The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea published by Penguin Random House
The Glass Woman is set in Iceland in the 1680's. It is a tale about a young woman who lives in a small village in Iceland. A man comes to the village looking for a new wife, but he already has a reputation, it is known his first wife died and he buried her in the middle of the night, raising suspicions. The young woman doesn't want to leave her village, her mother and her childhood friend, but her father has died and without the money that this stranger can provide her mother will die also. The young woman has no choice but to marry the stranger. And when she gets to his croft, escorted there by the man's apprentice who is rumoured to be a changeling, she starts to hear unusual noises in the locked loft above her. And the village is full of gossip.
What really happened to Anna, the first wife? What secrets are being hidden? Will the young woman run, or will she find love for her new husband?
The story is told from two perspectives, the young woman and the stranger whom she marries.
The title The Glass Woman conjures up images of a fragile, meek, emotionless woman, and in the beginning the young woman is all of these. But like glass being shaped by the trauma of heat, she is shaped by the trials she goes through throughout the novel. and becomes strong. Her husband, on the other hand is weakened mentally and physically by the secrets he hides.
I loved the way nature was used throughout the book, especially the snow.
The tension was built very well by time flicking back and forth by only a month or two.
The way that people were superstitious in those times, and the way gossip can get out of control were highlighted well. As was the cruelty of human nature when people feel threatened.
I found this a quick read, each chapter ending in a way that made it hard to put down.
This book wasn't what I thought it would be. I expected something spookier, but it was less supernatural and more about the condition of human nature. I really enjoyed it.
Have you read The Glass Woman? What are your thoughts?
Happy Reading
Fiona
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