This beautifully written and wonderfully told tale is just joyous.

Orsola Rosso's family are glassmakers on the island of Murano near Venice. We read about Orsolo and how the glassmaking trade affects her family and how they suffer trials and victories over the years.

This is such an historic tale and I loved the rich vivid descriptions of Murano and I loved Orsolo. Her intricate work of making glass beads to help the family finances was a delight to read about and even now long after I have finished this book I still find myself thinking about her.

The passing years tell in detail of wars, disease and pandemics and how the family overcame these disasters and succeed with the business.

I appreciate how the author must have researched this art, it shines through each page and I defy any reader not to fall in love and fully immerse themselves in this book

have read all of Tracy Chevalier’s books and there isn’t one I haven’t fallen in love with. After four years she is back with this mesmerizing and origional novel, The Glassmaker. Set over five hundred years of Venice’s history of Glassmaking, told through the eyes of Orsola Rosso and her family. This is a book of the role of women through history, the artisan crafts and how they are effected by progress and the importance of family.

I was excited to hear that Tracy Chevalier had written another novel and that it was set on the Island of Murano. Tracy Chevalier always has an inventive and origional feel to her books and The Glassmaker is no exception. Starting in 1486, when the Murano Glass Industry was at it’s height, sending their wares all over the world, to 2019, Covid and the acqua alta that caused so much damage to the buildings. I was fascinated by all this history, the plagues, change in rule, the emergence of electricity and glass factories opening across Europe and how Orsola and her family had to adapt on a professional and personal level. I loved that at every jump in time, Tracy Chevalier grounded that period with cultural, political and social references of the period to put what was happening in Murano and Venice in perspective.

Orsola is a wonderful character. Inspired by Maria Barovier, a female glass worker, Orsola wants to become the same, but this is a man’s world of heat and strength. However, Orsola learns how to make beads and soon earns her own money. The family have so many changing fortunes over the course of the book, from running a successful business, to harder times when fashions changed and when plague hits having nothing as they are unable to work. What shines through in Orsloa’s story is the importance of family, yes there are disagreements, marriages, death, births that all change the structure of the family, and need for progression but they still have each other, family is still the most important thing.

The Glassmaker is a tour de force from Tracy Chevalier. In a lot of her novels women and their place in history and she continues this theme in this book. Orsola’s story is fascinating, her journey of hiding that she makes money, to not being taken seriously to having the most profitable skill in the family. There is no doubt that this is an Ode to Murano and all the families that worked there and still work there. This is an innovative, captivating and immersive read, that covers half a century, and a book I highly recommend.

Even though I've finished this book, it still intrigues me. The family of the story live in their own time bubble whilst the world around them turns at 'our' rate, which I suppose is a way of illustrating how Murano's glass industry has endured. I learned things I previously didn't know which I always enjoy.....yes, definitely intriguing.

I've always enjoyed Ms Chevalier's writing style, and did so again in this book with her way of bringing different characters to life and her vivid descriptions of place.
However, I really struggled with the time skipping concept, particularly at the end. Also whilst I appreciate the need for a reader to understand the intricacies of glassblowing and the different skills and hierarchy involved I did feel at times, especially at the beginning, that the author was writing a textbook. Perhaps short footnotes would have worked better.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book.

The Glassmaker follows the life of Orsola Rosso who is born into a family of glassmakers on the island of Murano across the lagoon from Venice. Time flows differently here as the world spins on, we see how Orsola manages to work with glass and how this affects her family over the years as they face many trials and tribulations. An absolutely fascinating book which gives the reader an insight into the world of glass and the history of Venice over the generations anchored in the experience of the Rosso family.

It’s been a while since I read Tracy Chevalier, but oh my, did I quickly remember the sheer joy of her writing. Within pages I found myself totally immersed in Venetian life, whisked back in time to the glass making island of Murano. Following Orsola’s story was captivating, my heart sang for her and cried for her in equal measure. I learnt so much about glass making and the history of Murano and Venice, yet in an almost osmotic way as Tracy’s research is so perfectly woven into her storytelling. I loved the passage of time and the magical, mysticism of Murano. The cast is full of strong, feisty women and I loved seeing them grow and shine together: their relationships were so well portrayed. Tracy’s prose is just beautiful and effortless. I devoured this book in a matter of days as I didn’t want to leave Orsola. Absolutely deserving of a glowing five stars and I will be recommending it to all my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Collins for a copy in exchange for a review.

Across the Venice lagoon lies Murano, it’s a place where time moves differently and where traditional glass making skills are the life blood of the island. Into this established world we are introduced to the Rosso family, and with time as skilfully manipulated as the glass they produce, we move with eldest daughter Orsola Rosso as she weaves, with her family, from 1486 Renaissance Venice, through to our modern post-Covid world.

