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Loading... The Girl in the Glass: A Novel (original 2005; edition 2005)by Jeffrey Ford
Work InformationThe Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford (2005)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed every bit of this book. As I seem to do more than I should I found this book from, I believe BookBub because the cover caught my eye and then the synopsis sounded interesting so I downloaded it. This book delivers on all levels. Whether you are looking for a fun mystery, a depression era historical fiction, racial / social equality, carnival con men. This book covers all of these subjects and more and keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can. The plot is well paced and the characters are deep, real, and full of life. I recommend this book for a book club read because of all the different topics Mr. Ford touches on throughout his story. Your group will find a lot to talk about. And if your group is like mine and enjoys a theme for their get together this one will give you great ideas! I didn't want to stop reading to look up some of the subject matter he describes but will be perusing the internet a bit after I finish my review! So, back to that cover...I would think about it every once in awhile and wonder why the publisher chose that image for the cover because it never really ever fit the story. I could have thought of several other themes to choose from. I expected a whole different kind of story than what I found. A great read never the less. I will be reading more from Jeffrey Ford. After a little bit of initial resistance, I really ended up liking this a lot. Its a well told and nicely crafted tale about a group of spiritualist grifters working the inhabitants of the mansions of Long Island during the Great Depression. Like other tales of this era - Paper Moon, The Sting, Bonnie and Clyde even, its an open question whether the grifters or the solid citizens are the greater crooks. I liked the characters a lot, and there were some wonderfully resonant images here. Also I very much liked the thread of weirdness that runs through the fabric of the tale, just a little glitter here and a sparkle there. This is not a story that goes to strange worlds except in so far as the past is another world, but it does carry a slight flavor of otherness. It wouldn't entirely surprise me if the smelly stuffed crocodile amidst the curiosities on display in the corner of some overdecorated parlor winked a cynical eye before returning to immobility as if he never left it. no reviews | add a review
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The Great Depression has bound a nation in despair -- and only a privileged few have risen above it: the exorbitantly wealthy ... and the hucksters who feed upon them. Diego, a seventeen-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant, owes his salvation to master grifter Thomas Schell. Together with Schell's gruff and powerful partner, they sail comfortably through hard times, scamming New York's grieving rich with elaborate, ingeniously staged séances -- until an impossible occurrence changes everything. While "communing with spirits," Schell sees an image of a young girl in a pane of glass, silently entreating the con man for help. Though well aware that his otherworldly "powers" are a sham, Schell inexplicably offers his services to help find the lost child -- drawing Diego along with him into a tangled maze of deadly secrets and terrible experimentation. At once a hypnotically compelling mystery and a stunningly evocative portrait of Depression-era New York, The Girl in the Glass is a masterly literary adventure from a writer of exemplary vision and skill. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Not that any of that could be gleaned from the book's inappropriate cover and packaging. At first glance, the novel appears to be what the publishing world dubs "Women's Fiction," a nice, staid novel that will only appeal to suburban mothers. This couldn't be further from the truth. The real con of The Girl in the Glass is the one that the publisher is trying to put over on the reading public. Ford weaves a complex plot that explores the nature of evil and the strength of family through the lens of a good mystery. While traversing disparate elements, the author manages to keep the story grounded in reality, never once veering off into the absurd. His portrait of Depression-era Long Island is both provocative and enchanting. Ford's characters and situations, while often unique, are familiar, as though they are from some unremembered communal past. I felt their pain, fear, anxiousness, and joy. Like all good cons, The Girl in the Glass is more than it appears. Beneath the surface of Jeffrey Ford's lyrical prose is a truth for all of us.
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, August 12, 2005.)
Link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid:284201] ( )