is its representation of strong women.

What is less convincing though is the time-skipping at the beginning of each chapter. As a trope it does project the narrative forward but is far too forced, in my opinion.

This ARC was gifted to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to @netgalley and @HarperCollinsUK for this ARC. 1486 - The Rosso family are one of a handful of glassmakers on the island of Murano. Orsolo's dad and Maestro of their family glassmaking business dies and it is up to the oldest son to take over the trade. While trying to find their footing, Orsolo visits a wise woman in the trade and she learns to make beads with lampwork. As time evolves, so does the family - it grows, they see business ebb and flow with the political climate and plagues. I so enjoyed this book. Hearing that each family's trade secret was illegal if taken off the island. Murano glass is special and specific. Also, the heirarchy was just as prevalent here as most glasswork was sent through a third party buyer/seller as Venice was a prominent trade group. The only odd thing about this book was that Orsolo was the storyteller but each chapter was a new era in the world, Venice and their family's life. She lived technically from 1486 to present day. I enjoyed reading how glassmkaing has evolved over the last several hundred years but not from the same person's point of view. However, I highly recommend this book! #TheGlassmaker #TracyChevalier #HarperCollinsUK #Sept2024

Thoroughly enjoyed this. The way the passage of time was presented compared to how the characters aged was unusual and I think could’ve been quite jarring but was handled beautifully and I enjoyed seeing how the characters grew and developed during each time period. This was clearly a well researched book and the well thought out descriptions of glass making added to its authenticity. Beautifully written, strong characters.

I loved this! Once I got used to the strange passing of time and just ran with the story I became totally invested in Orsola and her family.

This was a richly descriptive and very evocative read. As a keen crafter I was fascinated by the glass and bead making and looked up a lot of the work and places. I was completely immersed in the story, I was living on Murano alongside the Rossos and mourned their losses keenly. I found the plague storyline very moving especially as I know this was written during covid. And the dolphins - my heart.

Another brilliant, and slightly unexpected, read.

Beautiful story of the glassmakers of Murano, it’s my favourite glass having visited the factory in my teenage years however knew nothing about its history or how the glass was made so this was a fascinating story. The book is based around the Rosso family over the years, sad in many places but captures the ethos of the glass making families. An eye opener in many ways with some lovely characters working their way through the most difficult of times. An ending that I really wasn’t expecting was a bonus.

I found the glossary that explained the use and translation of so many Italian phrases used throughout the book would have been helpful at the beginning of the book rather than at the end.

Overall a fascinating read…be prepared to go off to Google to find out more about the history of this amazing island and its people and customs!

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I was completely absorbed by Tracy Chevalier’s latest book- reading till late and reaching for it again early this morning! I loved the way the narrative span through time but yet I didn’t need to be introduced to new characters in each new period- this was a totally new technique to me -an incredibly interesting and neat approach to the passing by of the centuries within a place. Glassmaking, Murano and Venice as well as Orsola and her family are the common threads weaving throughout. .

I loved the central character and her extended circle. I enjoyed their relationships, sorrows and successes. There is a lot of sadness contained within- but plenty to celebrate too- as you’d expect in a story that spans centuries yet all within one person’s lifetime.

The ending was great and not quite what I had thought was coming- perfect fit though.

A brilliant book by an incredible author. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to review.

Thank you to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for my pre publication digital copy of this book. I’ve enjoyed a few of Tracy Chevalier’s previous books and this one as no exception. A good read for you if you enjoy well researched historical fiction in beautiful settings, Venice for this one.
I loved the characters in the Rosso family, especially Orsola who is the main character. I absolutely loved learning more about the history of Murano glass, and could imagine myself watching the glass makers at work. One thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was the time hopping element of the book, it just didn’t vibe well for me, otherwise I’d have given 5 stars.
A recommended read.

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. Tracy Chevalier at her absolute best. I was immediately and utterly lost in the world she created on Murano and loved the way she worked through different historical periods that were of such importance to the history of Venice. A book that thoroughly transported me into that of a glassmaking family, their history, the romance, the tragedy – just everything! This book will remain a firm favourite and one I will return to again and again. Cannot recommend more highly. Perfection!

I am a huge fan of Chevalier ( I think I have read every one of her novels) and this was a much anticipated read for me. And I loved it. It's beautifully researched but that doesn't overwhelm the writing. Descriptive and evocative, it draws the reader in to the world of Murano and Venice. At first I wasn't convinced by the time jumps but by the end I could see how it drew the entire story together.

I loved it. Highly recommend.

