I loved this book.

Such a rich tapestry, woven together beautifully. I have never been to Venice or Murano, but now I’m longing to go and walk in the footsteps of Orsola Rosso.

The concept of the same characters moving through the history of Venice and Murano and the glass making industry is superbly executed. I don’t know how it works so well, it just does.

Never did I question how Orsola could travel through time like the skip of a stone across water. She is there in the 1400s with the Rosso family and still there in 2020s living through the COVID pandemic. Time sweeps through plague and wars and back to plague.

She is every woman, of every time.

I felt her anguish and her joy. I felt her longing and her desperation. I looked forward to the appearance of dolphins. Oh the dolphins.

Beautiful book, beautifully written.

This is a disarmingly ambitious novel. It spans five centuries of a Murano glass-making family through the eyes of a barely ageing Orsola, allowing us to follow the evolution of attitudes to women, relationships and work set against the backdrop of historical upheavals from the plague, Napoleon's arrival and two world wars up to the recent trials of Covid and global climate effects.

Although rather slow to get moving at first, once we are engaged in Orsola's life and troubles, the plot carries us along in a variety of different times and challenges, keen to discover how Orsola and the cast of accompanying characters around her overcome them. Because they follow her through the centuries with relative age gaps and relationships, we don't have to learn their backstories at each reincarnation, and what might have become an unwieldy amount of characters and situations is turned to advantage as a kind of shorthand with an ongoing continuity.

The novel has a very strong sense of place in its snippets of Italian, with glossary at the end, if needed, though I found it unnecessary as they flowed seamlessly to give a flavour of the language and emotions. It gives a real sense of the glass-making industry through history and its importance in the Venetian setting.

I really enjoyed the development of the main characters over the cultural and societal changes through the ages, and the poignant yet unsentimental handling of the ending. A fascinating and innovative book, well worth the time taken to assimilate the unusual timeline.

A fascinating well written book with an absorbing story but the time line really rather confused me. But I still definitely recommend it

A fascinating insight into the life of a city and a family over the course of 500 years. Whilst the city is ever-changing, the family at its core remains more or less constant over time - a great way to show the impact on individuals of war, sickness, economic changes and modernity. Packed with detail around glassmaking and scattered with colourful Venetian/Italian phrases it won’t be long before the reader becomes proficient in cursing and is ready to turn their hand to glassmaking!

The story proceeds at a steady pace - but not in a negative way - as the Rosso family adapts to changes, with Orsola tentatively, over time, carving out a new pathway for herself.

I like the ‘skimming’ technique however some of those jumps could have been executed a little faster in my opinion. The glass dolphins piqued my interest throughout and I was interested to see how that thread would pan out (I was, in truth, a little disappointed on this score.)

A worthy read.

Another fantastic book from Tracy Chevalier. A history of glassmaking in Murano through the eyes and lives of the Rosso family . It very cleverly and seamlessly travels through the centuries with the same characters slowly aging and is entirely believable. It shows aspects of Venice that the tourist will never see and shows through time how it changes. The Rosso family draw the reader into the lives of the glassmaking family and give life to a fascinating area. Highly recommended it is the best book I have read this year.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

Love, love, love! For the full review go to https://www.tumblr.com/joebloggshere/754934251239161856/joe-bloggs-blogs-booksbooksfood-anything

4.0-4.5. Stars
With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story of Orsola Rosso and her family of glassmakers on the island of Murano near Venice, this is an engaging and fascinating work of historical fiction. Unlike most historical family sagas Chevalier takes the unusual step of not treating this as a multigenerational story, but rather repeatedly picks up the same group of characters and drops them in different time frames of Venetian history - with the characters ageing only a little with each displacement even if several decades may have elapsed between one segment of the story and the next. This technique works particularly well in exploring what women could/can achieve within the restrictions they have to live under in different periods.
Chevalier has obviously done a lot of research for this book and manages to make the techniques and history of glassblowing a lot more interesting than I ever thought it could be :).

