Tracy Chevalier’s The Glassmaker feels like stepping into a kaleidoscope—colorful, intricate, and timeless. Set on Murano, the island of Venetian glassmakers, this novel captures the lives of the Rosso family, particularly the indomitable Orsola Rosso, whose spirit and skill defy societal expectations. The story opens in 1486, where Orsola longs to craft delicate glass goblets, but as a woman, she’s deemed fit only to make “inconsequential” beads. Those very beads save her family repeatedly as the novel skips through centuries of triumph, loss, and survival. From the Renaissance to plagues, Napoleon’s conquests, and even COVID-19, Chevalier vividly portrays Murano’s changing fortunes and the resilience of the Rosso women. The glassmaking details are […]