The Glass Forest - by Cynthia Swanson (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller comes a gripping literary suspense novel set in the 1960s about a deeply troubled family and three women who will reveal its dark truths. In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At twenty-one, she's married to charming, handsome Paul, and has just given birth to a baby boy. But one phone call changes her life forever. When Paul's niece, Ruby, reports that her father, Henry, has committed suicide, and that her mother, Silja, is missing, Angie and Paul drop everything and fly to the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York to be by Ruby's side. Angie thinks they're coming to the rescue of Paul's grief-stricken young niece, but Ruby is a composed and enigmatic seventeen-year-old who resists Angie's attempts to nurture her. As Angie learns more about the complicated Glass family, staying in Henry and Silja's eerie and ultra-modern house on the edge of the woods, she begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage. Through Silja's flashbacks, Angie's discovery of astonishing truths, and Ruby's strategic dissection of her parents' state of affairs, a story of love, secrets, and ultimate betrayal is revealed"--

Book Synopsis

The lives of three very different women intersect in shocking ways in this "outstanding psychological thriller" (Library Journal, starred review), by the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller.In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At twenty-one, she's married to handsome, charming Paul, and has just given birth to a baby boy. But one phone call changes her life forever. When Paul's niece, Ruby, tells them that her father, Henry, has committed suicide and her mother, Silja, has gone missing, the newlyweds drop everything to be by Ruby's side in the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York. Angie thinks they're coming to the rescue of Paul's grief-stricken young niece, but seventeen-year-old Ruby, self-possessed and enigmatic, resists Angie's attempts to nurture her. While taking up residence in Henry and Silja's eerie, ultra-modern house on the edge of the woods, Angie discovers astonishing truths about the complicated Glass family. As she learns about Henry and Silja's spiraling relationship, and Ruby's role in keeping them together, and apart, Angie begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage. As details of the past unfold and Ruby dissects her parents' state of affairs, the Glass women realize what they're capable of when it comes to love, secrets, and ultimate betrayal. As turbulent and electrified as the period it's set in, The Glass Forest is an "intoxicating slow burn [that] builds to a conclusion rife with shocking reveals." (Publishers Weekly)

Review Quotes

The mystery in The Glass Forest is a solid whodunnit, but this novel is so much more. It's both an atmospheric suspense and a gripping multi-generational saga, all infused with the bleak desperation of the post-war era. Brazen and courageous heroines show, with unflinching honesty, the ugly sexism that could fester inside a mid-century marriage. A rich and unforgettable read!