This novel is an imaginative telling of the art glassmaking through the centuries on the island of Murano off the city of Venice. Tracy Chevalier blends history, the Murano and Venetian cultures, the role of women, family, the essence of life, death, love and all of this with one family at the center of it. The structure is fascinating as we follow the Rosso family over 500 years, and how their lives are affected by historical events bringing prosperity, plague, poverty, with the same characters positioned in various time frames, only a few years older even though decades have passed. With “time alla Veneziana”, the passage of time , like a “skipping stone”, they remain themselves just in a new time, each time the current time for them. It’s one of those stories where you just have to trust your imagination. I’m glad I did.

Orsola Russo from six to her sixties is a character to remember for her passion for the art of glass bead making even in times when women were forbidden from working with glass, for her perseverance, and for her dedication to family in times of prosperity and hardship. All of the characters are fully realized from Orsola’s strong and sharp mother to her brothers and sister in laws to the business connections in Venice and her loves.

So much happens here, but I prefer not to give plot details which you can find elsewhere. I can’t quite give it 5 stars as it felt a little too ambitious trying to cover all the decades and that resulted in some time frames dragging on a little and others glossed over from the Plague to Covid. However, I’ve read several of Chevalier’s novels and this is my favorite. A touching ending to say the least with a little of the “terrafirma” where time moves ahead not as “time alla Veneziana”. Recommended for Chevalier fans and historical fiction readers .

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House through
Edelweiss & NetGalley.

Tracy Chevalier's latest meticulously researched offering takes us to Italy and Venice through the centuries from the Renaissance, from the height of its powers and wealth as a trading centre, right up to its transformation as the centre of tourism. She pays homage to the fascinating, timeless, and exquisite art of glassmaking, and skilfully uses the device of skipping like a stone through many centuries for this piece of engaging, informative, and richly described historical fiction. It is 1486, on the island of Murano with its reputation for glassmaking, it is a patriarchal society, Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter, her father dies in an accident that is to leave the family vulnerable, her brother Marco has the ambition, but not the level of skill and experience required in the profession.

Under the eye and help of another woman and rival, Maria, Orsola picks up the ability to secretively make glass beads as women are not accepted within the industry, the beads are sold through a merchant, becoming more creative as she became more expert. Orsolo's work and beads, made using different techniques, are essential in ensuring the family survives, she does it on top of being unappreciated, and her other duties and stressful burdens. We are given a glimpse of the competitive and demanding nature of the business as huge chunks of time go by, the entrenched rivalries and long lived loyalties, and other life challenges in a changing and turbulent world that includes the plague and the ransacking of Venice.

Chevalier has a gift for constructing and vividly bringing alive historical periods, her love of glassmaking truly shines through, she utilises the prism of the lives of Orsola and her family, complex characters created and developed with care in her immersive storytelling. There is the inclusion of real life historical people too. I was easily ensnared in this terrific historical novel interspersed with Italian words to add authenticity, the love, loss, heartbreak and more, and of the location, the beauty of glassmaking, a changing world and context, right up to today. This will likely appeal to fans of the author and those who love their historical fiction. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Another glorious plunge into a unique lens of hidden women’s history by Tracey Chevalier!

This time she whisks us across the centuries of women glassmakers on the island of Murano, adjacent to Venice, Italy. Though generations of families have specialized in the gorgeous glass blowing for which Murano becomes famous, the women of these glassmaking families have traditionally have been relegated to keep up the household and family.

But Orsola Rosso wants in and learns, during financial hard times for her family, from an older woman how to make lampwork glass beads. Unlike the dramatic fire used to craft dramatic vases, chandeliers and goblets by her brothers, Orsola labors in the kitchen burning smelly tallow to perfect her bead making art. Belittled by her harsh older brother who has taken up head of the family, Orsola during tough economic times repeatedly comes to her the Rosso family’s rescue.

Chevalier uses a clever literary device of slowly aging Orsola along with her close family and friends as time skips along, which she describes like a stone skipping across the Venetian waters to different periods in Venetian history. The novels opens in 1486 and skips along for 500 years to take us through the Italian Renaissance, Napoleon’s conquest, harsh Austrian rule, and up through recent history including COVID shut downs.

Sadly, Orsola’s hot-headed brother drives away from Murano the love of Orsola’s life: an ambitious, talented young glassmaker from Venice. Their thwarted love weaves throughout the novel as transcendent as the glass they each make. As fiercely independent Orsola perfects her art, the flow of artisan glass and the hidden roles of women in its creation gets celebrated in all its translucent beauty.


Thanks to Penguin Group, Viking, and NetGalley for advanced reader’s copy.

