Excerpt from Glassworks by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

But Agnes was accustomed to procuring the best, and she wore him down—describing the botanical charms of the Pioneer Valley, the wonders of Boston's waterfront, the university's resources. The opportunities he would have for fieldwork—she used her own experience, such as it was, as a model. She promised sketches and zoological study as diverse and fascinating as in the tropics—or so she imagined—if less exotic. "You will find America as creatively stimulating as your countryman Dvořák lately found it," she wrote, hoping to stoke his ego and his patriotism at once.

Finally she made what she knew to be an extravagant offer of compensation, "pending board approval." Salary, room and board with a housekeeper on alternate days, a generous commission per model. It was more, she knew, than he had commanded on similar projects. In the same letter she revealed—in passing, the detail turned sideways so it was almost invisible if he did not care to notice it—her Christian name. Miss Agnes Carter. If the university engaged him, he would need to know eventually.

There was a pause before his reply—possibly he was in shock at the number she offered. Possibly he was checking her credentials; confirming her association with the university rather than a madhouse. Trying to square her sex with her power. Agnes had been through all this before. It was, no doubt, another facet of Elizabeth and Prudence's legacy.

Novak mentioned none of this, if it occurred, in his simple note of acceptance. The only sign that he had caught her dropped biographical detail was a marginal note beside his signature—for the first time, he had written his given name with its Anglicized spelling. Ignace. "We rhyme," he observed, perhaps as much to guide pronunciation as to acknowledge her confession.

She booked him passage the following month. He arrived in fall.

Excerpted from Glassworks by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith. Copyright © 2023 by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith. Excerpted by permission of Bloomsbury USA. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.