Yvonne
This is a meme for all you ‘First Page Browsers’ out there
THE GLASS HOUSE by BEATRICE COLIN
BOOK BEGINNINGS / FIRST LINES
PROLOGUE – ARGYLL, SCOTLAND. JUNE 1911
It was so still on the day of the funeral that you could hear the church bell echo back from the other side of the loch. The light was soft, diffuse, as if the sun itself had been wrapped in a white mourning veil. While fields of wheat whispered consolation to themselves, the hedgerows were filled with the bright shout of buttercups and campion, bluebells and cow parsley. Even in the shade the air was warm. It would be a good year for honey.
CHAPTER ONE – GLASGOW, JUNE 1912
At the taxi rank on Gordon Street there was a small queue: three old ladies who fussed over a cat in a basket, a man with a wooden cane that he tapped on the curb to some music he alone could hear, and a woman and a young girl with a trolley stacked high with bags and suitcases.
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So, you have taken a look, would you read the book?
Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Just to give you an extra helping hand, here is a reminder of the book’s premise.
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THE GLASS HOUSE
Scotland, 1912. Antonia McCulloch’s life hasn’t gone the way she planned. She and her husband, Malcolm, have drifted apart; her burgeoning art career came to nothing; and when she looks in the mirror, she sees disappointment. But at least she will always have Balmarra, her family’s grand Scottish estate, and its exquisite glass house, filled with exotic plants that can take her far away.
When her estranged brother’s wife, Cicely Pick, arrives unannounced, with her young daughter and enough trunks to last the summer, Antonia is instantly suspicious. What besides an inheritance dispute could have brought her glamorous sister-in-law all the way from India? Still, Cicely introduces excitement and intrigue into Antonia’s life, and, as they get to know one another, Antonia realizes that Cicely has her own burdens to bear. Slowly, a fragile friendship grows between them.
But when the secrets each are keeping become too explosive to conceal, the truth threatens their uneasy balance and the course of their entire lives.
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You might also like to visit Gilion, over at ‘Rose City Reader‘, where you can share links to the book beginnings from her own reading schedule, and that of many of our fellow bloggers.
There are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.
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I remember being drawn to this one when you introduced it in an earlier post. Now that I’ve sampled the writing, it appeals even more! The prologue and the first chapter are so descriptive, I definitely want to keep reading.
Hi Kelly,
If you thought those few lines were descriptive enough to grab your attention, then this is one which should be on your TBR list.
It came up as a ‘Read Now’ option on NetGalley and since I clicked the download button, I have been into Goodreads and added all of Beatrice’s other books to my ‘Want To Read’ list, as they all sound just as good.
It is such a shame that Beatrice never really got to see the success of ‘The Glass House’ as it was the last book she wrote before her sad passing in 2019. The final edit for the book was one of her last tasks completed.
I hope you decide to read it one day! 🙂
I do love the descriptions that set the scenes and reel me in. Thanks for sharing, and here’s mine: “THE LIBRARY OF LOST AND FOUND”
Hi Lorraine,
I like books with a setting which lends itself to some good descriptive writing, and this story, set in Scotland, does just that! There is plenty of intrigue as well, so it’s a win, win situation!
Thanks for stopping by and have a peaceful weekend 🙂
I’m adding this book to my TBR list. I’m drawn to books set in Scotland, where my mother was born.
Hi Catherine,
I too like to read books which have a meaning for me, either in the place they are set, or because the author lives close by. It makes it all seem more personal somehow, even though that is only an illusion!
Failing that, I also enjoy a book set in a ‘real’ place, so that I can research and lose myself for a few moments, in strange new places and cultures.
I am pleased that this one tempted you enough to add it to your TBR, I don’t think you will be disappointed 🙂
This looks lovely. My attention span has unfortunately evaporated this year, so I’d need something to have a bit more of a hook for me to pick it up right now.
It is lovely and descriptive, with quite a bit of intrigue and the inevitable romantic twist – but everything is a little out of the ordinary, so there might be enough of a hook to keep you interested!
Since I have been home for so long now, I have started taking on more and more review tours for publishers and publicists, but I have to admit that it is a bit of a struggle to concentrate sometimes!
I am not a fan of this ‘new normal’, I quite liked the old!!
Thanks for stopping by, it has been great to ‘virtually’ meet you and have a good weekend 🙂
I like the description of the book. The teasers both had things in them that startled me — honey in the first and a cat in a basket in the taxi line in the second. Not that honey and cats are unusual, I just wasn’t expecting either in the context of those scenes. Sometimes little details can make a story interesting. Sometimes they are just distracting. I’d have to keep reading to see if I could get into her way of writing.
Hi Gilion,
The writing is really descriptive like this, all the way through. Given that we are talking about a story set in the early 1900s, I found that to be a great bonus in really setting the scene, helping to define the characters and drawing me into the storyline.
Thanks for hosting, I always look forward to the weeks when I have a book to share in this meme 🙂