The Glassmaker

A Novel

De: Tracy Chevalier

Narrado por: Lisa Flanagan

Named a Best Historical Novel of 2024 by The Sunday Times, The Independent, and BookPage

“The Glassmaker is as finely wrought as a dazzling Murano bead. . . . Chevalier reaffirms her status as one of the reigning queens of historical fiction.” —The Independent

“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, author of Horse

From the bestselling historical novelist, a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day.

It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers on Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make glass beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.

Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is as inventive as it is spellbinding: a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city as everlasting as their glass.

Wonderfully done history of glassmaking and Venetian culture through the eyes of one woman

Only thing a little hard to follow was the timeline, how it jumped ahead by a stone thrown across the canal…yet the family didn’t age the same amount.

A great story with an unneccesary side of time travel.

The Murano and Venetian history of glass and the characters were great. i loved most of the story line except for the time travel It was confusing and felt like an afterthought.

glass making family

Generational family story life. liked the magical realism and ties to actual history. Characters elastic and believable.

Wonderful historical history of women!

Murano in the 1900’s to present!! The importance role of women!!Great story of family and perseverance!!

I am a glass bead “lamp worker…….

…….and this book was a pleasure. My glass comes from the city of Murano so it was extra special. When I am making glass beads I think about how techniques have evolved in so many ways but we still use many of the ways they worked the glass i. The 1400’s. I finished and found myself missing the characters. I got to know them so well and didn’t want it to end. Will be listening to this again sometime.