Blogging for Books: The Girl in the Glass

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner

(from Amazon)
Renaissance is a word with hope infused in every letter.

Since she was a child, Meg has dreamed of taking a promised trip to Florence, Italy, and being able to finally step into the place captured in a picture at her grandmother’s house. But after her grandmother passes away and it falls to her less-than-reliable father to take her instead, Meg’s long-anticipated travel plans seem permanently on hold.

When her dad finally tells Meg to book the trip, she prays that the experience will heal the fissures left on her life by her parents’ divorce. But when Meg arrives in Florence, her father is nowhere to be found, leaving aspiring memoir-writer Sophia Borelli to introduce Meg to the rich beauty of the ancient city. Sofia claims to be one of the last surviving members of the Medici family and that a long-ago Medici princess, Nora Orsini, communicates with her from within the great masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.

When Sophia, Meg, and Nora’s stories intersect, their lives will be indelibly changed as they each answer the question: What if renaissance isn't just a word? What if that’s what happens when you dare to believe that what is is not what has to be.

My Thoughts

The Girl in the Glass is a beautiful, poetic piece of prose.  The city of Florence comes alive in the pages and even a non-art-minded person like me is caught up in the beauty of the Renaissance masterpieces.  It was a fun book to read, as the setting played such a strong part, it was almost another character.

The story is told from Meg's point of view.  Because of that you get a first-person view of her heartaches and her loves. That really made the book come alive for me.

I enjoyed Meissner's prose; however, at times, it was almost too philosophical.  I just didn't understand some of it (of course, I don't understand a lot of poetry either, so maybe it's just me).  And I felt like Meg really waffled back forth over men in the story.  We find out in the epilogue who she ended up with.  I would have loved more story on that.  Her choice of love seemed almost more of an afterthought.

The Girl in the Glass was a good read and is a great choice for the more artistic person out there.  I enjoyed it, but I think someone who knows more about the art mentioned in the story would enjoy it more.  As a side note, I did look up some of the art on the internet to see what it looked like and I think the author has pictures of things in Florence on her website as well.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a complementary Kindle version of this book while participating in the Blogging for Books program.