Are you ready to be immersed in the world of Murano glassmaking? Tracy Chevalier transports the reader to Renaissance Murano, a small island that is part of Venice, through the life of Orsola Rosso, daughter of a successful maestro of glassmaking. Her father’s sudden death throws the family business in turmoil when the oldest son has to take over before he is fully trained. Because time moves differently on Murano, the reader follows Orsola through the next 600 years along with the ups and downs of the glass business. She is a determined, ambitious character who does not allow the male dominated world of glassmaking to stop her from making her own mark. I love books with strong female characters. Orsola is a model. Now please excuse me while I book a trip to Italy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t love historical fiction, but Chevalier is a masterful writer. She could tell any story beautifully and make it a page turner. I think this is a perfect summer read for historical fiction lovers, or anyone traveling to Italy. It would be a good pairing with The Sicilian Inheritance!

Masterpiece of a tale. Sweeping across hundreds of years,but using the same characters in each timeline. Sounds funky but it works.
Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, the little details about geography and glassmaking are largely informative and only a bit cumbersome.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tracy Chevalier was one of the authors who impelled me to read historical fiction and I have read all her novels. The Glassmaker is set on the island of Murano and follows the Rosso family of glassmakers, skipping across time from 1486 to the present. It is an unusual and inventive way of storytelling and takes some suspension of belief but, as always, Chevalier’s storytelling is impelling.

Orsola Rosso was a rare female working in glass, albeit to make beads–what her glassmaker brother sneeringly calls escrementi di topo–mouse turds. The family has made art glass for generations, gorgeous drinking glasses and pitchers and plates. The family’s fortunes rise and fall as politics and taste changes, forcing them to change their products, but in hard times, the beads kept the family fed.

From making art glass pieces to the mass production of the beads favored by natives abroad, and later used for fashion, the entire process and history of glassmaking is central to the book.

To keep the secrets of glassmaking, Murano glassmakers protected their secrets by outlawing leaving the island for ‘terrafirma’. When European countries developed their own glassmaking the competition impacted the Murano glassworkers. Napoleon’s conquests in Italy meant he could gift Venice to Austria, who modernized the city by filling in canals and building roads. Trading in Africa and the New World drove a demand for glass beads for trade; manufacturing became about quantity not quality. And later tourism brought demands for cheap knockoffs from China.

The plague in 1574 brought losses and suffering to the Rossos. Then, in 2019, Covid afflicts the population, reminding us that there is nothing new under the sun.

Orsolo is friends with an enslaved African gondolier who works for the Austrian who buys her work to sell abroad. “Slavery runs the world,” he reminds her, “Commerce turns because of human sweat, much of it unpaid.”

Always prone to floods, with climate change flooding in Venice becomes worse.

The author compares her storytelling to a stone skipping across the water; she skips across time, keeping the same characters, showing how Orsolo and the Rossos adapt.

Thanks to the publisher for a galley through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

What a great love story. A love for family and lovers as told by Orsola and the love of Venice and Murano, Italy.
A unique spin on historical fiction as the reader goes through hundreds of years but Orsola travels in one lifetime.
A fascinating book on glass making and the role women played in making glass beads, the one area that was accepted by women glassmakers.
A wonderful historical fiction read. Highly recommended.

Chevalier always does a remarkable job of bringing lesser known women's stories to light and to life, and in that, she does not disappoint here. Orsola is a glassmaker on the famous island of Murano, but who struggles with reaching the heights of the men's work, because she "only" makes lampwork beads. The story of Murano is told, too, for 500 years, as Chevalier does so by "skipping" time, like a pebble across water, so that time passes differently for Murano than it does outside the Venice lagoon. Almost plotless, Orsola's story is nonetheless engaging.

A good book about a glassmaking family of Italy. The book touches on several centuries of history , while the family ages in the usual way. This is a bit disconcerting at first but allows a wide range of historical perspective. A good family story that introduces the reader to both the history of glassmaking and the very real history of both Murano and Venice

I’m a big fan of Chevalier’s historical fiction. But the way this one is told initially threw me for a loop. It begins in 1486 with the Rosso family, part of the glass making industry in Murano, outside of Florence. Orsola is the eldest daughter in the family. As expected at that time, she’s not meant to work with glass. But after the tragic death of her father, she begins making glass beads to sell. Now here’s where it gets weird. Fast forward 80 years and the family hasn’t really aged, but they’re now in 1566. Chevalier calls it “time alla Veneziana” and likens it to a stone skipping across water. And so it goes, the story moves along, tracking this same exact family across the centuries. The reader watches them move through multiple centuries. They experience the plague, Venice losing its status as a world trading center, Napoleon conquering Venice, the city becoming first a stop on the Grand Tour and then a present day tourist mecca. Even the acqua grande or flood of 2019 is covered, and the story comes full circle with the Covid “plague” of 2020. I did adjust to this mechanism and it did solve the problem of having to introduce all new characters each chapter. I felt the ending did a great job of tying it all together.
Some characters do die or leave, new characters are introduced. Orsola remains the constant, a woman trying to cope in an industry and world designed initially for men and then for modern industry as opposed to artistry.
If Orsola was the MC, I adored Monica, the fisherman’s daughter smart enough to snag the eldest son, who knew exactly how to manipulate him. As always, Chevalier writes a story that drew me in and kept me engaged. At the beginning of each chapter, she cleverly inserts descriptions of the times to give you a real sense of the era. And she truly takes you into the world of glass making. Chevalier has done her research and it shows throughout the book. As to themes, I appreciated the push and pull of family on each of the characters.
My thanks to Netgalley and Viking Books for an advance copy of this book.

