Book Review: The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson

 

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Content Warning: murder, violence, death, domestic abuse (primarily verbal and emotional), incest, references to sexual assault, racism, misogyny.

It's 1960. Angie Glass is only 21, and has the perfect life: a beautiful cottage close to family, a charming artist husband, Paul, and a sweet newborn baby. When Paul receives a call from his niece, Ruby, that her father is dead and her mother has run off, Paul knows he has to go and figure out what's going on. Angie, of course, wants to go too -- it's a perfect opportunity for her to not only support Paul in a time of need, but also get to know Ruby better. And, perhaps, discover some new things about her husband's family. Things she might not like.

It isn't every day that one stumbles across an exquisitely done slow-burn mystery. This is a novel I've run across several times, and always found intriguing, but never picked up. I decided that it was time to finally give it a chance, particularly since I adore historical mysteries and this one is set in an oft-ignored time period. Let me say this: I am so, so glad I did.

Told from three perspectives, each of them equally powerful, Swanson slowly begins to reveal a plethora of ever darker family secrets. It's an almost-contemporary Gothic, replete with a house full to the brim with sinister atmosphere, although this one isn't quite the crumbling Victorian mansion we're used to. Instead, it's ultramodern, with huge panes of glass staring out into the dark forest that surrounds it. I think the house is just as important to the story as its cast of characters, with its heavy tension and the way it tells Angie so much about its inhabitants. 

The three main characters -- Ruby, her mother Silja, and Angie -- were all fascinating in their own right, but it's Ruby who really pulls everything together. She's a force of nature, truly unforgettable in her quiet intelligence. One of the things that really pulled this together for me was that none of the twists in the plot felt out of the blue, but instead the result of Swanson slowly putting this puzzle together for us, piece by piece by piece.

The only reason I didn't give this novel the full five stars is simply because I think that sometimes it had a tendency to meander. While it's meant to be slow, and the last act in particular is wonderfully satisfying, there were moments where I thought that we would've benefitted from it all being a bit sped up.

In the end, though, this book is perfect for fans of Gothics, and it's one I highly recommend, especially if you like complex female characters. When people say a book is unputdownable, this is what they mean!