The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea – Book review by Kimberly Foreman

Genre: Historical fiction / suspense

In today’s edition book blogger Kimberly Foreman reviews a book full of suspense called The Glass Woman

With this week’s book choice, I’m transporting you back in time to 1686, and to a very cold Icelandic village—Stykkishólmur. Fans of Jane Eyre will definitely enjoy this gothic suspense. As far as Jane Eyre retellings go, it’s one of the best I’ve read.

Rósa and her family are struggling… they need food and their situation is dire. That is, until wealthy Jón Eiríksson arrives on the scene and asks Rósa to be his wife. But there’s a condition—she must leave her family behind to go and live with Jón miles away from her home and the people she loves. But for their sake, she agrees.

However, when Rósa gets to her new home, she’s greeted by hostile neighbours and unfriendly faces. Jón becomes more and more distant and refuses to talk about his first wife who supposedly died under suspicious circumstances. Then Rósa starts hearing things in the house, strange noises from the attic… an attic which is meant to be out of bounds…

Feeling frightened and terribly alone, Rósa tries to uncover the truth about her new husband because if there is one thing she’s sure of, it’s that he’s hiding something.

The book explores several different themes, including: isolation, male dominance, power and superstition. It’s an eerie delight set in a bleak Iceland of the past. Though the pace is sometimes on the slow side, overall, I was super impressed by this chilling debut novel by Lea. Numerous times I found myself holding my breath or looking over my shoulder. I definitely want to read more by this author.

Also for fans of:

*The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
*The Familiars by Stacey Halls
*The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

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