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The Glassmaker

By: Tracy Chevalier
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
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Publisher's summary

A Parade and Christian Science Monitor Best Book of June

“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.

©2024 Tracy Chevalier (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

A Parade Best New Book

“Travel across seven centuries with novelist Tracy Chevalier and a remarkable Glassmaker ... The Glassmaker conveys a vivid history lesson about a fascinating place and industry, animated through the lives and emotions of compelling characters.”Star Tribune

“[An] exceptional novel ... Chevalier’s descriptive prose on glassmaking artistry, together with her delightful characters, creates an entrancing tale.”Christian Science Monitor

“There is an immediate richness to the historical fiction of Tracy Chevalier, one that goes beyond carefully researched details and evocative prose, and into deep emotion. . . . The Glassmaker becomes a study not just of history, but of what endures history. That makes it a potent, bewitching bright spot in a stellar career.”Bookpage (starred review)

What listeners say about The Glassmaker

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating "time-travel" concept

Have read most of Chevalier's work. This one captured the history of Venice, Murano, and glassmaking in a thorough and fascinating way - up to my expectations. Not so as far as narration goes, unfortunately: An exaggerated and some times just wrong "Italian" pronunciation (e.g. weight on wrong syllables), and a tendency to read women as little girls instead of mature characters detracted from the listening experiences.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Glass artistry and commerce

I was excited to read this because I am a glass artist (warm glass) so hearing all about the hot glass techniques, including lampwork, was exciting. And I loved the characters. But stretching the story over 500 years with the same people in it barely aging (like a skipping stone, “a la Veneziana”) was completely unbelievable and very distracting. I’m all for magical realism when done well; this was not.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Lovely story

I have really enjoyed all of Tracy Chevalier's books. This is the first one I have "read" on Audible though. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I admittedly got lost with the time jumps. That was really confusing to me. And I hated that there was never any closure with Orsola and Antonio. Oh well..all in all I enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the glass makers! It also makes me want to go to Venice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Historical journey of a glass family

Everything! Wonderful story interlinked with historical events, love, family and touching moments of each time period.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting way to share Venetian history and the art of glass

Solid read with excellent narrator. I couldn’t really get behind the timeline jumps with the same exact characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A beautiful and well written tale building the ongoing human history of Glass in Venice and on Murano.

The author wrote beautifully about glasswork and about the island of Murano. While reading, I wanted to head to the studio and hop on the torch! She wrote Murano and Venice well enough that I could picture the places and experience the stone skipping through time. Lovely.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Very Interestingly Story About Murano Glass and Bead Makers Through The Ages

If you are even mildly curious about the history of Italian glass making and how artisan families worked past to present you will love this book! If firm timelines is a priority you might find the story a little frustrating but I say just let story unfold and enjoy the character's growth and through time.

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Surprising literary device

This is an excellent book based on the history of glass making on Murano and trade out of Venice. A clever literary device allows her to age the main characters a few years while the outside world may advance hundreds. I was skeptical initially but it works.

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