It’s A Small World

The Glass House by Eve Chase is a powerful dual timeline novel that I adored and read it in just one sitting. It is set in present day and alternates with 1971 as we witness the action from various points of view.

We follow a family with a nanny. It is a dysfunctional family on so many levels but the nanny is a stabilising influence.

Nature is important. Being located in a wood is far better than busy London streets.

We see the strain that the loss of a baby has on a mother. She is hospitalised for a month in an institution in 1971. There are women who have been interred for decades without visitors. It was barbaric.

People tiptoe around the grieving mother. Only one character mentions the baby. “Thank you… for acknowledging my baby existed. Not many people do.” In order to heal, we need to grieve.

The nanny is very maternal, bringing out the best of those within her care. We learn that “I wanted her only exposed to life’s honey, not its’ sting, naively believing I could curate her world, sugarcoat it.” Children should be protected but life can be hard.

As the book progresses and we alternate the decades, the reader begins to join the dots as we realise just what a small world it is.

Eve Chase has created a fabulous plotline with realistic characters. I look forward to reading more by her.

JULIA WILSON