The Glassmaker by Tracey Chevalier
This novel by the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring has an unusual structure in that it features the same individuals of a family but places them in different time periods set over about 500 years. The conceit is that time within Venice and its lagoon ‘slips’ as a skimmed stone slips over water, and people live on through many centuries, seemingly oblivious to historical change. Elsewhere in the world, time continues to progress as we understand it.
One of the pleasures of this book is that it conjures up images of Venice, especially for those who know it. It also contains a wealth of historical information, detailing the fluctuating fortunes of the port of Venice starting in the Renaissance era and skipping through the centuries, pausing to see how the inhabitants of Murano were affected by major historical events such as the bubonic plague, war, the advent of Napoleon and all the way through to Covid 19.
There was praise for the quality of description, and we were all impressed by the detailed research which had gone into the processes involved in the craft of creating and marketing of Murano's famous glass products. In the first instance only men who were born on the island of Murano were permitted to work in glass, and the methods were closely guarded secrets. Women were not allowed to take part in the glassmaking process, and nor were outsiders.
The book is interesting in that it traces the changing role of women as economic necessity and a gradual opening up of a closed society over many generations have their impact. Orsola Rosso, the central character, saves her family from ruin and learns and adapts her craft as a glass bead maker, while developing her business skills over the centuries. She falls in love, and marries, but we felt the characterisation was rather one dimensional and like the other women in the book, she is not a likeable person!
Overall, we agreed it was well written and easy to read, but there is a lot of repetition and a lot of detail could have been edited out. Our impression was of a book so dominated by factual information that it was more a work of non-fiction than a novel. Characters and plot were secondary to a historical account.
Rounded up, the scores for discussion were 4/5 and for recommendation to a friend 3/5.
Review by Ann Whitfield