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Published Apr 2012
432 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Katherine Howe, author of the "magical" debut novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, returns with the mesmerizing The House of Velvet and Glass. The year is 1915 and Sybil is living a quiet life of desperation with her father and wastrel brother in an elegant townhouse by the river in Boston, but they are still reeling from the deaths of Sibyl's mother and sister on the Titanic. Sibyl has reluctantly settled into the role of the head of household after her mother's death, but feels as if much of the world is passing her by.
Sybil is drawn into visits to a table-turning medium, where she tries to make contact with her lost relatives in the afterworld. She then encounters Ben, an old family friend who lost his first wife to illness, and to whom Sybil was attracted years ago. As Ben and Sibyl must work together to solve a harrowing mystery, the long-simmering spark reignites, and they realize that there may be something more magical between them than a crystal ball on a medium's table.
From the opium dens of Boston's Chinatown to the upscale salons of high society to the decks of the Titanic, The House of Velvet and Glass combines meticulously executed period detail, a compelling romance, and a shocking twist at the end in a fantastic novel that will thrill the readers who discovered Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.
"An engaging story of love, destiny, and sacrifice in the growing shadow of WWI, with the unexpected touch of fantasy." - Publishers Weekly
"Reading more as historical fiction with bits of mysticism thrown in, this release should satisfy undiscriminating historical fiction readers, specifically those interested in the early 20th century. Recommended for fans of Tracy Chevalier and Diana Gabaldon." - Library Journal
"The slightly sordid melodrama and para-psychological philosophizing lean uncomfortably against a sappy romance." - Kirkus Reviews
"The House of Velvet and Glass is an intricate and intimate family drama, artfully spanning the seamy underworld of colonialist Shanghai, the wreck of the opulent but tragically fated Titanic, and the veiled world of upper-crust Boston delvers into divination and mysticism in the uneasy days preceding the Great War. With subtle threads interwoven throughout the lives of Sibyl Allston and her loved ones, Howe unveils a dark mystery that challenges her protagonist's perceptions of love and bravery, science and augury, death and honor, choice and Fate. Altogether a beautifully crafted saga exploring the curse of the seer and the courage that freedom ultimately requires." - Lyndsay Faye, author of Dust and Shadow
"Katherine Howe follows up her amazing debut with The House of Velvet and Glass, a thoughtful journey into the realms of the supernatural that inhabits its source material with effortless ease and charm. A totally absorbing read peopled with characters who will haunt readers' minds." - David Liss, author of The Twelfth Enchantment
This information about The House of Velvet and 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.
Katherine Howe is the New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The House of Velvet and Glass, and Conversion. She has hosted "Salem: Unmasking the Devil" for the National Geographic Channel, and her fiction has been translated into over twenty-five languages. A native Texan, she lives in New England and upstate New York, where she teaches at Cornell and is at work on her next novel.
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