Follows Orsola Rosso, a member of a glass-making family in Murano, through historical events and time. A beautifully written book!

I really enjoyed the history and the plot at the beginning was excellent. Felt like it faltered a bit at the end.

Absolutely adored this book! Set in Murano (an island that's part of Venice, famous for its glassmaking), it's the story of Orsola Rosso. Orsola's family, like most on Murano, are glassmakers, but only men can be glassmakers. When a tragedy overtakes the family and Orsola's brother takes over the family business, Orsola learns to make glass beads, which she can sell to supplement the family income. But she must do it in secret to avoid her brother's wrath. With the help and guidance of a German resident who handles the marketing of the famly's glassware, Orsola becomes quite successful.

Told over time (literally centuries), Orsola, Murano and her family survive plagues, financial disaster and changing times. Orsola is an inspirational character, one that demonstrates the strength of women in a very male dominated world. I'd give this book 10 stars if I could!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a prepublication copy of The Glassmaker in exchange for an honest review..
This epic tale covers an Italian family of glassmakers over the course of 500 years. The unique element of this story is that the characters are the same throughout the centuries, aging at glacier speed. I admit it took a page or two to settle into the new year every time the stone skipped. I spent some time trying to find a reason for it but there isn’t one except that the author used the time-technique to allow the reader the luxury of knowing and caring deeply about the characters.
Centering around a female member, Orsola, of the family, the many and varied blood and married-into family members are fully fleshed-out characters. Each one is descriptively drawn, although the many great grandchildren get a bit confusing. The history of Murano glassmaking is vibrantly described and I learned a great deal about the art. I googled a few dives for photos and maps and historical events. The rise and fall and perseverance of the glassmakers over the centuries made for fascinating reading.
Chevalier has never disappointed me and she certainly didn’t this time. 4.5/5

The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier follows Orsola Rosso, the daughter of a glassmaker in Murano, Italy. After an accident that takes the life of her father. Now in order for the Rosso clan to survive Orsola's older brother Marco must now run the family's workshop. Orsola gets advice from another glassmaker family in Murano. Orsola is taught to make lampwork beads that she sells to make money to help her family out. Marco dismisses her bead work as a waste of time and materials. The family goes through ups and downs spanning centuries The poeple of both Venice and Murano time moves more slowly and the people see the changes that are slowly happening. Orsola has lost the love of her life and only wants to be reunited with him. I was thrown a bit with that timeline of this book because in a span of a century is only a few years in Venice timeline. As with all of Tracy Chevalier's books The Glassmaker is beautifuly written with both the descriptions of the glasswares from both making a goblet and to lampwork beads and also with the description of both Murano and Venice. I am never disappointed with her books. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Viking Publishing for letting me have an advanced copy of this book.

Tracy Chevalier takes the reader on a magical journey through time to Venice and glassblowing families. Follow the Rosso family as the events of our past shape their lives and trade.

The Glassmaker was historical fiction with a time twist that I was not expecting but did enjoy. I loved the author’s description of glass making and could vividly picture the pieces she described. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

The Glassmaker
by Tracy Chevalier
Pub Date: June 18, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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.
I was first introduced over 20 years ago, to Tracy Chevalier's phenomenal novel called, "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Who hasn't heard of that masterpiece? I've read other works by her but that in my mind is my favorite. That iconic work seemed to set the trend for a new trailblazing fiction about art history that is still done today.
It was fascinating to learn the methods of how these stunning works of art were created over the centuries to the present day. They are more available in certain boutiques worldwide but Murano and Venice come alive in this vivid portrait that Tracy Chevalier is so adept at creating a magnificent well researched dazzling new novel. I highly, highly recommend this to everyone.
4 stars

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Random House Publishing for an early copy of The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

Author Tracy Chevalier has created a unique and informative story of glassmaking through the experiences of the Rosso family from the 14th century to present day. in glassmaking center Murano,, Italy (a short gondola ride from Venice). The family ages very little over this span of time, and if any readers are skeptical of the structure of the story, rest assured.. It works beautifully and adds to the reader's understanding of the characters and the work that is such an integral part of their lives.

Orsala Rosso is the main focus of the narrative, growing up on Murano island where her two older brothers are expected to perfect their talents in glassmaking and its products and carry on the family business. But it will be Orsala who will quietly and diligently take on work of her own, will meet with merchants in the trade of glassmaking products, and will keep the family together in times of both poverty and prosperity, She will love and will suffer loss through the centuries.

Chevalier is a master in bringing little-known historical nuances to the world of readers and The Glassmaker can be added to her efforts
in sharing stories so worthy of our time and consideration.