I have mixed feelings about this latest book by Tracy Chevalier: On the one hand I appreciated the exquisite writing and the setting. Having recently been to Murano it was wonderful to be able to immerse myself in the descriptions of the island and Venice beyond. Equally,I was interested to read about the glass blowing.However, I didn’t enjoy the style of the narrative.The time travel was cleverly done but wasn’t for me and I did feel that much of the story was recounting the events-first she did this then she did that-when I wanted to be more engaged with the protagonist, Orsola.

Perhaps I might reread this when it is out in real book form . w
With thanks to NetGalley and Viking for this ARC

I have always loved Tracy Chevalier’s writing and was looking forward to this new novel with much anticipation. Unfortunately whilst I enjoyed leaning about the glass making industry on Murano and the Rosso family story I just couldn’t get my head around the time jump element. For me it added nothing to the story and and made the book longer than necessary.

A transporting and absorbing story, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tracy Chevalier has clearly spent so much time researching the glass-making process, as well as a potted history of Venice and its surrounding islands.

Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassmakers. As a woman she isn’t meant to work with glass, but glassmaking is in her blood and she soon discovers she has a skill for crafting delicate glass beads. When her father dies, this talent comes into its own as she is able to earn some extra money to support her family.

So begins this time-travelling journey through the lives of the Rosso family. It sounds like an odd premise if I say that the book spans 600 years in history, but only the lives of one generation, but the author does such a brilliant job of making it make sense. I think the timelessness of Venice helps to make this unusual structure work. It never feels forced or contrived, and it doesn’t jar in the way you might expect.

I really enjoyed this novel, and was so drawn in to the world of Orsola and her glass. The descriptions of Venice make you feel like you’re there, and the meticulous research helps you come away with a much deeper knowledge of both Murano glassmaking and the history of this truly unique part of the world.

Absolutely wonderful - a treasure of a journey in Murano and Venice through history - by means of a skimmed stone! This is the story of Orsola Rosso and her Murano glassmaking family, through the ages.
We meet Orsola as a young girl in 1486 at the height of the Renaissance and when Venice is the trade centre of Europe. She is frustrated that females can't be part of the glassmaking workshop of her family, due to customs, rules and tradition. She has 2 brothers, the oldest of whom will succeed their father as Maestro. All the Murano glassmaking families protect their trade, methods and design secrets from each other but when a family tragedy hits, Orsola gets help from an unexpected source.
The stone skims and we travel a hundred years into the future - everyone Orsola knows goes with her (which leaves a huge load of questions if we're being logical, but go with it - it's time travel after all!) So many lovely stories, tragic stories, love, duty, adaptability, family and loyalty - there's lots covered but I don't want to give anything away. Suffice to say, I was captivated by this book and can't wait to buy it for friends - I don't want them missing out on this one!

This book has history, time bending, fantastical slants, family politics, and a bit of romance - and I loved it. While it may sound odd to follow the same cast from 1486 to the present day it worked really well. Imagine you’re settling into hear a fable - it’s a bit fantastical, a bit magical - but sumptuously written and set in such a gorgeous part of Italy that you almost feel as though you are the stone, skipping across Venetian waters.

My favourite part of this novel was the characters - how time changes them (or doesn’t change them) and how that bleeds together with the changing times around them.

A fantastic read and one I highly recommend for anyone who likes novels that play with the idea of time.

‘Time runs differently in the City of Water’ conceit, and overdone detail, get in the way somewhat. 3.5 rating

Although I do always appreciate Chevalier’s writing and focus, I definitely find that in SOME of her novels, her prodigious research and attention to using massive amounts of that detail in an almost over-articulated way, can get in the way of character and narrative drive.

And so it was here.

The conceit of ‘time runs differently’ on Murano, the island off Venice where historically the glassmakers lived and worked, and in Venice itself had some stumbling blocks, for the reader – well, for this one. We stay with the same Rossi family from the tail end of the 15th century, right up to after the end of the recent pandemic – i.e, the book ends ‘today’ and somehow the characters we meet in 1486 have only aged by some 50 or 60 years.

Some characters seem to have a more developed sense of ‘memory’ of time before than others, and yet, curiously, -particularly when travellers from ‘outside’ Venice comes in, no one talks about their memories of 400 years ago, and the Venetians and Muranese don’t seem to realise that they are living across many centuries. Maybe I was being too prosaic in my reading. Maybe it was the fact that the desire to lay out all the finicky detail of the art and craft of glassmaking, plus the extensive scattering of Italian and Venetian phrases throughout the text were continually pulling me out of story and character immersion.

I did like, very much, though, the ending which explained one particular piece of the ‘time runs differently’ idea which had been a massive, massive flaw for me, all way through. THAT raised my pernickety rating from 3.5 to 4

I loved this book, A fan of this author anyway and enjoy the way she writes historical fiction! This one really appealed to me because I collect glass fish so loved the background information of how this process started and the highs and lows of the business ! This book was very informative, interesting with a an excellent back story!