Glamour in Glass

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Mary Robinette Kowal stunned readers with her charming first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence. This magic comes in the form of glamour, which allows talented users to form practically any illusion they can imagine. Shades debuted to great acclaim and left readers eagerly awaiting its sequel. Glamour in Glass continues following the lives of beloved main characters Jane and Vincent, with a much deeper vein of drama and intrigue.

In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent's concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon…to escaping it.

Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison...and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country's war.

©2012 Mary Robinette Kowal (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

better than the first book

besides the authors bad French accents this second book in her series was much more interesting than the first book.

No longer regency romance, but great nonetheless

Mary Robinette Kowal's first entry in this series, Shades of Milk and Honey, was a very standard regency romance with a very fun and genre appropriate magic system. It channeled Jane Austen very effectively, but stayed so close to the Pride and Prejudice formula that, while very enjoyable, was also fairly predictable.

Glamour in Glass keeps the regency voice and style, but ventures out of the drawing room into an adventure that is more Dumas than Austen. The result is charming, exciting, and sometimes touching. The author's prose and storytelling has improved noticeably from her last book, which was still very well written but slightly more forced.

As in Shades of Milk and Honey, the author herself narrates the book. She does quite well with both her British and French accents - at least my untrained ear was not bothered by either. I found the performance to be very pleasant.

While regency fantasy isn't the genre I would normally pick up, I would happily recommend this to any fantasy fan who doesn't require dark, moody environments and angsty endings. Happy listening!

Powerful, touching, and I could not get enough.

Having listened to and enjoyed the first book in the series a few years ago, I decided it was time to continue the series. After finishing this book, my regret is that I didn't do so earlier. Now, let me highlight a few things about this book.

1. Mary Robinette Kowal narrates the book herself, which for most authors would be a negative, but she is an amazing and highly sought after narrator. My only difficulty with the narration is that I am also a fan of the October Daye series which she also narrates, so I sometimes feel I am hearing from one of those characters, but this is a fault with me and not the narration.

2. In the first book of the series, I at times felt I was reading Jane Austen, but with explanations of regency England slipped in for a modern audience. While I think that may have been neccessary, it did pull me out of the story at times. In this novel, some explanations remain, but they now seem to have more emotional importance for the character. and so do not pull me out of the story. An example is when the author uses Jane's agitation with how the court women treat her to explain gender roles at regency parties work.

3. Often when a period novel contains a strong female character that doesn't completely abide by gender norms but is super accomplished, the world focuses on her not meeting gender norms. I loved that when Jane violated gender norms to accomplish something awesome, the characters of the world were more impressed with her accomplishments than offended by her subversion of gender norms.

4. Finally, I loved the relationship of the main characters. They might be my favorite novel couple. I especially liked the way the author dealt with the marital situation that arose during the climax of the novel.


Glamour in Glass was a marked improvement over an already strong first novel in this series.

story is ok, so is the narration

I liked the parts in this one about the theory and practice of glamour. Felt it could have been pushed more. Or other ways in which glamour could be used explored further.

Jane and Vincent a good lead characters. I liked that their partnership was developed further here (as I had their relationship in the 1st series was a bit rushed). I enjoyed their relationship in this book much better. And I appreciated that them being married never equated to their relationship being taken for granted and that there was no further they could go.

The narration was a bit weak sometimes. The voice too soft to hear (had to keep rewinding to hear what was being said). Also, sometimes the voices were not distinct enough.

I will read the rest of the series, for sure.

Soooo good!

I didn’t expect much, but boy was I pleasantly surprised!!! This book kept me wanting to get back to it, and the twists and turns were perfectly executed!!! Great read!

Just keep reading.

Presumably you've already read the first one. The doctor recommends that you just keep on reading these until you finish them all.

growing on me

After the first book I thought maybe this series wasn't my cup of tea. I love Mary Robinette Kowal's lady astronaut series and thoroughly enjoyed the spare man, but historical fiction is not usually my thing. But I gave the second book a go and it's definitely growing on me. I just purchased the third book, and I'll probably finish the series.

Awesome Story!

I loved this charming tale of love and the lovers battle for their self esteem as they heroically save the day! They come to learn that their love will never fail them and nothing can tear them apart. Great historical romance in the style reminiscent of Jane Austin and beautifully read by the author. Highly recommend.

Even better than book one.

Glamour in Glass goes beyond the drawing room intrigue found on its predecessor and expands into the geopolitical climate of the early nineteenth century. While of necessity more violent than the first book, the author is careful not to have anything done out of character. It was extremely gratifying to read a book which in which the characters use creative problem solving rather than brute force. I eagerly anticipate where Jane and Vincent's adventures will next lead them.

Great story, bad narration

What made the experience of listening to Glamour in Glass the most enjoyable?

I've enjoyed the series. It's light, but enjoyable summer reading. The characters are fun to follow.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jane is a lively and interesting character, but I think she is too down on herself. It's the most oft-putting characteristic, but appropriate for the era.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Mary Robinette Kowal?

The narrator's foreign accents seemed to have been honed at the Rooney-Yunioshi School of Bad and Racist Portrayals of Foreigners.