I very much enjoyed this novel.
I remember enjoying The Girl in the Pearl Earring quite awhile ago so when I saw this book on NetGalley UK, I requested it and it quickly climbed up to the top of my to be read list
The novel follows the life of a young girl initially in 1400s Moreno in Venice where she is born into a family of glassmakers. When her father dies suddenly after an accident the family business starts to struggle and in order to support her family she learns to make glass beads.
I enjoyed the sections of the novel set in the glassmaking industry as the processes were interesting and the story highly Visual.
The historical elements seemed real and added a lot to the
I also enjoyed the way the family relationships were described as again this felt real and relatable.
There is an additional element in the story in that in the novel time moves at a different speed on the island of Moreno to the rest of the world. In this way, the characters are able to live through what is several centuries of life in the real world. The characters start at the beginning of glass production and live through world wars to modern times.
The similarities between the section set within plague times and our modern coronavirus pandemic were interesting.

The author is a master storyteller your quickly immersed in the story and the book is a thoroughly enjoyable Non put down Read.

I was initially in two minds about the time skipping element as it felt very peripheral to the Story and I was not not sure what it added . however as I read the magical reality element began to make more sense as the author was able to pull up parallels between lives in different time periods in a way that she wouldn’t have been able to do if the novel has been primarily sat one time.
I’m sure this will be a very popular novel. I’d be very surprised if the television and cinema rights were not taken up quickly, we all enjoy watching on the television reality programs and it would be lovely to see it in the background of a film.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published on the 12th of September 2024 by Harper Collins UK, Harper fiction.
This will appear on NetGalley, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

