The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin
A book review
The Secret of the Glass is one of a relatively small number of novels set in the Republic of Venice during the early seventeenth century, a fascinating time and place. No longer the maritime power it had once been, Venice remained jealous of its status as merchant to the world. The renowned Venetian glassmakers were subject to restrictive laws designed to preserve the secrets of Venetian glassmaking for Venice alone, including a requirement that all glassmakers live and work on the Island of Murano.
As The Secret of the Glass opens, news arrives for Zeno and his daughter who is secretly learning the art of glassmaking under his tutelage: three glassmakers have been killed as they attempted to leave Venice. For Sophia, their fate is soon overshadowed by other news: a wealthy Venetian aristocrat wishes to marry her and cannot safely be refused. While attending a party with this cold man, whose only interest in her is the wealth from her family's glassworks, she meets a younger, more attractive man and is soon smitten. Also making an appearance in the story is the Venetian scientist Galileo, who hires Zeno's glassworks to make lenses for a new invention he has in mind.
Part historical romance, part political thriller, The Secret of the Glass never quite gels into a cohesive story. Its narrative style, as opulent as Venice's architecture, is stuffed with Italian words, alliteration (Sophia knocks over a pile of metal trays in a "banging barrage of bombilation"), and exaggerated similes (words that "felt like pieces of half-masticated food stuck in her mouth"). But interesting historical tidbits abound, from the story behind Galileo's telescope to the tale of Doge Donato, a man of modest means unable to maintain the custom of scattering a lavish abundance of coins during his inauguration procession, so "the popolani had tossed snowballs at him in return." (2010; 408 pages, including an Epilogue discussing the history behind the novel, a Bibliography, and a Reading Group Guide)