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ClareR (6238 KP) rated The Glassmaker in Books

Sep 2, 2025  
The Glassmaker
The Glassmaker
Tracy Chevalier | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This imaginative story begins in Murano, 1486 at the height of the Italian Renaissance, and ends in the modern day - and all with the same characters. And the thing is, never at any point did I feel that it was far fetched.

Murano comes across as a magical place, both in its ability to make beautiful pieces of art from glass, and also its ability to keep those who live there in a kind of time warp or stasis. If you live on Murano, you don’t age.

Such is the case with the main character, Orsola Rosso.

We join her family when she is 9 years old and her father dies suddenly. Her brother struggles with the responsibility and skills needed to run the business - that is until a rival matriarch teaches the Rosso women (via Orsola) how to make glass beads.

I loved how real people from history were brought into the story (Casanova and Josephine Bonaparte, amongst others), and how when time jumped hundreds of years, Orsola only aged a few in that time. We see how Italy changes over time, how it modernises and how climate change endangers both lives and livelihoods.

The story and characters felt as vibrant as the glass beads. This was such a refreshing, different read. Just outstanding 🤷🏼‍♀️
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated Michelangelo's Ghost (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, #4) in Books

Feb 4, 2026  
Michelangelo's Ghost (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, #4)
Michelangelo's Ghost (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, #4)
Gigi Pandian | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jaya’s on the Trail of an Obscure Italian Painter
Jaya Jones has gotten a tantalizing email from an old mentor. Dr. Lilith Vine has found an obscure Renaissance artist she thinks was not only a protege of Michelangelo, but someone who traveled to India, incorporating that culture into his work. His name and work have been lost to history, but Jaya can’t help but be intrigued at the possibility. After a death under suspicious – at least to Jaya – circumstances, she travels to Italy in hopes of finding the man’s long-lost work. But can she find a centuries old trail?

I let too long go between reading books in this series, but it was nice to be back in Jaya’s presence. The story grabbed me quickly and I was hooked the entire way through. This is different from a typical murder mystery, and I was on board for it. I loved how it all came together at the end and how some clues had been woven in early. The characters were interesting, and I need to read more soon to find out about what happens next to them. Fans of the author’s new Secret Staircase series will enjoy some references to those characters thanks to a crossover character. This is a fun book that will keep the pages turning.