The Glassmaker takes us on an intricate journey, beautifully recreating each specific era whilst at the same time following the lives of the Rosso family as they endure so much in both their personal lives and in the way the the complex process of glassmaking fluctuates within each successive timeframe. Wonderfully characterised, each member of this impressive family comes alive, we struggle when they struggle and rejoice when things go well. However, what is most fascinating is the glassmaking process itself and in particular Orsola’s skill in creating exquisite glass beads.

Spanning six centuries this is a hugely ambitious story and one which could so easily have failed, however, in the hands of this skilful writer the story flows beautifully. I loved how with Orsola Rosso as its lynchpin there was always a sense of continuity and as we moved forward in time I was captivated by the way the story unfolded around me, firing my imagination in this beautiful, but complex, world of glass.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tracy Chevalier for ARC copies of both the digital and the audio books. As is usual with books by this author, I became engrossed from page 1 and switched between reading and listening depending what I was doing at the time - the perfect combination. The narrator is marvellous.

The book was very interesting from an educational point of view and a great deal of research has been done to make the story as authentic as possible. The story itself was engrossing and I quickly fell into feeling that I knew and lived with the characters and their experiences and back stories. I recommend both types of media here and eagerly await what I’m sure will become a film version of the book.

This was a superb story. Using artistic licence, the author employs time slip to follow the fortunes of the Rossi family, glassmakers in Murano, down through the centuries, keeping the main character Orsola to the fore. Venetian life for rich and poor springs in glorious colour from the pages, much like the beads Orsola makes to keep the family fortunes alive in troubled times. This story really is a tour de force - so much history unfolds in the most beautiful narrative. The characters are wonderful, evolving to suit every century we find them in without ever losing their true selves, and the rich, descriptive writing is everything you can expect from Tracy Chevalier.. There’s heartbreak, humour and romance embedded into every word. I’d give this ten stars, not five, if I could.

The Glassmakers begins in Venice in 1468 and follows the story of Orsola Rosso, the daughter of a glassmaker in Murano. When the family is hit by tragedy, Orsolo starts making glass beads to save them from poverty. She has to work in secret as women are not allowed to work in glass. Through the mechanism of “Venice time” we follow Orsola and her family through centuries. It was fascinating to follow the story of Venice and glassmaking against a backdrop of famous historical figures and events. There was also a love story running throughout. I found the concept of Venice time confusing at first and couldn’t stop wondering how far it extended and who was or wasn’t affected. This did detract from my enjoyment a little but overall I enjoyed the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this review copy.

Time stands still in one thread of this very fascinating and so romantic story.
Glass making in Murano traditionally belongs to the men. Orsola Rosso desires to learn these skills for herself, and when she meets Maria Barovier, a skilled glass maker in her own right, she knows that she can be taught to make glass beads and earn money from her work.
The book starts in 1486, Renaissance Venice is the centre of the World. It concludes with the COVID pandemic. During these centuries, Orsola and her family are timeless, their skills are passed down through the family firm, new members are added, husbands, wives and numerous children too, but they are protected from the sufferings experienced by the outside world, their life seems to be run on a very different time zone. Venice and Murano stay in their own time.
It’s a magical way to tell a story. This is Tracy Chevalier at her teasing and historical best. There is love, duty, Romance, honour, family loyalty and disappointment in love, and time travel, all these elements combine in this absolute treasure of a book. It is enchanting and spellbinding, strong female characters, and so many historical facts about the skill of glass making, you get a real appreciation of the passion that sustains such an industry. This story just drags you into fifteenth century Venice and you don’t want to ever leave. Brings a tear to the eyes and a sniffle to the nose, it’s just wonderful.
A five star read. I have already recommended this to my local book group and to a friend who is travelling to Venice and Murano next year.
My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK, the publishers, for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK, upon publication.

A beautiful, intricately woven story that is so believable you think you were there through all the time shifts and experiencing the long life of Orsola Rosso and her friends and family. Venice and Murano star through the ages, and offer a deep interpretation of lives lived through significant events of war and heartbreak. Wonderful, captivating and leaving you wanting more.

The Glassmaker is absolutely one of my favourite reads of the year so far - I was so swept up in the very clever narrative design, the amazing story and the brilliant characters.

Set in Venice over 500 years, it follows Orsola Rosso as she learns the glassmaking business. We follow just her life but the clever narrative means that as her life moves through at a usual pace, the years around her accelerate more quickly so her lifespan of 80 or so years actually covers 500 years of time. This means that we see how the Murano glass trade changed from it’s first invention to modern day work. It took a few chapters to fully understand how the structure of the book worked but once I did I appreciated how clever it was. Watching such a long period through the eyes of a family you have come to know so well was brilliantly done and felt totally believable.

