The Glassmaker, by Tracy Chevalier

 

Characters
Rosso family: Orsola Marco -older brother Giacomo – younger brother Laura – mother, pregnant in chapter one Lorenzo – father, killed by broken glass fragment Stella – baby born during plague   Zia Giovanna – aunt, nun   Nicolatta – Marco’s wife, died during plague Malcolin – son Raffaele – Nicolatta and Marco’s son born during plague   Monica – Marco’s second wife Rosella – daughter by first marriage, expert glassmaker   Isabella – Monica’s cousin, married Giacomo Sons – Andrea and Sebastiano   Paolo – main assistant, left   Stefano – Marco’s new assistant, married Orsola Angela - daughter   Assistants: Garzonetti – fed furnace and swept floors Garzoni – next step, six-year apprenticeship   Klingenberg – bought Rosso glass, encouraged Orsola to make beads Jonas – assistant, opened own shop when Klingenberg left   Antonio – romance with Orsola, became apprentice in glass workshop, left for terraferma in chapter 3   Domenego -black gondolier for Klingenberg   Maria Barovier – bead maker, real person!	Timeline
	Chapter 1: 1487 – 1494   Chapter 2: 1574 – plague Orsola age 18 Stella and Raffaele born   Chapter 3: 1631 Monica Vianello – wet nurse, married Marco   Isabella – married Giacomo   Stefano -Marco’s servente, from Barovier workshop, wants to marry Orsola   Chapter 4: 1755 Orsola age 29 Giacomo Casanova – ordered mirror, chandelier and glasses, arrested, did not pay   Suggested Orsola make flat beads   Chapter 5: 1797 Orsola age 37 Venice and Murano given to the Austrians Klingenberg closing business and moving Jonas opening own business   Luciana comes from Venice to teach family how to string seed beads – popular with American Indians   Raffaele moves to Venice with Luciana    Chapter 6: 1915 - WWI Orsola age 44 Francisca also in Venice – married Luciana’s brother   Marchesa Luisa Casati – bought beads   Jonas back to Germany, died in concentration camp     WWI – every family had to send one son – Sebastiano volunteered to serve Stella went as a nurse   After war, opened shop with Luciana in Venice – Rosso E Rosso   Chapter 7: 2019 Orsola age 65 100 years have passed Stella died in war   Chapter 8 Orsola in her late 60s Antonio has aged normally because on terrafirma Great-great-great grandson gives Orsola a dolphin – making and sending her one over years has become a tradition in family

 

1.       How different was the plague in 1574 from COVID in 2020?  At least no one burnt all our linens and clothing and threw rocks at our houses!

2.       Did you like the way the novel showed history’s progression, for example the movement from gondolas to water buses in chapter 6 in 1915.

3.       At the end, were you surprised that Antonio had aged like a normal person, and his grandchildren had been making and sending the dolphins?  What do you think his grandchildren thought as they kept sending them off generation after generation to someone they did not know?

4.       Which family members were the most memorable to you?

5.       Was it realistic how easily Orsola handled the changes she experienced through the years or was her life so focused on the glassmaking she wasn’t affected by changes around her?  Given that this is a fiction book, does it matter?

6.       The beads became an important part of the family business in the 1700s – chapters 4 and 5.  How easy was it for the men to give up part of their enterprise and status?  Do you think it might have been more difficult than depicted in the book?

7.       What parts of the book were most memorable to you?

8.       Would you like to live that long and see all the changes in the world?

9.       Have you thought about beads and jewelry you have and how it was made?  Do you have any unusual pieces?

10.   Did you like the book?  Would you recommend it to others to read?