The Glassmaker

Richly evocative of Renaissance Murano, this beguiling novel from the author of the bestselling The Girl with a Pearl Earring focuses on a virtuoso glass blower who struggles to be accepted in a patriarchal world.

Venice, 1486.

Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives perfecting.

In secret, Orsola Rosso learns to craft glass. As a woman, she must flout convention to save her family from ruin. We follow her through hundreds of years of war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.

Skipping like a stone across the centuries, The Glassmaker is a virtuoso portrait of a woman, a family and a city that are as everlasting as glass.

MEDIA REVIEWS

'A triumph… a brilliant idea carried out with confidence and brio and a deep love of an extraordinary city. The ingenuity of the time-skipping is beyond admiration' PHILIP PULLMAN 'Spellbinding…. Chevalier at her fabulous best. A rich, vivid and gently enchanting novel' ELIF SHAFAK 'Ingenious… an absorbing story' THE TIMES, Book of the Year

‘Sparkling… a triumph of craft’ OBSERVER ‘A spectacular feat, crafted by a maestra at the top of her game’ SPECTATOR 'As finely wrought as a dazzling Murano bead… reaffirm[s Chevalier's] status as one of the reigning queens of historical fiction' INDEPENDENT

'A time-skipping Venetian tour de force' GUARDIAN 'Meticulously researched and evoking the beauty of the Venice lagoon, the story challenges and transports the reader through time and place' PHILIPPA GREGORY

'One of our great period novelists'iNews 'Combining her storytelling gifts with her love of Venice, Chevaier has produced a memorable addition to her oeuvre’ SUNDAY TIMES, Nick Rennison 'Chevalier weaves a magical thread through this extraordinary city’s history. A masterpiece' WOMAN & HOME

'Truly remarkable and richly enjoyable… very clever' SCOTSMAN ‘Reaffirms Chevalier’s skill in crafting engaging, evocative historical tales’ GLAMOUR ‘Evocative’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

‘This inventive portrait of a woman and her city is mesmerising’ PLATINUM

'This charming fable is at once a love story that skips through six centuries, and also a love song to the timeless craft of glassmaking. Chevalier probes the fierce rivalries and enduring loyalties of Murano's glass dynasties, capturing the roar of the furnace, the sweat on the skin, and the glittering beauty of Venetian glass' GERALDINE BROOKS

'Chevalier, one of our great storytellers, brings us unexpected worlds' AMY BLOOM 'Tracy Chevalier pens a novel as ambitious, audacious, and artistic as a Venetian glass goblet… The Glassmaker is a thing of beauty' KATE QUINN