House of Glass
House of Glass
By: Sarah Pekkanen
[Fulfilled ‘Book with a character who has red hair’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
“A suspicious death, a silent child— the blueprint of my childhood is being drawn all over again. Everything I’ve held tightly inside for three decades is jarring loose.”
Pekkanen has co-written books with Greer Hendricks (An Anonymous Girl and The Golden Couple) but this was my first book by just her and I really enjoyed it— probably more than the joint books.
First of all, I think it’s great that I can read a secular psychological thriller and have no swearing or graphic sexual content. The Golden Couple had a lot of f-words so it must be Hendricks’ contribution of the duo and I appreciate that Pekkanen does her own thing.
The joint books both looked at dysfunctional marriage in the context of a therapist character. This book was a little different. There is still a divorce in the plot, but the main character— Stella— is a best-interest lawyer tasked with determining which Barclay should get custody of Rose.
What makes this a psychological thriller is that the family’s nanny (Tina) had recently “fallen” to her death out of the third story window of their house after her affair and pregnancy with Mr. Barclay came to light. It was never determined to be a murder, but both parents and the live-in grandmother were suspects.
Before Stella can report back with what is best for their daughter, Rose, she needs to figure out what happened to the nanny. She can’t send Rose to live with a murderer.
“Every detail of the Barclays’ seven-bedroom home and manicured gardens is flawlessly curated. And every person I’ve encountered here is deeply damaged.”
But things take a turn when Stella notices Rose collecting sharp objects. In fact, her parents have removed all glass from their house. She also discovers Rose is reading a book written about Ted Bundy.
Could Rose actually be behind Tina’s death?
Stella’s own traumatic childhood makes her the perfect person to figure this out. Ever since Tina fell to her death Rose has been mute. Stella, herself, was mute for awhile after she found her mother’s body as a child. She is determined to be an advocate for Rose and not assume the worst about her when she can’t speak for herself.
“Rose is losing everything, just as I did. Her voice is gone. Her family as she knew it has split into fragments. She left her school. Soon she’ll lose her house. Those are the tangible things. She has also lost her joy. her sense of safety has vanished.”
But will her open-mindedness lead her into inescapable danger?
Pekkanen does a really good job of making you second-guess your predictions. I felt like it moved at a faster pace than the joint books and kept my interest the whole time. I also found the main character to be more likeable than the other characters’ books.
Probably my main negative of this book was when— out of nowhere— the author decided that Stella should suddenly be attracted to the female detective that had worked the nanny case.
Stella just finalized her divorce and the author mentions that Stella “had never been attracted to women before” but then out of the blue she comments on the detective’s “knockout smile” and says “She may just be doing her job, but I like it that she seems to care.”
It was so out of left field that I re-read the paragraph multiple times because I thought I was interpreting it wrong. But nope. It felt like Pekkanen, after writing most of the book, suddenly realized she didn’t have an LGBTQ character and decided she needed to add some diversity so she threw it in. It felt very unnecessary.
Why couldn’t she have just been a really good friendship that comes Stella’s way to help her through the difficult divorce and case that that stirred up bad childhood memories. A love interest seems very abrupt and cliche.
This is my second recent book with a mute character. If this type of story interests you, you would probably like Mike Omer’s book called Please Tell Me. It is about a little girl who was kidnapped and then found, but she is now mute and her captors are at large. Using play therapy they try to unlock what really happened to her.
I think it’s interesting to think about that book and this book in light of what I’m currently reading— the non-fiction book by Abigail Shrier called Bad Therapy. It sheds a little different light on the perspective of therapy that is encouraged in both fiction books… well and really any psychological thriller that utilizes the therapist trope.
A couple other random comments:
When Charles comes back for his briefcase of money and she asks him to describe it he says: “Smart of you to check. It’s dark brown. A couple years old.” Considering how much money was left in there, the smart thing would be for her to require more than the most vague description of any briefcase that ever existed.
I am very intrigued by this Nest candle. I love candles. Probably too much. And I can’t imagine spending $80 on a candle. So if you have used Nest candles, please deliver your honest review to me on whether or not these candles are worth buying more than the average candle at Bath and Body Works or Kohls. Please and thank you.
Stella talks about texting 9-1-1 and I had never heard of this. It seems like a helpful but also not helpful thing so I looked it up. It’s only offered in some counties and I downloaded the list but it’s super long and not easy to sort so I have no idea if I can text them where I live. BUT when I looked it up, it also seemed like calling 911 is definitely the better option if you are able.
Recommendation
I definitely recommend this book! I thought it was a really good psychological thriller that kept me guessing. My negative thing was pretty minor and didn’t arise until a decent way through the book.
Paired with the fact that there is no swearing or sexual content, this is a great option for all readers.
I may not read more of their joint books, but I would definitely read more solo Pekkanen books!
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content (other than the reported infidelity); there is an introduction of same-sex attraction 77% through the book]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book just released August 6, 2024. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
Share this book review to your social media!