I loved Orsola Rosso as a character - she was brave and feisty and so loyal to her family. The characters around her were no less fascinating; a huge group of in-laws, nieces and nephews showed so many aspects of such a long period of time and how relationships and alliances shaped the direction of a family business.

I really can’t recommend this enough - it’s a brilliant, clever novel that is researched in so much detail and so thoughtfully written. I found myself looking up things to do with the history and geography of Venice (this is absolutely a love letter to the city) and Murano glass.

Definitely one to pick up!

The book follows Orsola Rosso from a young woman in 1486 to the present day when she is 70, The family are glass blowers and women are not expected to do this work in 1486, but she makes glass beads secretly to make a small income to help her family survive. A brilliant read but quite a few characters, however, that did not spoil the book for me it added different dimensions....
A highly recommended read and fascinating facts about Venitian glass

This was another piece of stunning storytelling from Tracey Chevalier! 'The Glassmaker' serves as a piece of social history tracing the changes of fortune of glassmakers on the island of Murano over the course of 500 years. I became really intrigued at the shape of this novel because Chevalier uses the motif of a stone skimming through time to jump years at a time, whilst we follow the fortunes of just one family. So the book follows the life of Orsola Rosso, who starts as a little girl and ends as an old woman - though the greater time setting is over 500 years!

The setting and description are glorious - both Venice and Murano are intricately depicted - making them almost characters in their own right. I have never visited either and have always been keen, but Chevalier's writing has made me hungry to go and see these beautiful places as soon as possible. I cared about her characters and what happened to them. There are a lot of people to keen track of in this book as the family grows and extends naturally. You feel like you live every moment of their lives with them.

The ending in poignant and unexpected, and will definitely keep me pondering for a long time. I cannot recommend this book enough - from the first shove in the canal, I was entranced by Orsola and the fortunes of her family. The historical changes and the adaptations of the glass-making studio to keep reinventing itself to survive felt real and carefully researched. This book as so much to offer its reader - get a copy as soon as you can - you won't be disappointed!

To get the chance to read and review the newest Tracy Chevalier book was beyond exciting. For the timing to coincide with a holiday so that I could read it in two days, was a total treat.
When I say that it didn’t disappoint, I am being very coy about a book that blew me away. And yes, it is true - I may have ignored my own family to spend time with Osala and her family in Murano.
In her authors notes, Chevalier says that she was worried about pulling off a novel that plays with time. The Rosso family only age a few years as time outside of Venice gallops through the centuries. I barely had to suspend my disbelief - as I thought it worked perfectly and it made total sense.
I do not hesitate for a moment to recommend this beautiful book, especially for book clubs who will have so much to talk about. If you like a historical novel which has been well researched and has characters that will touch your heart, this is for you. I absolutely loved it.

This is the story of Orsola Rosso, the daughter of a well respected glass making family on the island of Murano. The book takes Orsola's life span and maps it across five hundred years of history. As time outside Murano passes, Orsola's life moves more slowly. We start the book in 1486 when Orsola is a young woman and we finish it in the present day when Orsola is only just in her Seventies. Each chapter of the book begins with the difference in external time and Orsola's life and the explanation that time moves differently on Murano, like the glass they make there. This magical realist segment is the only piece of the book I really struggled with. It's such a central conceit of the novel but there are a lot of blips where external characters and internal characters intersect or where history intervenes where the joins are smoothed over in a way that left me with a lot of questions. I don't think most readers will mind that. Chevalier is a good writer who excels at historical fiction and her characters are well written and inventive. The reader will forgive a lot for that. Well researched and super interesting about the history of glass making.

I have always been a fan of Tracy Chevalier's work and loved the premise of this book. I did think however that there were too many characters, and the complexity was beyond what I have come to expect from her work. That said, it was a highly descriptive and evocative read and transported me to Venice!



Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to review this book.

I found myself left frustrated + confused by this, there are a multitude of characters who never seem to age even though the timeline is literal centuries, I just didn’t get it. Even though I enjoyed the setting I lost interest midway through and if it wasn’t the fact this was an ARC I would have DNF’d.

★★
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I want to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to review this book.

Tracy Chevalier is a wonderful writer, and has written an extraordinary magical story which totally blew me away. A brilliant idea, skilfully executed. A story which spans from 1486 to the current day, but the family and close friends in the story age very very slowly. Like a stone skipping across a pond, we follow the family across the years. Absolutely genius.

Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a Murano glassblowing family. When her father dies, his children all have to step up, and Orsola starts making glass beads in secret to help the family – as women didn’t really work at that time. We follow Orsola and her brothers, and their children and grandchildren – and all of their friends – down the years, From the great plague to current day Covid, the glassmakers of Murano have to survive them all.

Absolute genius. A fascinating book, with believable characters and full of historical facts and famous figures. I couldn’t put it down.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6788285511
https://maddybooksblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-glassmaker-by-tracy-chevalier-tracy.html