Thanks to Tough Poets Press and NetGalley for this ARC of 'Glass Century' by Ross Barkan.

This is the kind of book I really love. A big, sweeping novel that spans generations and presents the ever-changing New York City (and US) through the focus of a small and interconnected set of characters.

Beginning in the early 1970s and continuing through Covid and its aftermath in the early 2020s the narrative hangs on the extra-marital relationship between Mona and Saul and brings in a tight group of friends and family and the story is woven in around their professional and private lives and experiences. Although I didn't live there in the 70s I did live in NYC in the late 80s, 90s, and 2000s and I felt that the people, places, and experiences were really well drawn and believable.

The Twin Towers of the WTC are characters in their own right throughout the novel through their existence and then their absence and play a crucial role that you begin so see coming as the author teases the strands of the story together.

It's a very New York novel and, for me, that's always a good thing. I could see this being a superb streaming service series.

Congratulations to the publisher and author and, coming from a small independent press, I hope this book gets the attention it deserves.