Festive Fiction

A storm lies ahead of her. Freedom lies beyond it … ‘Such a brilliant writer and this was another 5 star book for me’ Reader Review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Hugely immersive and emotional’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An emotional mystery that will grip you so tight that you can't breathe’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘She is the master of creating real, flawed, magnetic characters’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ONE NIGHT It is a wild night in the middle of December, and GP Enya is crouched over a teenage boy, performing CPR in the rain. ONE MOMENT The boy survives, but Enya’s life splinters in two. Trapped in a loveless marriage, the storm propels her to break free. ONE CHANCE TO BE FREE But even in the remote country town that becomes her sanctuary, Enya is haunted by the night in the rain. Beneath the boughs of an ancient tree that tells a thousand stories, can she find the courage to face her own? 'A terrific story! It had me completely gripped from the very first page' KARIN SLAUGHTER ‘Outstanding… I simply couldn’t stop reading. One of the two or three best novels I’ve read this year and without question the best book I’ve ever read by Cecelia' JOHN BOYNE

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From the bestselling historical novelist, a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to 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 in 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 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 that are as everlasting as their glass.

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