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The Glass House
Following her expulsion from a private boarding school Vanessa, the middle child in a family of three daughters, returns home to the Southern Highlands to attend the local comprehensive. With both of her sisters away at school and her father working abroad this should be the perfect opportunity to spend time with her glamorous, autocratic mother. But instead of the idyllic life Vanessa craves she is dragged into a nightmarish world of secrets and abuse, violence and betrayal, and watches in horror as her mother self destructs in front of her. Only Alan, a childhood friend, offers Vanessa an escape from her unhappy life but will Vanessa find the strength to confide the secrets she has buried deep within her?
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 25, 2022
3.5 marked up. I'm an admirer of the author's poetry. Beautifully observed prose, interesting study of a manipulative parent and their effect on the 3 sisters. Too depressing to really enjoy, I'd have liked a bit more hope and light scattered throughout!
April 10, 2019
Quite enjoyed this treat!
November 20, 2012
One of the best books I have read in a long time.
Cooke has created a psychologically compelling tale of a mother's relationship with her daughters. The novel is narrated by Vanessa, whose almost detached telling of life amidst her mother's breakdown is heartbreaking. Vanessa's devotion to her mother is absolute, even as her sisters struggle and break away. But bullied Vanessa lives for the moments her mother softens, and tells her daughter that she loves her.
The reader watches as Vanessa tries to form a relationship with Alan McAlpine, who knows that there is something deeply wrong in Vanessa's life, but finds himself unable to help.
Told from Vanessa's point of view, the reader is aware of all that is going on in her life and mind, but the reactions of other characters show her to be a sadly misunderstood girl, well practised at hiding her emotion - which unfortunately only distances her further from those that truly care.
This is an intelligent book, fully deserving of this five star rating.
Cooke has created a psychologically compelling tale of a mother's relationship with her daughters. The novel is narrated by Vanessa, whose almost detached telling of life amidst her mother's breakdown is heartbreaking. Vanessa's devotion to her mother is absolute, even as her sisters struggle and break away. But bullied Vanessa lives for the moments her mother softens, and tells her daughter that she loves her.
The reader watches as Vanessa tries to form a relationship with Alan McAlpine, who knows that there is something deeply wrong in Vanessa's life, but finds himself unable to help.
Told from Vanessa's point of view, the reader is aware of all that is going on in her life and mind, but the reactions of other characters show her to be a sadly misunderstood girl, well practised at hiding her emotion - which unfortunately only distances her further from those that truly care.
This is an intelligent book, fully deserving of this five star rating.
March 14, 2009
A strange novel. Sometimes Cookes writting read like poetry. The poetry style of Sylvia Plath. The book is alot like her in some aspects. The husband who's never there, the unhappiness and eventual suicide.
You find that sometimes you just wanna shake Vanessa and tell her you are ruining your own life! To think and feel so much with such cold detachment. She doesn't see the good, rather tries to find love and acceptance from that which screwed her up the in the first place. So human, rather the devil you know...
You find that sometimes you just wanna shake Vanessa and tell her you are ruining your own life! To think and feel so much with such cold detachment. She doesn't see the good, rather tries to find love and acceptance from that which screwed her up the in the first place. So human, rather the devil you know...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2009
I liked this. I liked the way that Vanessa thought. She was quirky, individual and a little damaged. She saw things in striking ways that made each page a chance for surprise.
Cooke is very good at writing dysfunctional. At times it was quite uncomfortable reading, watching Vanessa pull and push towards and away from her mother. Interesting to watch the ripples of destruction spread outwards through a family.
Possibly a little longer than necessary, and it felt a little hasty come the very end. But hard to know how else it could have been ended.
Cooke is very good at writing dysfunctional. At times it was quite uncomfortable reading, watching Vanessa pull and push towards and away from her mother. Interesting to watch the ripples of destruction spread outwards through a family.
Possibly a little longer than necessary, and it felt a little hasty come the very end. But hard to know how else it could have been ended.
April 24, 2012
I was hooked right from the start because Vanessa was a complex character with a bit of a self distruct button. I thought her relationship with her mother, although extreme, was typical of many mother daughter relationships beset by power struggles, jealousy and paradoxical behaviour. Likewise her relationship with her siblings. Well executed and multi layered, it asks us to examine our own family relationships.
October 28, 2008
gritty...dirty...dark...
April 6, 2009
Quite a deep book but I enjoyed it. Very good for a new Author.
June 28, 2013
The character is everything I am not. Found it very hard to relate to her. Read this a few months ago. When I saw the cover just now I got this bad taste in my mouth.
August 10, 2013
beautiful book
October 4, 2013
Depressing and a little shallow. Didn't even give me the feel of the Highlands.
October 19, 2015
Bit introspective - better than Ian McEwan
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March 29, 2018I found this book in this blog post: https://theliterarysisters.wordpress....
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews