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  • Published: 3 December 2019
  • ISBN: 9781405934619
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $30.00

The Glass Woman




Rich in character and description, The Glass Woman is an atmospheric debut about superstitions and everything they conceal

1686, Iceland.

Betrothed unexpectedly to Jon Eriksson, Rosa travels to the isolated, windswept village of Stykkisholmur. Here, the villagers are suspicious of outsiders - especially one from the everdark edge of civilisation.

But Rosa harbours her own suspicions. Her husband buried his first wife alone in the dead of night.

He will not talk of it. Instead he gives her a small glass figurine. She does not know what it signifies.

The villagers look on them both not only with suspicion - but dread. They whisper dark threats. There is an evil here - she can feel it. Alone and far from home, Rosa sees the darkness coming. She fears she will be its next victim . . .

  • Published: 3 December 2019
  • ISBN: 9781405934619
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $30.00

About the author

Caroline Lea

Caroline Lea grew up on the island of Jersey. The Glass Woman, her debut, is a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials. The Metal Heart, a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month, is an epic Second World War love story; Prize Women reveals a feminist scandal at the heart of the roaring 20s. Her latest novel reimagines Mary Shelley and the writing of Frankenstein.

Also by Caroline Lea

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Praise for The Glass Woman

Tells the tale of the Icelandic witch trials

Red

Memorable and compelling. A novel about what haunts us - and what should

Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year 'Ghost Wall'

A perfect, gripping winter read. I loved it

Sophie Mackintosh, Man Booker longlisted author of 'The Water Cure'

Utterly unputdownable. Rich in superstition and mystery, it pulled me in. An incredible novel

Ali Land, author of Sunday Times Bestselling 'Good Me Bad Me'

Haunting, evocative and utterly compelling. The beautifully drawn narrative transports the reader to a time and place steeped in mystery and superstition, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Stunning

Tracy Borman, author of 'The King's Witch'

Like a ghost story told around a winter fire, The Glass Woman is taut, haunting, and broodingly tense. Playing out against the harsh backdrop of the Icelandic winter, it kept me hooked all the way to the end

Tim Leach, author of The Times Book of the Year 'Smile of the Wolf'

Tremendous. Atmospheric and beautifully wrought, The Glass Woman is both chilling and beguiling

Elizabeth Fremantle

Suspenseful, gripping and beautifully drawn

Cecilia Ekbäck, author of 'Wolf Winter'

A chilling tale

Good Housekeeping

Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting, this is a stark evocation of a community where fear of the outsider is rife and unsettling

Daily Mail

A fantastic, atmospheric debut

The Times

The eerie opening brilliantly sets the scene for a suspenseful read. A tremor cracks open an ice floe and an arm appears, plunging the reader into a harsh landscape and a world of suspicions and secrets

Sunday Express

Is this some Icelandic version of Jane Eyre in which a madwoman lurks in the attic? Or do ghosts haunt the household? In a sense they do, although the truth Rosa eventually uncovers in this compelling, atmospheric novel are more material and more disturbing than her imaginings

Sunday Times

A tense, Iceland-set thriller

Sunday Post

Lea draws upon Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Bluebeard to create an eerie, unsettling atmosphere ... Full of promise, and I look forward to reading more from Lea

Daily Telegraph

This evocative debut is compelling with a brilliant twist

Daily Express

A gorgeous book about the power of stories that makes the landscape of Iceland as powerful a character as any of the humans

Sarah Shaffi, PHOENIX

An enthralling tale of the Icelandic witch trials

Stacey Halls, bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS

Crackles with tension. Moving and atmospheric, I couldn't put it down

Laura Purcell, author of THE SILENT COMPANIONS and THE CORSET

A gothic novel for a cold climate. Mesmerising

Elly Griffiths, author of THE STRANGER DIARIES

Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful

Sara Collins, author of THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON

A haunting novel that delivers chills. THE GLASS WOMAN is charged with the dark energy of the Icelandic Sagas

Kirkus Reviews

Mystery and potential danger linger throughout, and with its dreamy prose THE GLASS WOMAN satisfies readers with the ways of an old world

Publisher’s Weekly

A chilling and enthralling telling of the Icelandic witch trials. Not only beautifully drawn but poignant, evocative and fascinating. A haunting gothic tale'

Historia

A rare look at male witch trials, set in Iceland

Guardian

Compelling, atmospheric

The Times

Eerie and atmospheric

Daily Telegraph