I thank Net Galley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for providing me with an ARC copy of this book which I freely chose to review.
I have read and enjoyed other novels by Tracy Chevalier, and most people will be familiar with some of the titles of her books, or perhaps a popular movie adaptation of one of her books.
One of the things she excels at, judging by the books I’ve read so far, is recreating not only a historical period, but also a particular craft, vocation, or endeavour, using as a guide for the readers a gifted individual (sometimes well-known in its circle and based on a real character, sometimes anonymous and fictitious) whom we accompany in their discoveries, skill development, and craftsmanship. I am always surprised at becoming enthralled by the adventures of a protagonist who spends a lot of time doing something I’d never considered interesting before (or I might have enjoyed the finished product but never given a second thought to how it is made).
Here, Chevalier uses an interesting device to cover a very long period in the history of glassmaking in Murano, a small island very close to Venice, where the population specialised in glassmaking for centuries (and to a far lesser extent, still does). She introduces us to the Rosso family, a Murano glass-making family, in 1486, and we meet Orsola, the nine-year-old daughter of the family. Rather than follow the many generations of her family up to the present, the author uses what she calls “Venetian time, alla Veneziana” and asks readers to imagine it as the skipping of a stone over the surface of the water, but, rather than water it is time we skip over. What this means is that we follow the story of this family through the centuries, but although they age (and yes, some of them die as well), they do so at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, and so do those they are in contact with. The bigger world around them moves with the times, though, but the young girl we meet at the beginning of the novel, in the XV century, is now, in the XXI century, only in her late sixties, so you can work out the speed of time for her. The author explains how this works at the beginning, and if you think you can accept that and go along with the device, I assure you that you will enjoy the novel. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, at first, but I didn’t find it as jarring as I imagined, I became accustomed to it pretty soon, and I loved the book.
Using this framework means that we can see how things evolved without having to meet a huge number of characters (of course, the family gets bigger, and new generations appear, but it is much more manageable than it would have been otherwise), and we also have more time to get to truly know the characters (especially Orsola), and see the way the historical changes impacted on them, a family of artisans, skilled but not the most famous or best regarded. This is not history told from the point of view of the rich and powerful, of kings and politicians. More importantly, Orsola’s perspective is quite different from that of her brother (the “maestro” of the family), and readers get to learn much about a woman’s lot in life then, her limited choices, and the way some of them got to create a niche for themselves (like Orsola, who learns to make glass beads) even if their efforts were dismissed by the men in the family.
We see glimpses of History at large: some events take a big toll on the Rosso family and their neighbours and competitors (the plague, the arrival of Napoleon, the period of Austrian Rule, the floods in Venice, WWI and II, COVID), while others have little impact on their fairly isolated lives. Some true historical figures make a fleeting appearance as well (Josephine Bonaparte, although we don’t meet her in person; Casanova, and a very interesting marchioness) but their lives, like those of the many tourists that come and visit, play no important role in the story when all is said and done. The author includes a section of acknowledgements with a bibliography (basic and in more detail) for readers interested in learning more, and she also details some of her research process, as well as mentions the real characters that make it into the story (and those who are inventions), and the sources of inspiration for some of the others, including Domenego, a slave gondolier who becomes good friends with Orsola and Antonio (Orsola’s love interest, but I don’t want to go into too much detail. Read the story if you want to know more).
The love most of the characters feel for glassmaking seems intertwined with their love for Murano. Some of the funniest (and most moving) scenes were those in which we see Orsola visiting Venice for the first time or going to Terra Ferma (the world beyond Venice, not a place where you could move by gondola or a water vessel of some sort). Let’s say she’s less than enamoured with horses and their manure on her first visit.
The story is told in the third person and, as mentioned, this is Orsola’s story, and her family’s, because she can’t imagine a life without them, without Murano, and glass. She is a wonderful character, full of energy and determination, but not a woman who strays away from her role. She does not like many aspects of it, and she struggles against what she perceives as the unfairness of her situation (she craves the admiration of her older brother, Marco, who ends up being the man of the family and the maestro of the glass factory, but they are always fighting, and he dismisses her efforts), but she mostly defers to tradition or tries to get her way by allying herself with other women in the family: Laura, the wonderful mother of the family; Monica, her brother’s second wife (and one of my favourite characters); women from other glass families (like Maria Barovier and her cousin, who guide and teach Orsola how to make beads); Luciana, a Venetian woman who always speaks her mind and is disliked for it; the daughter of the German merchant they make business with, Klara, and many more. The characters are well-defined, feel true, and become almost a part of our family by the end of the novel. Readers get to know better the older generation, but that is as it should be, I am sure I’ll miss Orsola and the family Rosso and I’ll have them on my thoughts for a long time.
I’ve already said I enjoyed the novel. In case you are worried, I liked the ending as well. We spend most of the story wondering if something will happen or not. Of course, I won’t tell you what happened, but I think the ending fits the novel well, and it made me smile. As warnings go, there are sad events in the story, of course, although nothing beyond what would be expected from a historical novel covering such a big stretch of time. There are swear words galore (it seems gondoliers, in the past at least, used choice language with their kind, and they had quite an imagination!), but those are in Italian/Venetian. There are also plenty of words in Italian (and some in the Venetian dialect); most of them are easy to work out from the context, and in other cases, they tend to be explained within the text, at least the first time they appear. There is also a Glossary at the end for those who prefer to know exactly what every word means. I only had access to an ARC copy, so I am unsure if there might be a direct link to the definitions of the terms in the glossary for those who access the final version. Be prewarned, though: insults are also translated, so be careful what you check if you prefer to avoid that kind of language.
This is a great historical novel, though it requires readers to engage in the way the author has chosen to adapt the passing of time, and it is a beautiful book about Murano, glassmaking, and what life has been like for women living in that region and for glassmaking families from Murano and Venice over the years. It is an ambitious book, and it covers over five centuries, but it remains focused on a woman and her family, and that is what makes it so engaging and enjoyable. Totally recommended.

Sometimes you read a book that just blows you away. For depth of research, for understanding of culture and family, for delving into women’s issues and for capturing a location over such a breadth of time, this book is an absolute treasure. The changes that glassmakers faced over the years in Murano were real and I particularly enjoyed the most recent instance of COVID and over tourism. This would have to be my favourite book thus far this year. Orsola and her family were a pleasure to spend time with, and I feel that I have learned a lot about a place that I have visited but probably didn’t understand. Many thanks to NetGalley for a chance to review this book.

This book is enthralling, Tracey really draws you into the setting (Murano and Venice) and you find yourself never wanting the story to end. I learned a lot about glass making and bead making and finished the book wanting to visit Murano.

I love that even though each of her books are about very different things they are so well researched you really feel as if you are there, living in the era she is writing about. If you've enjoyed her other books you will love this one too.

In the preface it says this: ‘People who make things also have an ambiguous relationship with time….creators often enter an absorbed state that psychologists call flow, in which hours pass without their noticing.’ For me this was essential knowledge for reading The Glassmaker.
As a creator who is familiar with the flow state and what it does to time, or one’s perception of it; how it pretty much ceases to exist, to stretch or shrink unpredictably, to become meaningless, that one stretches out into the infinite; knowing this gave me an immediate insight into what I was about to read.

I loved this book. For me, rather than being a historical or surreal journey through the history of Murano glass, Venice and its people (though that was presented both with accuracy and imagination), it became a detailed dive into the lives and issues that surrounded glassmakers and their families, moment to moment, whatever external matters were doing. How they negotiated their relationships, their craft, how they developed and grew through hardships and became more robust yet more sensitive to one another. How they honed and adapted their craft. Also, how they were able to keep a tenuous connection to those who were still ensnared in time.

I love glass, particularly Murano (I have a few pieces), and Venice, and I enjoyed learning much more. Fact and fiction woven masterfully together.

I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to read this book. It will remain with me.

I loved this book - it really lived up to the expectations. Thank you to the writer, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed the story of Orsola Rosso and her glassmaker family; the timeslip was cleverly done, using the device of a skipping stone (so the family hardly ages while events whirl round them - a touch of magical realism, but it works really well). The vivid descriptions really brought Venice to life, from the plague in the medieval era through to modern-day Covid lockdown and everything in between. The detail of the glassmaking was fascinating (if you loved the needlework in A Single Thread, you will love this, too); and the family relationships rang true, with a mixture of love and jealousy and resentment and pride. Really good at showing how the role of women in the industry changed, too. Beautifully written, full of emotion and thoroughly recommended.

Thank you to the author, HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Glassmaker by T. Chevalier is a historical novel, starting in the 14hundereds, showing the art of glassmaking over the times and places like Murano, Venice - the city of waters.
Blurb: It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, 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 as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination 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.

This story is set on the Venetian Island of Murano known for its glassmaking. It is set over six centuries and follows the fortunes of the Rosso family through the clever device of claiming that time is different on the islands. As a stone is skimmed over the water and lands at different points in time we see Venice at the height of its importance as a trading post, then again when the plague comes to the lagoon, when Napoleon arrives, at a point WW1, during covid and finally in 2019.
Orsolo is a daughter of the Rosso, traditionally the girls to get involved in the glassmaking but run the house, however, after the early death of her family, Orsolo begins a small cottage industry making glass beads in order to help the family finances.
The main members of the Rosso family remain during each time change, although they gradually age, marry, have children and some die. The loves and tensions, joys and failures of the family are perfectly played out against the backdrop of the glass industry. There is a huge amount of detail about the making of both glass and beads but at no point did it feel overwhelming. Personally, I was fully involved in Orsolo's story and will her well in all areas of her life. Chevalier does not brush over the horrors the family faced, particularly during the plague but also over the business and things were not always easy for them.
As always with this author the writing is beautiful and research detailed so the reader is completely immersed in the time and the place. I very much enjoyed it and than Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed the ability the author of this book had for describing Venice and Murano whilst explaining glassmaking processes in an interesting way. I think, because I have been to Venice before, this allowed me to enjoy the book more as I was so easily able to picture the descriptions.
Where the book fell short, for me, was with the depth of the characters. Though some characters felt more fleshed-out than others, there was no real point where I started to feel I connected with any of them. I even felt that I didn’t really know the main character, Orsola. Her thought processes and morals were conveyed, however, I never felt that I could relate to her enough.
The time travel-esque aspect of the book was definitely interesting, but it sometimes felt unnecessarily confusing and dragged the length of the book further than was necessary.
Overall, an interesting summer read for any lovers of Italy and Venice.

I was enthralled from start to finish. Not only did I learn about glass but the history of Venice and of course Murano but the world too. Great character's and a wonderfully drawn backdrop of Venice. I liked skimming the stones to go through time to see what was happening and how far everyone had come during the time span.
Simply loved it!

Excellent what I liked most about this was the span across centuries, the historical details and the colourful characters. Really, really good.

The characterisation in this book was great, and the historical detail about Venice through 500+ years was spectacular. I also found the level of detail about the glass making process absolutely fascinating (possibly because I work with stained glass myself), where others have said it was too much. However, I just couldn't get on with the time jumping and found that it took me out of the flow of the story and irritated me. Overall, this was an interesting read, but the time slips just got on my nerves. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.