Book Reviews – The Glass Woman

The Glass Woman
by Caroline Lea

This dark and menacing tale is set in Iceland in 1686. Surviving is tough, but even more so when the breadwinner of the house dies and leaves his wife and daughter struggling to find fuel for the fire and food for the table. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the daughter, Rosa, agrees to a loveless marriage to a man who has the means to furnish her mother’s daily needs. Suspicion and dread hang on every page as Rosa moves far from home and learns of the strange circumstances surrounding the death of her husband’s first wife. Lea, who is an English university lecturer, paints vivid portraits of her characters who are mired in pagan rituals and beliefs. The frozen landscape of Iceland is the perfect backdrop for this suspenseful tale.