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Published Aug 2018
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Janet McNally's imaginative story of sisterhood shows that the fiercest of loves are often the ones that exist outside of happily-ever-afters.
GIRLS IN TROUBLE. That's what Sylvie Blake's older sister Julia renamed their favorite fairy tale book, way back when they were just girls themselves. Now Julia has disappeared - and no one knows for sure if she wants to be away, or if she's the one in trouble.
Then a copy of their old storybook arrives with a mysterious list inside, and Sylvie begins to see signs of her sister, and their favorite fairy tales, everywhere she goes.
With the help of her best friend's enigmatic brother and his beat-up car, Sylvie sets out to follow the strange signs right to Julia and return to New York with her in tow. But trouble comes in lots of forms - and Sylvie soon learns that the damsel in distress is often the only one who can save herself.
"Starred Review. McNally's vivid imagery and exquisite, poetic language - with an ever so slightly sinister undercurrent - weave shimmering, slow-building tension throughout. This ode to sisterhood and strength leads up to an unexpected and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. Grades 7-10." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Similar in concept, though softer in tone, to Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood... A bittersweet modern fairy tale, tinged with magical realism, that will touch hearts." - Booklist
"Janet McNally's The Looking Glass is gossamer woven with gold and glass: a fairytale of a novel rooted in the heart of real life. An absolute beauty of a read." - Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
"A poignant, beautifully-woven story, The Looking Glass explores all the complexities of love, loss, family, and healing, as we follow one girl on a powerful journey of self-discovery." - Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be
"Reading this book feels like standing in a sunbeam and watching the dust glitter. McNally transforms the mundane into the extraordinary, expertly pairs life's bitter with its sweet, and coaxes her readers into a world they won't soon want to leave. The Looking Glass is pure delight." - Emily Henry, author of The Love That Split the World
"Janet McNally's writing glows like your best memory, sensuous and alive with moonlight and the smell of flowers." - Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
"A lyrical and heartfelt tale of love, family, and self-discovery that will sweep you up in its magic right from the very first page." - Caleb Roehrig, author of Last Seen Leaving
"Much like her ballerina heroine, Janet McNally makes her effervescent writing seem effortless. But there's grit beneath the glitter of this charming road-trip fairytale. Stock up on highlighters: you'll want to underline every perfect sentence." - Harriet Reuter Hapgood, author of The Square Root of Summer
This information about The Looking Glass was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Janet McNally is the author of the novels The Looking Glass and Girls in the Moon, as well as a prizewinning collection of poems, Some Girls. She has an MFA from the University of Notre Dame, and her stories and poems have been published widely in magazines. She has twice been a fiction fellow with the New York Foundation for the Arts. Janet lives in Buffalo, New York, with her husband and three little girls, in a house full of records and books, and teaches creative writing at Canisius College. You can visit her online at www.janetmmcnally.com.
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