Product Description

It's the winter of 1860 when Richard Allen, a young curate, travels to a small hamlet outside Hereford to take up his first position. It's in this quiet place of wind and trees, birds and water that Richard is to fall passionately in love - but he cannot find fulfilment, for his lover is Susannah Beddoes, the wife of the vicar of his new parish. As Richard's feelings challenge him to his core, he develops a strange relationship with another woman, the solitary and eccentric Edith Clare. Against the backdrop of immense social and industrial change, the consequences of Richard and Susannah's affair are dramatic as they - as well as Oliver Beddoes - grapple with doubt and what it means to lose faith when the great certainties are in question. And throughout it all, the crossing-keeper's daughter Alice Birley - an observer of incidents and events she does not fully understand - has her own part to play...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98968 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Shena Mackay, Observer
‘Profound and lyrical, it's full of light and darkness and the most marvellous description’

Review
‘This is the work of somebody profoundly connected to the countryside. The Mysteries of Glass casts its own spell, which is the essential requirement of a novel’ (Daily Telegraph )

‘Written with the delicate fluency of a storyteller utterly at ease with her craft' (Times Literary Supplement )

‘Her work is so good it is unforgettable... Gee’s books may be unashamedly romantic and sensual, but they are also so sparely written that the economy of her writing is often breathtaking... a beautiful, redemptive book’ Jackie McGlone, Glasgow Herald (Jackie McGlone, Glasgow Herald )

‘This exquisitely written novel transports you to the simple beauty, poignancy and hypocrisy of the Victorian era in a way that makes you feel you've been there. I cannot recommend it highly enough’ (Katie Fforde )

‘Profound and lyrical, it’s full of light and darkness and the most marvellous description’ (Shena Mackay, Observer )

Katie Fforde
‘This exquisitely written novel transports you to the simple beauty, poignancy and hypocrisy of the Victorian era'

Customer Reviews

Wonderfully unputdownable!
I loved this book! I found it a wonderful demonstration of how everyday events are by far the most magical. The main characters are intensely memorable in their conciousness of the relationship that is forming between them, against all proper codes of conduct in 19th Century Britain - it illustrates perfectly that we do not choose who we love.. There are some books I guard carefully and this will certainly be one of them.

Beautiful, lyrical story of restrained love and old-fashioned values.
Sue Gee has created here a love story with true depth of feeling, displaying the sometimes darker side of country life in Victorian England. A melody of prose surrounds her central character, a young curate sent to assist an ailing vicar at a Herefordshire parish in the winter of 1860.

The young Richard Allen, still mourning his father's recent death, displays a genuine love for his God, his family whom he has left behind, the rural community he is to serve, and the countryside around his new basic and rustic home. However, all of his simple and profound ideals are challenged when he falls helplessly in love with a young married woman of important social standing. There is a wonderful purity and innocence to this love, and yet the young curate clearly also has a geniune talent for his vocation serving God... a very difficult predicament to be in and you can only feel sympathy for this young idealistic man.

The story is beautifully told; a compelling read. You cannot rush this book - you simply have to go with it at its own pace and I slowed my, usually quick, reading pace to appreciate this novel at its best. So much more than just another historical romance, I can recommended this novel highly.

The Mysteries of Glass
Sue describes local characteristics of border life with charm and a careful eye. Her setting today is an unspoilt valley, yet her narrative transports you to the period of industrial and emotional change that it was in the 1860's. She has unexpectedly highlighted a rare anomaly in the modern world. Where once there was industry there is now tranquility and calm - a setting which has moved in reverse. This is a gentle read that soothes the soul, and reminds us that bereavement, escape and the anguishes of a divided heart are not unique to us, but are the subjects borne by generations that went before in an often troubled world.