“Sharp and shattering” ~ Sheila
When a young Nanny plunged to her death from a 3rd floor window of the Barklay home where she worked… speculation abounded.
Was it an accident?
Was it suicide?
Or was she pushed?
All three are probable – but which is true?
Nine-year-old Rose Barklay was in the garden with her grandmother when they heard the sound of breaking glass. Traumatized by what she saw, already dealing with the stress of her parents’ pending divorce and custody battle, Rose has stopped speaking.
Stella Hudson is a Best Interest Attorney, hired to serve as counsel in determining which parent, Rose, will be best suited to live with. Having her own childhood trauma makes Stella particularly good at her job, as she knows how important these decisions are.
But Stella is in for a particularly tough time surrounding the circumstances of the nanny’s unsolved case, and once she passes through the security gate of Ian and Beth Barklay’s historical DC home, she realizes that this family is even more troubled than she anticipated. The entire home does not have one piece of glass in it – not the windows, not the dishes, not the picture frames… nothing. Stemming from Beth’s own trauma of the incident, rendering her with Nelophobia.
As Stella digs in, she is discovering secrets that the Barclay family is desperate to hide, leaving what happened to the nanny wide open on possibilities – was it the Nanny’s boyfriend, who was bitter about a possible breakup? Or was it the father? The mother? The Grandmother? Or even Rose herself?
Is the person she is there to protect – the one who should be protected from?
Sarah and I, Book Expo in New York, 2011
So here is why I LOVE Sarah Pekkanen. WAY back in 2010 – I entered a drawing she was hosting and WON my trip to New York City ot the Book Expo that year. She paid my flight, and my hotel – AND we toured Simon and Schuster together. (IF you are a long-time reader of mine, you know this is where I SQUUUUUEEE)
Moving forward, Sarah was one of the authors who said yes to the first year we hosted Wine and Words – the author event in Central Minnesota. She has been here twice now and was also a sweet advocate during the loss of my son in 2015.
Back in 2010, Sarah was writing a different style of book, more contemporary fiction. The Opposite of Me was my first read of hers. Then I read Skipping a Beat and These Girls. (All of which grace my library shelves to this day) AND – I can go on and on – enter Sarah’s name in the search bar here, and you will find all of my reviews.
What is cool is that in more recent years she has become more of the psychological thriller type of writer, and it is soooo fun to say I knew her when…. 🙂
House of Glass was crazy good. There is so much going on – and as you dig in, you find that everyone has a secret ….everyone has a motive that could make them the cause of the Nanny’s fall. And while all this is going on – you are also learning Stella’s back story and her own unresolved trauma…. enough so that you wonder if perhaps Stella will show up in a future Pekkanen book….
Inquiring minds want to know!
Overall – a good creepy thriller… I had no idea who did it – there were so many ways this could have gone and any one of them would have been legit.
Rated: 4 out of 5
Read Author Before: Yes
Read Author Again: You Bet
Where Read: Georgia – on our way home from Florida by RV
Bookclub Worthy: Yes! There is a lot of detective work we can flesh out – almost building your own crime scene board…. the “Who did it and the motives” A whole glass-free meeting would be fun as well… pulling food items such as Pizza and Nachos ( comfort foods during meetings between Stella and Rose) – also Tea, Wine
Book Journey 