Glamour in Glass - (Glamourist Histories) by Mary Robinette Kowal (Paperback)

About the Book

A fine Austen-esque adventure in war time from the acclaimed author of Nebula Award nominee Shades of Milk and Honey

Book Synopsis

Mary Robinette Kowal stunned readers with her charming first novel Shades of Milk and Honey, a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence.

This magic comes in the form of glamour, which allows talented users to form practically any illusion they can imagine. Shades debuted to great acclaim and left readers eagerly awaiting its sequel.

Glamour in Glass follows the lives of beloved main characters Jane and Vincent, with a much deeper vein of drama and intrigue.

In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent's concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon...to escaping it.

Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison...and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country's war.

Review Quotes

"The setting and the intricate techniques of glamour manipulation continue to intrigue, and the thoughtful portrayal of the difficulties of Jane and Vincent's affectionately nontraditional partnership is thoroughly engaging." --Publishers Weekly

"This is a wonderful book. Kowal has taken such care grounding her story in the time and place in which it's set that the addition of magic is truly seamless. Jane is a superb heroine." --RT Book Reviews

"Prepare to settle in and snuggle up in your comfiest chair; once you start reading, you won't want to stop." --Library Journal

"Will appeal to fans of Jane Austen, Jane Yolen, Patricia Wrede, Susanna Clarke, and even Jasper Fforde." --Library Journal on Shades of Milk and Honey

"Kowal sets her own mark on this kind of comedy of manners and creates a low-key and witty debut novel, one that succeeds through understated humor and sprightly prose, rather than through absurd juxtapositions of the historical and the supernatural." --San Francisco Chronicle on Shades of Milk and Honey

"Shades of Milk and Honey could easily fit into Austen's canon, except of course for the inclusion of magic. Kowal has captured both the style and content of an Austen novel, adding her own speculative fiction twist...hits all the high points of Austen's dialogue and plotting while still having its own identity." --The Jane Austen Center on Shades of Milk and Honey

"If Jane Austen had written a fantasy novel, [this] would have been the result. Written with painstaking attention to detail, Kowal's prose is serenely evocative of the time period, and the fantastic elements are a seamless fit. The characterization is extremely well done and Jane is a sympathetic, strong and intelligent heroine whose devotion to her family trumps nearly every other concern." --RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick!, Seal of Excellence winner on Shades of Milk and Honey

"A lovely, smart, strange novel with everything on earth (and elsewhere) to recommend it. Smoothly crafted with a flair for romance and mystery, this story is one part meticulous manners and one part wild magic--composing a whole that's utterly irresistible." --Cherie Priest on Shades of Milk and Honey

"A beautiful, lyrical, tightly woven meld of Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, and Beauty and the Beast--I couldn't put it down!" --Lilith Saintcrow on Shades of Milk and Honey

"Simply enchanting, and another great advance in an already impressive literary career. You're going to love this." --John Scalzi on Shades of Milk and Honey

About the Author

MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL was the 2008 recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and a Hugo winner for her story "For Want of a Nail." Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, and several Year's Best anthologies. She also writes the Glamourist History series, which began with Shades of Milk and Honey. A professional puppeteer and voice actor, she spent five years touring nationally with puppet theaters. She lives in Chicago with her husband Rob and many manual typewriters.