The Glass Woman Book Cover

The Glass Woman


A Historical Fiction Novel


Subgenres:

  • Gothic,
  • Psychological Suspense,
  • Iceland 1680s
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This book is for you if you're into...

  • Gothic mysteries set in remote, wintry Icelandic villages
  • Heroines torn between old magic and strict Christian rules
  • Locked-room secrets and creeping dread in isolated houses

From Little Stack

Iceland, 1686. To save herself and her mother from starvation, Rósa trades her freedom and marries Jón Eiríksson, the recently widowed chieftain of Stykkishólmur. But the rumours surrounding the death of Jón’s first wife haunt her, as do the strange whispers and eerie breaths she senses when she is alone. And what is behind the locked door of the loft that Jón is determined to keep secret?

Eerie, claustrophobic, enchanting and totally mesmerising, this is a story steeped in history, suspicion and tradition set against a brutal and unforgiving backdrop and a country torn between Christianity and the old ways. An unpredictable gothic story that will keep you on your toes, this is the perfect read for those dark winter nights.

Publisher Description

A tale in the tradition of Jane Eyre and Rebecca, in which a young woman follows her new husband to his remote home on the Icelandic coast in the 1680s, where she faces dark secrets surrounding the death of his first wife amidst a foreboding landscape and the superstitions of the local villagers.

Rósa has always dreamed of living a simple life alongside her Mamma in their remote village in Iceland, where she prays to the Christian God aloud during the day, whispering enchantments to the old gods alone at night. But after her father dies abruptly and her Mamma becomes ill, Rósa marries herself off to a visiting trader in exchange for a dowry, despite rumors of mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife's death.

She follows her new husband, Jón, across the treacherous countryside to his remote home near the sea. There Jón works the field during the day, expecting Rósa to maintain their house in his absence with the deference of a good Christian wife. What Rósa did not anticipate was the fierce loneliness she would feel in her new home, where Jón forbids her from interacting with the locals in the nearby settlement and barely speaks to her himself.

Seclusion from the outside world isn't the only troubling aspect of her new life—Rósa is also forbidden from going into Jón's attic. When she begins to hear strange noises from upstairs, she turns to a local woman in an attempt to find solace, but the villager's words are even more troubling.

Rósa's isolation begins to play tricks on her mind: What—or who—is in the attic? What happened to Anna? Was she mad, a witch, or just a victim of Jón's ruthless nature? And when Jón is brutally maimed in an accident a series of events are set in motion that will force Rósa to choose between obedience and defiance—with her own survival and the safety of the ones she loves hanging in the balance.

More Caroline Lea

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